I can be so stupid

[K9KidsLove]

Yvonne...You are right, and I don't really think I am stupid. It was just at that moment I felt stupid for forgetting something so important.
Thanks for reminding me to quit that thought. I just feel sooo bad that he had to go thru all that. I do feel better now tho.
Patsy

 

[webskipper]

Glad to hear it.

I remember letting my 2 baby Snaps sun themselves out on the lawn. They were too timid to run anywhere so I let them be as always. But... as soon as I got stuck on the phone with my girlfriend, they stole the bases. I found one near a tree and could not find the other. I had a Daddy's intuition of where the second one was but could not see him in the sunset. It was a cold and sleepless night. The next day I went back out in the frosty Michigan morning and found him in the Tiger Day lilies where I looked several times the evening before. He had dug straight down (like he walked around and around like a dog) and covered himself with leaves and debris. That weekend I dug the ponds and installed the fencing so they could just stay out when it got warmer. They did not come in until Winter when the temps finally dropped low enough to hibernate them in the basement.

Don't be fooled by Snappers lolly gagging in 20 degree water.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Whew!

I've been holding my breath! SO GLAD to hear Sandy is recovering.

 

[chadk]

20 degree water??

 

[sammi]

Very glad to hear hes doing okay!! =]

 

[Yvonne G]

20 degree water??

Took me a couple of days, but I finally get it!! LOL!! Water freezes at 32 degrees!

 

[-EJ]

As long as it's above freezing there is rarely a problem for them to be kept at that temperature.

What I suspect is not good is to emerse the tortoise in warm water. I would think this would shock the tortoise a bit.

I think the best course of action is to slowly raise the temperature. Keep the tortoise at room temperature and then provide a heat source once the tortoise has warmed up a bit and started moving.

(I suspect the OP was saying 20c)

I am so upset. I have become so forgetful since I had my surgeries 3 years ago.
Yesterday, even tho it was chilly (in the 50's) it was sunny. So I put my big Sulcata out in his corral to do some grazing while I went to town to do a couple of errands. It took longer than expected. We were rushing to get stuff put away so we could get to my granddaughter's basketball game. When we got home I never gave it a thought. It was down to the high teens last night. I finally remembered he was out when I was on my way home from work at 2:30 this afternoon. It was in the low 40's all day...much colder than usual for here. I ran crying for my husband to go get him cause I was too scared.
He is alive. I put him in a tub of warm water & kept changing the water to keep it warm. He is pulling his head in when I touch his head, but hasn't moved otherwise. I have him in his table with his heat light on him. I am soooo upset.

He was a rescue from a couple years ago. He is still a bit underweight but is healthy. Fecal last month was clean.

Please tell me his is probably going to be OK.
Patsy

 

[egyptiandan]

It sounds like Fahrenheit to me Ed.

Danny

 

[chadk]

I'm thinking he was just exagerating... but then again, in another thread, someone said snow melts at 45-50 degrees - so maybe the laws of science have changed recently

 

[-EJ]

On some of these lists I guess I have to throw away rational thought.

I'm thinking he was just exagerating... but then again, in another thread, someone said snow melts at 45-50 degrees - so maybe the laws of science have changed recently

 

[Laura]

Well. Im 'stupid' too! Sorry Yvonne..
Several weeks ago, i found my smallest sulcata out in its yard. It was hiding under some grasses dug in. I thought they both had been in their hut for several days due to it being damp and cold. They only peeked out, ate at the doorway and went back in. However.. It was cleaning time, so I lifted up the box and only one was inside. I went and seached the pen and found him .Icecube! so cold.. I did a light warm water soak and put him directly on the heat.. I figured he had been out for several days. ( my work schedule is such that I dont see them during the day. Food disappears, i get home after dark) Its been a few weeks now and he is looking and doing fine! eating, no noise, no discharge. alert.. Very surprised.
I think they are hardier then we give them credit for.. sometimes.. I sure as heck wouldnt Do that on Purpose.. but when is happens, as life does, it can be ok.. Luck was on myside this time I guess.

 

[jlyoncc1]

I am glad to hear things are going well! We just feel badly when our brains get distracted!!!!

 

[K9KidsLove]

HI...My computer has been down.
Sandy is doing great. He isn't liking it that he has to stay inside. We are having some REALLY cold weather for MS...in the 30's-40's during the days. There is no way I am going to let him go outside even tho the sun is shining. He never did get any RI or anything, thank God.
thanks again for everyone's concerns and especially the prayers.
Patsy

 

[Stephanie Logan]

That is such good news...I have been thinking about Sandy but didn't want to jinx the recovery by asking!

How about some photos of this Miracle Tort in his current unsatisfied-but-healthy indoor condition?

 

[Tom]

I too think Sulcatas are hardier than we think. I use to completely flip out when I found mine outside in a rainstorm. Whenever it rains, Bert or Delores or both, will always come out and sit in the rain overnight. For some reason, Scooter has the sense not to do this. Temps are usually in the 30's or 40's when they do this. I used to have to go out and put them back in several times a night. I used to think it was because they were thirsty, so I started soaking them heavily for several days before every rainstorm (we don't have very many here). This didn't even slow them down. They still try to do it. I've gone out in the morning and found them wet in a corner of the pen with temps in the 30's when we have an unexpected rain. Now I block them in at night when it rains, but they sure fight it.

Just trying to say they can tolerate more than we usually think.

I'm really glad your big boy is fine. We've all done this sort of thing before, myself included.

 

[-ryan-]

I hope the little guy is alright. I have heard stories of much worse things happening to animals much more fragile, and you would be surprised to find out how durable they can be.

I had heard about a reptile zoo (rinky dink one run out of a modified barn) that had been shut down or something, and though they had taken the caged animals out, there were some monitors that had escaped and were living in the rafters that they were not able to wrangle. The barn's temperature dropped well below freezing and they found the monitors essentially frozen (and presumed dead) but as they slowly warmed up they came back to life. I'm sure that in that case there was likely some long-term damage, but I think that if your little guy is starting to run around and eat it means that things are likely going to turn out alright.

Everyone makes mistakes. Live and learn

---

Just remembered another story about the durability of reptiles. I got a call from a guy that had recently found a terrarium in his father's basement. His father had been put in a home for an entire year at this point, and no one knew about the terrarium in the basement. Despite the fact that there was no one around to feed it, no heat lights, presumably no heat at all in the house, when he went to clean out the terrarium (expecting to find a skeleton) an emaciated green lizard ran out from under a hiding spot. I assumed it was either an anole or a small iguana (he said it was about a foot, but you know how people exaggerate). I am not sure how much longer the lizard lived. I gave him some advice on feeding the lizard in a way that would build up the natural gut flora (which has probably died off at that point), and basic care advice. I was just shocked that a lizard could live that long in those conditions, but they are hardier than we give them credit for.

 

[K9KidsLove]

Hi...I am so thankful that he is more hardy than I had thought. However, I won't test him to see how much more he can handle!!! He really scared me.
Thanks all
Patsy