Family Cleans House, Finds Pet Tortoise Missing Since 1982

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wellington

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

WOW, that seems totally unbelievable. Tiny termites would keep a tort alive for 30 years? How about water? Actually sounds kinda fishy to me. Glad she is alive, no matter what the situation was.
 

sibi

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

That is the most amazing story I ever read. Poor gal. I hope she spends the rest of her life living and eating like a redfoot:p
 

Tortus

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

A tortoise in a box in a locked storage closet survives 30 years? I don't buy it.
 

cherylim

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

The tortoise wouldn't have had access to the 'termites on the wooden floors' from inside her box. Or, have made it into the box on her own. I'm thinking the father has been secretly keeping her.
 

cemmons12

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

I can't say I buy into this story very much....
 

Tortus

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

The termite theory is ridiculous. Even if the tortoise was able to walk around the room and scavenge, a house wouldn't be standing for over 30 years if it was that infested with termites.
 

Yellow Turtle

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

Interesting story. He can scavenge, but what to scavenge in a storage room?
 

l0velesly

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

Strange, and very hard to believe. 5 years is reasonable but 30 years is just unbelievable. Just had to wonder... would there be 30 years of waste in the storage room too...? :eek:
 

Nixxy

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

cherylim said:
The tortoise wouldn't have had access to the 'termites on the wooden floors' from inside her box. Or, have made it into the box on her own. I'm thinking the father has been secretly keeping her.

This is my take on it, too.

Perhaps he felt the kids wouldn't take good care of it, so he took it to care for himself?

Especially a redfoot..Surviving that? I highly doubt it is possible, especially with their humidity and other needs. Also, the tort doesn't even look in very bad shape, at all...Sure, a little dry, and some mild pyramiding. But for 30 years abandoned in a room, in a box? Yes, tortoises are hardy and can go along time without food or water. But not 30 years. Not living off the occasional termite.
 

ascott

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

Weirder things could and have happened....I would suspect more of the occasional mouse or small rat as a welcomed meal versus termites...lol

I would suspect the pops had something to do with it as well...:D
 

RedfootsRule

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

No possible way this happened without the father taking care of it. Where was the water coming from? And lets think of this fact. Lets go out on some crazy limb and say that a tortoise can survive off termites (which are completely nutritionally insufficient, and it wouldn't even last a year). The amount of ACTIVITY that would be needed to catch enough termites just to sustain the amount of activity used to catch them....Would never happen. Ever.
A theory that sounds just as plausible is, instead, the termites worshipped the tortoise as a god. They also convinced ants to worship the tortoise, and the ants went out to the forest and brought fruit and plants for the tortoise to eat daily. The ants also weaved (wove?) a pond from dried grasses, and slowly but surely, the ants carried water droplets in leafs to fill the pond. Oh, and there were roughly 100 million ants, as would likely be needed to carry enough water to keep up with the evaporation rate of the pond.....
Just guessing :).
Even further, I don't believe a tortoise, or any animal with any capacity of thought, would survive for 30 years so lonely...Even if it had food and water somehow, there would be no sort of excersice for the brain...The brain would, essentially, turn into a thoughtless vegetable after 30 years.
Ooh, another one. It was trapped in a BOX, with little room to move, and after 30 years, the muscles were somehow still toned enough for it to go about any daily activity? Even moving its mouth. If it did survive those 30 years, it would never be able to move again.
You have your weird, you have your unexplainable, and then you have this. This didn't happen.
 

CtTortoiseMom

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

I think it is crazy and don't buy it but a dirty storage room filled with rubbish could have mice, cockroaches, centipedes and other things that the tortoise could have eaten. The house was obviously not in the best state if it was infested with termites and what if it had a leaky roof and water seeped in and pooled on the floor? I know unbelievable just trying to make it more plausible.
 

terryo

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

No light or sun? No water? Just termites? Look how smooth that tort is. I don't believe it. Someone wants their 15 min. of fame maybe.
 

Nixxy

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

RedfootsRule said:
No possible way this happened without the father taking care of it. Where was the water coming from? And lets think of this fact. Lets go out on some crazy limb and say that a tortoise can survive off termites (which are completely nutritionally insufficient, and it wouldn't even last a year). The amount of ACTIVITY that would be needed to catch enough termites just to sustain the amount of activity used to catch them....Would never happen. Ever.
A theory that sounds just as plausible is, instead, the termites worshipped the tortoise as a god. They also convinced ants to worship the tortoise, and the ants went out to the forest and brought fruit and plants for the tortoise to eat daily. The ants also weaved (wove?) a pond from dried grasses, and slowly but surely, the ants carried water droplets in leafs to fill the pond. Oh, and there were roughly 100 million ants, as would likely be needed to carry enough water to keep up with the evaporation rate of the pond.....
Just guessing :).
Even further, I don't believe a tortoise, or any animal with any capacity of thought, would survive for 30 years so lonely...Even if it had food and water somehow, there would be no sort of excersice for the brain...The brain would, essentially, turn into a thoughtless vegetable after 30 years.
Ooh, another one. It was trapped in a BOX, with little room to move, and after 30 years, the muscles were somehow still toned enough for it to go about any daily activity? Even moving its mouth. If it did survive those 30 years, it would never be able to move again.
You have your weird, you have your unexplainable, and then you have this. This didn't happen.

Agree 100%. I mean, for the amount of termites to be there to keep it even mildly fed? That house would be about as structurally sound as a pile of logs propped up against eachother.

No water and in a box that long...Not possible. Tortoises can go longer without water than most animals, but not 30 years. And without any sunlight or proper humidity, yet alone the lack of diet or water..The shell wouldn't (If it was even possible) look anything like that. The poor guy would have TERRIBLE MBD.
 

Spn785

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

Okay, I don't believe this either, but then again I wouldn't say impossible, it isn't impossible for me sitting here typing to randomly turn into a tortoise myself.
 

Tortus

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RE: TORT FOUND ALIVE AFTER 30 YEAR LOCK UP

terryo said:
Someone wants their 15 min. of fame maybe.

That about sums it up. People in 3rd world countries are notorious for making up insane stores to get on the news. I guess life is really that boring. A girl who cries diamonds. The virgin mary statue that cries blood. A tortoise living in box for 30 years survives...

All the same.
 
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