Homeopathic tortoise- The Proving!! -
Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:24 am
This is what I found but don't think much of it as a proving!!! I wonder if some has been copied wrongly in my programme and will check it out!!
Rochelle
Tortoise
Geochelone sulcata is most commonly known as the African Sulcata Tortoise. It is also known as the African Spurred Tortoise or African Furrowed Tortoise. It is the world's third largest tortoise after the Galapagos Tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus of the Galapagos Islands) and Aldabra Tortoise (Geochelone giganta of the Seychelles Islands). Geochelone sulcata is the largest tortoise not found on an island.
Tortoises
The tortoises comprise the family Testudinidae. This consists of 39 species in 10 genera. A tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile. As with its aquatic cousins, the turtle and the terrapin, the tortoise is shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is called the carapace, the underside is called the plastron, and the two are connected by a bridge. The tortoise has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton
In Geochelone sulcata, the carapace is tan to yellow in color in the center of each scute (the external plate or scale of the shell). Each scute is outlined by brown growth rings. The plastron (bottom shell) is light tan to yellow in color with no markings. The skin of the African Sulcata Tortoise is very thick and the legs are covered in dull, spine-like projections. The prominent spurs on the rear legs do not seem to have a function. As they age, the growth rings on each of the scutes are strongly marked. Mature males develop reverted marginal scales in the front. The gulars on the plastron (the marginal scales just under the neck) are deeply forked; the anal scutes are also deeply divided. The skin on the legs is well blended into the shell color. Their skin is very thick which may serve to reduce fluid loss through transpiration.
Geochelone sulcata does not hibernate. In the wild Sulcatas "aestivate" which means they go underground for months at a time during periods of intolerable heat and drought. Sulcatas like to burrow and they are quite good at doing so. They feel more comfortable when they can feel their environment around them. The burrows are cooler and supply enough humidity to prevent the tortoise from dehydrating during this extended period.
African Sulcata Tortoises like to climb. They are quite strong. Sulcatas have been known to move walls and even posts supported in concrete to get to something that interests them. They cannot swim.
Three of the most important factors in constructing tortoise diets are the calcium: phosphorous ratio of the food and supplements ingested, the amount and type of protein eaten, and roughage - lots and lots of roughage. Too much phosphorous or too little calcium will cause bone and shell softening and deformity, and impairs metabolism and organ function. Too much protein, and feeding the wrong kind of protein (such as vertebrates, invertebrates, and commercial mammal foods) or too much of certain proteins (legumes, soy and alfalfa hay products) will cause too rapid growth, kidney failure, shell deformities and decrease life span. Studies of the feces of wild tortoises have shown that they do not ingest much in the way of animal protein. The animal component found in the feces was no greater than the small amount of other nonfood items such as small stones, feathers, fur and lizard skin sheds: in short, whatever was in the way as they were grabbing at their plants of choice (Highfield). Necessary protein may easily, and should, be supplied by plant proteins.
In the wild, reproduction occurs most often right after the rainy season - September through November - but can occur anytime from June through March. Males typically become very vocal during mating. As the eggs are developing inside the female, her appetite will decrease. She will become restless as she begins to roam looking for a suitable nesting site. She may excavate several nests before she selects one. The female will dig a large nest, approximately two feet in diameter and 3-6 inches deep and deposit a clutch of eggs, 15-30 or more. She may frequently urinate into the depression. Tortoises in warmer climates that are kept outdoors for most of the year may have two clutches. After all the eggs are laid, the female will fill in the nest, covering the eggs with the soil and sand that was excavated.
Sulcatas come from some of the Sahel, the hottest, driest area in Africa. Some regions may not get rain for years. They derive most of their moisture from their diet. To make the most of available moisture, their skin is resistant to fluid loss but, when exposed to moisture, may become highly permeable. Towards this end, they will excavate pallets or burrows in the ground to get to areas with higher moisture levels; in the wild, they may spend the hottest part of the day in these microhabitats. Burrows may average 30 inches in depth; some dig tunnel systems extending 10 feet or more underground. Sulcatas are, like most turtles and tortoises native to dry areas, extremely efficient in their use of water. A sulcata may urinate just 0.64 ml a day, significantly less than their spur-thighed cousins living in the relatively lush Mediterranean countries who may urinate 1-2 ml a day. A danger, then, in captivity is that too much water may be given or made accessible which may lead to health problems including skin and shell infections and kidney problems. When temperatures exceed 104oF (40oC), they will begin to salivate heavily, smearing the saliva on their forearms to help cool them down. They also coat themselves with mud to cool off. Their burrows also provide shelters for other animals.
Many populations of G. sulcata are rapidly disappearing, especially in Mali, Chad, Niger, and Ethiopia. In Senegal there are still limited populations in the north and northeast, but there is a lot of overgrazing and desertification here too that is wiping this tortoise out. The species is on the threatened list.
Like many chelonians, sulcatas are prone to respiratory infections. Not only must the illness itself be treated, but the tortoise's environment and diet must be evaluated. Prolonged psychological stress may lead to physical illness through its effect on the immune system, thus interactions with any other tortoises with whom it may be housed must also be evaluated. Symptoms of respiratory infection include nasal discharge, watery eyes (occurs in cold weather only), loss of appetite, and lethargy. The animal will require treatment with antibiotics as well as supportive care, including warm temperatures and, in the case of nephrotoxic drugs, fluids. Severe cases may require hand - or force - feeding.
African sulcatas are popular pets. As with many tortoise pets, the animal often outlives its owners, frequently creating orphaned animals.
The first turtles already existed in the era of the dinosaurs, some 300 million years ago. Turtles and tortoises are the only surviving branch of the even more ancient family Anapsida, which includes groups such as the procolophonoids, millerettids and pareiasaurs. Most of the anapsids became extinct in the late Permian period, with the exception of the procolophonoids and the precursors of the testudines (turtles and tortoises).
Some African cultures regard the Sulcata as a mediator between men and the gods. As a result, the tortoise is often kept in villages to intercede between the Head of the village and the Ancestors. In Dogon countries today, the tortoise is kept with the village leader at all times to allow him to communicate with the village ancestors.
The tortoise represents longevity as it lives in real life for a very long time. It is one of the four most prominent beasts of China (dragon, chimera, and phoenix) and is of the water element. In Feng Shui the rear of the home is represented by the symbolic animal the Black Tortoise, signifying support for home, family life and personal relationships. If you don't have a building or structure representing the Black Tortoise behind your home you can place a symbolic tortoise there for enhanced support to this aspect of life. A tortoise at the back door or in the backyard by a pond is said to attract good fortune and many blessings.
In the West, early Christians didn't like tortoises and they viewed them as symbolizing evil forces during war. In Greece, tortoises were once believed to be citizens of hell.
Tortoises seem to possess an enviable and god-like resistance to aging, and so they came to symbolize longevity. Their like to heaven and earth made them a natural for use in divination. Tortoises are also symbol of immortality and are considered temporary dwelling places for souls making their way through a series of lives on the path to Nirvana. The tortoise is considered to be the second incarnation of the powerful god Vishnu in the Hindu religion. After a great flood, which occurs every four billion years and dissolved the earth, Vishnu transforms himself into a great tortoise. On his back, he carries a vessel in which the gods and demons mix the elements necessary to re-create the globe. After a thousand years, when the earth has been reborn, the tortoise remains in place; and on his back stands a large elephant which supports the planet. The three-tortoise stack one on top of each other represents a mother and her babies. It is good for health, protection and support for relationships.
According to some Native American tales, the Earth Diver tortoise swam to the bottom of the water that stretched across the world. He surfaced with the mud, which the creator used to make the earth. The tortoise is a shore creature using the land and the water. All shore areas are associated with doorways to the Faerie Realm. The tortoise is sometimes knows as the keeper of the doors. They were often seen as signs of fairy contact and the promise of fairy rewards. One ancient text warns its readers not to act rashly when catching tortoises and always to carry out the proper ceremony to worship them first. There are also many legends about how those who killed tortoises eventually met with misfortune.
According to numerous news accounts the hippo and the tortoise found each other at a wildlife refuge where they were taken after being stranded by the 2004 tsunami disaster.
Geochelone sulcata was chosen as a remedy to examine the healing qualities of an aspect of the reptilian family never previously explored. Tortoises have been well known for their healing properties and possess a rich healing lore. Geochelone sulcata in particular represents an example of a desert medicine and a further opportunity to explore the power of desert remedies.
Reptile Themes
Emotions were typically felt in the stomach with this remedy. Most commonly this was an empty or hollow sensation that had to be filled, accompanied by feelings of loneliness and anxiety.
The eyes demonstrated much lachrymation and burning pains. They were often heavy and discolored red. There was profound photophobia and pressing pains, which could be accompanied by a foreign body sensation. Provers would often rub their eyes.
Python regius (Royal Python) (pyth)
The 'Race' story is known in Africa to the Kamba, Konde, Lamba, Ila, Duala, Bakwiri, and, I believe, to many others. I have come across only two in which the one challenged is the hare, and one of these (the Ila) is curiously mixed up with the story of the Animals and the Well.
"Not to-day. I'm tired. I have come a long way."
The Name of the Tree
On occasions it opens with the statement that there was a famine in the land. The animals, searching for food (or sometimes accidentally, while hunting), come across a tree previously unknown to them, full of ripe and tempting fruit. They send messenger after messenger to the tree's owner, in order to ask its name, or sometimes, simply, "what sort of a tree it is, that we may know whether the fruit can be eaten or not." But the exact name is so often insisted on that it would seem to have some magical significance. The "owner of the tree" is in two cases (Sublya, Bena Kanioka) said to be 'God'; the Bapedi and Baila speak of 'an old woman'; the Basuto say, "The owner of the tree is called Koko." As this word means 'grandmother,' it would seem as if the old woman were the tribal ancestress. Other versions do not specify the owner more particularly, or call him or her, simply 'the chief.'
Then the lion went, and, though he took care to repeat the word over and over again on the way home, he too tripped against the obstacle and forgot it. Then all the animals, the roans and the sables, and the mongooses, all came to an end going there. They all just returned in vain.
This happened again and again, till the fruit came to an end, and the animals dispersed, to seek subsistence elsewhere.
Some Further Variations
Till he comes whom God has made."
There is an obstacle in the way."
The name of the fruit is in every case different; usually it seems to be a nonsense-word (or perhaps an old forgotten one), of which no one knows the meaning. But in Pedi it is Matlatladiane, which the aged guardian of the tree explains to mean: "He will come presently." It is not stated who will come - perhaps the successful messenger.
How the Leopard got his Spots
This "Just-so" story accounts not only for the markings of the leopard and the zebra, but for their being creatures of the wild, for when the people, hoeing their gardens, saw them they exclaimed, "Oh! the big beauty! Catch it and let us domesticate it!" or words to that effect, so both of them fled into the bush, where they have remained ever since. The hyena too met with his desserts, as follows.
The old man who told the story added this moral for the benefit of the young: "So nowadays they laugh at a hyena in the villages. You see that one evil follows upon another."
Ernst, C., R. Barbour. (1989). Turtles of the World. Washington D.C. and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Registered Homeopath
EFT(Advanced) Practitioner
www.southporthomeopathy.co.uk
Rochelle
Tortoise
Geochelone sulcata is most commonly known as the African Sulcata Tortoise. It is also known as the African Spurred Tortoise or African Furrowed Tortoise. It is the world's third largest tortoise after the Galapagos Tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus of the Galapagos Islands) and Aldabra Tortoise (Geochelone giganta of the Seychelles Islands). Geochelone sulcata is the largest tortoise not found on an island.
Tortoises
The tortoises comprise the family Testudinidae. This consists of 39 species in 10 genera. A tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile. As with its aquatic cousins, the turtle and the terrapin, the tortoise is shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is called the carapace, the underside is called the plastron, and the two are connected by a bridge. The tortoise has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton
In Geochelone sulcata, the carapace is tan to yellow in color in the center of each scute (the external plate or scale of the shell). Each scute is outlined by brown growth rings. The plastron (bottom shell) is light tan to yellow in color with no markings. The skin of the African Sulcata Tortoise is very thick and the legs are covered in dull, spine-like projections. The prominent spurs on the rear legs do not seem to have a function. As they age, the growth rings on each of the scutes are strongly marked. Mature males develop reverted marginal scales in the front. The gulars on the plastron (the marginal scales just under the neck) are deeply forked; the anal scutes are also deeply divided. The skin on the legs is well blended into the shell color. Their skin is very thick which may serve to reduce fluid loss through transpiration.
Geochelone sulcata does not hibernate. In the wild Sulcatas "aestivate" which means they go underground for months at a time during periods of intolerable heat and drought. Sulcatas like to burrow and they are quite good at doing so. They feel more comfortable when they can feel their environment around them. The burrows are cooler and supply enough humidity to prevent the tortoise from dehydrating during this extended period.
African Sulcata Tortoises like to climb. They are quite strong. Sulcatas have been known to move walls and even posts supported in concrete to get to something that interests them. They cannot swim.
Three of the most important factors in constructing tortoise diets are the calcium: phosphorous ratio of the food and supplements ingested, the amount and type of protein eaten, and roughage - lots and lots of roughage. Too much phosphorous or too little calcium will cause bone and shell softening and deformity, and impairs metabolism and organ function. Too much protein, and feeding the wrong kind of protein (such as vertebrates, invertebrates, and commercial mammal foods) or too much of certain proteins (legumes, soy and alfalfa hay products) will cause too rapid growth, kidney failure, shell deformities and decrease life span. Studies of the feces of wild tortoises have shown that they do not ingest much in the way of animal protein. The animal component found in the feces was no greater than the small amount of other nonfood items such as small stones, feathers, fur and lizard skin sheds: in short, whatever was in the way as they were grabbing at their plants of choice (Highfield). Necessary protein may easily, and should, be supplied by plant proteins.
In the wild, reproduction occurs most often right after the rainy season - September through November - but can occur anytime from June through March. Males typically become very vocal during mating. As the eggs are developing inside the female, her appetite will decrease. She will become restless as she begins to roam looking for a suitable nesting site. She may excavate several nests before she selects one. The female will dig a large nest, approximately two feet in diameter and 3-6 inches deep and deposit a clutch of eggs, 15-30 or more. She may frequently urinate into the depression. Tortoises in warmer climates that are kept outdoors for most of the year may have two clutches. After all the eggs are laid, the female will fill in the nest, covering the eggs with the soil and sand that was excavated.
Sulcatas come from some of the Sahel, the hottest, driest area in Africa. Some regions may not get rain for years. They derive most of their moisture from their diet. To make the most of available moisture, their skin is resistant to fluid loss but, when exposed to moisture, may become highly permeable. Towards this end, they will excavate pallets or burrows in the ground to get to areas with higher moisture levels; in the wild, they may spend the hottest part of the day in these microhabitats. Burrows may average 30 inches in depth; some dig tunnel systems extending 10 feet or more underground. Sulcatas are, like most turtles and tortoises native to dry areas, extremely efficient in their use of water. A sulcata may urinate just 0.64 ml a day, significantly less than their spur-thighed cousins living in the relatively lush Mediterranean countries who may urinate 1-2 ml a day. A danger, then, in captivity is that too much water may be given or made accessible which may lead to health problems including skin and shell infections and kidney problems. When temperatures exceed 104oF (40oC), they will begin to salivate heavily, smearing the saliva on their forearms to help cool them down. They also coat themselves with mud to cool off. Their burrows also provide shelters for other animals.
Many populations of G. sulcata are rapidly disappearing, especially in Mali, Chad, Niger, and Ethiopia. In Senegal there are still limited populations in the north and northeast, but there is a lot of overgrazing and desertification here too that is wiping this tortoise out. The species is on the threatened list.
Like many chelonians, sulcatas are prone to respiratory infections. Not only must the illness itself be treated, but the tortoise's environment and diet must be evaluated. Prolonged psychological stress may lead to physical illness through its effect on the immune system, thus interactions with any other tortoises with whom it may be housed must also be evaluated. Symptoms of respiratory infection include nasal discharge, watery eyes (occurs in cold weather only), loss of appetite, and lethargy. The animal will require treatment with antibiotics as well as supportive care, including warm temperatures and, in the case of nephrotoxic drugs, fluids. Severe cases may require hand - or force - feeding.
African sulcatas are popular pets. As with many tortoise pets, the animal often outlives its owners, frequently creating orphaned animals.
The first turtles already existed in the era of the dinosaurs, some 300 million years ago. Turtles and tortoises are the only surviving branch of the even more ancient family Anapsida, which includes groups such as the procolophonoids, millerettids and pareiasaurs. Most of the anapsids became extinct in the late Permian period, with the exception of the procolophonoids and the precursors of the testudines (turtles and tortoises).
Some African cultures regard the Sulcata as a mediator between men and the gods. As a result, the tortoise is often kept in villages to intercede between the Head of the village and the Ancestors. In Dogon countries today, the tortoise is kept with the village leader at all times to allow him to communicate with the village ancestors.
The tortoise represents longevity as it lives in real life for a very long time. It is one of the four most prominent beasts of China (dragon, chimera, and phoenix) and is of the water element. In Feng Shui the rear of the home is represented by the symbolic animal the Black Tortoise, signifying support for home, family life and personal relationships. If you don't have a building or structure representing the Black Tortoise behind your home you can place a symbolic tortoise there for enhanced support to this aspect of life. A tortoise at the back door or in the backyard by a pond is said to attract good fortune and many blessings.
In the West, early Christians didn't like tortoises and they viewed them as symbolizing evil forces during war. In Greece, tortoises were once believed to be citizens of hell.
Tortoises seem to possess an enviable and god-like resistance to aging, and so they came to symbolize longevity. Their like to heaven and earth made them a natural for use in divination. Tortoises are also symbol of immortality and are considered temporary dwelling places for souls making their way through a series of lives on the path to Nirvana. The tortoise is considered to be the second incarnation of the powerful god Vishnu in the Hindu religion. After a great flood, which occurs every four billion years and dissolved the earth, Vishnu transforms himself into a great tortoise. On his back, he carries a vessel in which the gods and demons mix the elements necessary to re-create the globe. After a thousand years, when the earth has been reborn, the tortoise remains in place; and on his back stands a large elephant which supports the planet. The three-tortoise stack one on top of each other represents a mother and her babies. It is good for health, protection and support for relationships.
According to some Native American tales, the Earth Diver tortoise swam to the bottom of the water that stretched across the world. He surfaced with the mud, which the creator used to make the earth. The tortoise is a shore creature using the land and the water. All shore areas are associated with doorways to the Faerie Realm. The tortoise is sometimes knows as the keeper of the doors. They were often seen as signs of fairy contact and the promise of fairy rewards. One ancient text warns its readers not to act rashly when catching tortoises and always to carry out the proper ceremony to worship them first. There are also many legends about how those who killed tortoises eventually met with misfortune.
According to numerous news accounts the hippo and the tortoise found each other at a wildlife refuge where they were taken after being stranded by the 2004 tsunami disaster.
Geochelone sulcata was chosen as a remedy to examine the healing qualities of an aspect of the reptilian family never previously explored. Tortoises have been well known for their healing properties and possess a rich healing lore. Geochelone sulcata in particular represents an example of a desert medicine and a further opportunity to explore the power of desert remedies.
Reptile Themes
Emotions were typically felt in the stomach with this remedy. Most commonly this was an empty or hollow sensation that had to be filled, accompanied by feelings of loneliness and anxiety.
The eyes demonstrated much lachrymation and burning pains. They were often heavy and discolored red. There was profound photophobia and pressing pains, which could be accompanied by a foreign body sensation. Provers would often rub their eyes.
Python regius (Royal Python) (pyth)
The 'Race' story is known in Africa to the Kamba, Konde, Lamba, Ila, Duala, Bakwiri, and, I believe, to many others. I have come across only two in which the one challenged is the hare, and one of these (the Ila) is curiously mixed up with the story of the Animals and the Well.
"Not to-day. I'm tired. I have come a long way."
The Name of the Tree
On occasions it opens with the statement that there was a famine in the land. The animals, searching for food (or sometimes accidentally, while hunting), come across a tree previously unknown to them, full of ripe and tempting fruit. They send messenger after messenger to the tree's owner, in order to ask its name, or sometimes, simply, "what sort of a tree it is, that we may know whether the fruit can be eaten or not." But the exact name is so often insisted on that it would seem to have some magical significance. The "owner of the tree" is in two cases (Sublya, Bena Kanioka) said to be 'God'; the Bapedi and Baila speak of 'an old woman'; the Basuto say, "The owner of the tree is called Koko." As this word means 'grandmother,' it would seem as if the old woman were the tribal ancestress. Other versions do not specify the owner more particularly, or call him or her, simply 'the chief.'
Then the lion went, and, though he took care to repeat the word over and over again on the way home, he too tripped against the obstacle and forgot it. Then all the animals, the roans and the sables, and the mongooses, all came to an end going there. They all just returned in vain.
This happened again and again, till the fruit came to an end, and the animals dispersed, to seek subsistence elsewhere.
Some Further Variations
Till he comes whom God has made."
There is an obstacle in the way."
The name of the fruit is in every case different; usually it seems to be a nonsense-word (or perhaps an old forgotten one), of which no one knows the meaning. But in Pedi it is Matlatladiane, which the aged guardian of the tree explains to mean: "He will come presently." It is not stated who will come - perhaps the successful messenger.
How the Leopard got his Spots
This "Just-so" story accounts not only for the markings of the leopard and the zebra, but for their being creatures of the wild, for when the people, hoeing their gardens, saw them they exclaimed, "Oh! the big beauty! Catch it and let us domesticate it!" or words to that effect, so both of them fled into the bush, where they have remained ever since. The hyena too met with his desserts, as follows.
The old man who told the story added this moral for the benefit of the young: "So nowadays they laugh at a hyena in the villages. You see that one evil follows upon another."
Ernst, C., R. Barbour. (1989). Turtles of the World. Washington D.C. and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Registered Homeopath
EFT(Advanced) Practitioner
www.southporthomeopathy.co.uk