- Joined
- Mar 19, 2009
- Messages
- 1,601
Hi folks. It has been a while since I have posted on here. Just got busy with life mainly.
Thought I’d stop by and see how things are going and give everyone an update (any who may even be slightly interested – rumor has it, there are a couple of you…)
Family: Still going strong. All adoptions finalized. 8 kids in total and loving it. The youngest is 3.5 and the twins just turned 5. Time flies!
Farm: still have my little backyard farm. It changes year to year. We no longer do goats. Goats and my 8 kids just didn’t work. Goats kept getting out, into my garden, eating my new fruit trees, etc etc. Someday if I have a different setup, I may do goats again. They are fun. Still have chickens, ducks, geese. Continue to raise a few hogs each year. Garden keeps getting bigger.
Torts:
Redfoots – the 2 little guys are doing great. Just moved them to the outdoor pen where they will be until about October.
Box Turtles – they live year round in an outdoor pen. Lost one recently. He died shortly after coming out of hibernation. He was a rescue and did fine last year. So not sure what happened. It was my male three-toed. The other 3 (1m and 2f) easterns are all doing great.
Russian Torts – sadly I took a gamble and now regret it. I had a pair that I tried to manage year round outdoors. I did some research and found others who have been doing this successfully for years – in harsher climates. Turns out, I think the harsher climate actually helps. In January, we had a crazy warm day or 2 where temps were in the 60s and sunny. I was busy and didn’t even think about checking in on them since they had been dug down in their den sleeping for a few months. The warm days were quickly followed by a night that was below freezing. I came through one morning and found them dead sitting out of the den in the open. Apparently the warm days brought them out, but for some reason, they stayed out overnight and froze. A hard lesson to learn.
Sulcatas – they are doing great. I’m still keeping my little rescue “spike aka thunder†inside most of the year. I just moved him out to the garden space where he spends the warmer months. He does a great job of keeping the dandelions, grass, and other weeds trimmed back around my raised beds gardens. He also helps trim any pumpkin, squash, and other veggies that dare to over grow the sides of the raised beds. Then I have my 3 bigger sullies in the side yard where they work tirelessly to mow the lawn back there for me. Dozer, Tank, and Stinker are all doing great. Though stinker, the newest and smallest of the 3, is so named because he insists on picking fights with the others and can often be seen following them around and harassing them. Once dozer got tired of it and ‘dozed’ Stinker and flipped him right over. But Stinker is able to get back over and it never goes any farther than that. This winter seemed a little harder on them than usual. Less sunny days for them to venture out and graze. They spent most days inside the shed just sulking. But we’ve had a very nice spring so far, with some higher than usual temps, so they are loving life now.
Dogs and cats: Tennyson, my son Aidan’s big white dog, is doing great. He is the best dog in the world. Sadly, we gave Chelsea to a friend. She was just not working out for us and our crazy busy lifestyle with so many kids and other animals (long story). But our friend had a 10 yr old son who was looking for his first dog. They were a great match. That was over a year ago. Now my oldest daughter adopted a dog, Stryder, from the local shelter. A husky mix – with a very wolf like look to him. He’s about a year old now and fitting in very well. Such a unique personality. He’s very shy and cautious of strangers, but once he trusts you, he just loves to play. He has this little nibble that he does with his front teeth that reminds me a goose pinch. If you turn your back and walk away, he’ll quickly sneak up and give you a ‘goose’ on the butt and dare you not to chase him. If you just look at him, he snaps his teeth at you and maybe even a little bit of a husky bark\howl tossed out to taunt you. He loves to play, and like Tennyson, is very aware and gentle with the littler kids. And together, the 2 dogs make an excellent guard dog team. Our old cat passed away. About 6 months later my wife just happened to stumble upon another at the local shelter. Zoe is ‘owned’ by my 9yr old, Ryland. He does a great job with her.
Other: I have cut back on other critters. The only other reptile is Monster, the black throat monitor lizard. He is growing and doing well. I found homes for the other snakes and lizards.
Some old threads in case you have never met me or need a refresher:
Final adoption:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Back-to-court-3rd-time-s-a-charm--20879?page=2#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Farm news:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Newest-farm-additions#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Monster:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Meet-Monster#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Redfoot Torts:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Redfoot-Hatchling-Pics#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Random:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-A-few-random-pics-from-this-summer#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Sullies:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Sulcata-yard-and-shed#axzz1wGwHKnyY
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Pics-of-my-tort-yard#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Farm:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-A-new-kid-for-Father-s-Day#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Thought I’d stop by and see how things are going and give everyone an update (any who may even be slightly interested – rumor has it, there are a couple of you…)
Family: Still going strong. All adoptions finalized. 8 kids in total and loving it. The youngest is 3.5 and the twins just turned 5. Time flies!
Farm: still have my little backyard farm. It changes year to year. We no longer do goats. Goats and my 8 kids just didn’t work. Goats kept getting out, into my garden, eating my new fruit trees, etc etc. Someday if I have a different setup, I may do goats again. They are fun. Still have chickens, ducks, geese. Continue to raise a few hogs each year. Garden keeps getting bigger.
Torts:
Redfoots – the 2 little guys are doing great. Just moved them to the outdoor pen where they will be until about October.
Box Turtles – they live year round in an outdoor pen. Lost one recently. He died shortly after coming out of hibernation. He was a rescue and did fine last year. So not sure what happened. It was my male three-toed. The other 3 (1m and 2f) easterns are all doing great.
Russian Torts – sadly I took a gamble and now regret it. I had a pair that I tried to manage year round outdoors. I did some research and found others who have been doing this successfully for years – in harsher climates. Turns out, I think the harsher climate actually helps. In January, we had a crazy warm day or 2 where temps were in the 60s and sunny. I was busy and didn’t even think about checking in on them since they had been dug down in their den sleeping for a few months. The warm days were quickly followed by a night that was below freezing. I came through one morning and found them dead sitting out of the den in the open. Apparently the warm days brought them out, but for some reason, they stayed out overnight and froze. A hard lesson to learn.
Sulcatas – they are doing great. I’m still keeping my little rescue “spike aka thunder†inside most of the year. I just moved him out to the garden space where he spends the warmer months. He does a great job of keeping the dandelions, grass, and other weeds trimmed back around my raised beds gardens. He also helps trim any pumpkin, squash, and other veggies that dare to over grow the sides of the raised beds. Then I have my 3 bigger sullies in the side yard where they work tirelessly to mow the lawn back there for me. Dozer, Tank, and Stinker are all doing great. Though stinker, the newest and smallest of the 3, is so named because he insists on picking fights with the others and can often be seen following them around and harassing them. Once dozer got tired of it and ‘dozed’ Stinker and flipped him right over. But Stinker is able to get back over and it never goes any farther than that. This winter seemed a little harder on them than usual. Less sunny days for them to venture out and graze. They spent most days inside the shed just sulking. But we’ve had a very nice spring so far, with some higher than usual temps, so they are loving life now.
Dogs and cats: Tennyson, my son Aidan’s big white dog, is doing great. He is the best dog in the world. Sadly, we gave Chelsea to a friend. She was just not working out for us and our crazy busy lifestyle with so many kids and other animals (long story). But our friend had a 10 yr old son who was looking for his first dog. They were a great match. That was over a year ago. Now my oldest daughter adopted a dog, Stryder, from the local shelter. A husky mix – with a very wolf like look to him. He’s about a year old now and fitting in very well. Such a unique personality. He’s very shy and cautious of strangers, but once he trusts you, he just loves to play. He has this little nibble that he does with his front teeth that reminds me a goose pinch. If you turn your back and walk away, he’ll quickly sneak up and give you a ‘goose’ on the butt and dare you not to chase him. If you just look at him, he snaps his teeth at you and maybe even a little bit of a husky bark\howl tossed out to taunt you. He loves to play, and like Tennyson, is very aware and gentle with the littler kids. And together, the 2 dogs make an excellent guard dog team. Our old cat passed away. About 6 months later my wife just happened to stumble upon another at the local shelter. Zoe is ‘owned’ by my 9yr old, Ryland. He does a great job with her.
Other: I have cut back on other critters. The only other reptile is Monster, the black throat monitor lizard. He is growing and doing well. I found homes for the other snakes and lizards.
Some old threads in case you have never met me or need a refresher:
Final adoption:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Back-to-court-3rd-time-s-a-charm--20879?page=2#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Farm news:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Newest-farm-additions#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Monster:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Meet-Monster#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Redfoot Torts:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Redfoot-Hatchling-Pics#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Random:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-A-few-random-pics-from-this-summer#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Sullies:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Sulcata-yard-and-shed#axzz1wGwHKnyY
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Pics-of-my-tort-yard#axzz1wGwHKnyY
Farm:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-A-new-kid-for-Father-s-Day#axzz1wGwHKnyY
That was a quick response back! 
