Just wondering..

[mtdavis254817]

When did you develop a love for turtles and tortoises? Is there a story behind it?
Mine started as a young boy around four or five. My father would pull over for every turtle we passed crossing the road, and I would hold it the whole way home.. I still remember the first tortoise I saw. We use to go to a yearly Renaissance festival called scourbroughs fair and this old man had a large sulcata with him every year.. I use to just watch the tortoise for as long as I could.. I would be more excited about seeing the bearded man and his tortoise than I was about any other attractions at the festival..

 

[Yvonne G]

Would this be the same tortoise? It's from 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8RwXqEzr_4

When my son came home from serving his country in about 1980 or so, and he set up housekeeping on his own, he took in several box turtles and a desert tortoise. After a few months he got a rottweiler pup. The pup wouldn't leave the turtles alone so he asked me if I would take them.

We had tortoises in the '60's, but really didn't take the time to learn about them. They were just another animal in the back yard. So I told him yes, I would take them.

There was no internet at that time for doing research, so I joined a national tortoise club and a local reptile club and set about learning how to care for my new animals.

I still have the desert tortoise he gave me - Mi-Shelle. She was full grown at that time, so she's around 70 years or so.

Edit: I went through my computer looking for an article on this subject that I wrote for our club's newsletter, and I found it (copied here). Just ignore any discrepancies you find between the abbreviated version above and the full length article below...I'm old):

Mom, Will You Take My Turtles?
By Yvonne M. Gomez


Many years ago, my son bought a home of his own and started to accumulate his own pets. First of all he “rescued” (read bought) a female box turtle with puffy eyes that was being kept in the water turtle enclosure in a local pet store. Then another such box turtle, then a Gopherus agassizi that a co-worker’s father had run over with the disc in his vineyard….well, you get the idea.

Things went along smoothly for months. He built separate pens for each kind of turtle he had. He nursed them all back to health and he had a happy, healthy family of turtles and tortoises.

But then came the desire to get a rottweiller puppy. Big mistake! The puppy decided that all these little crawly, wiggly things in “his” backyard were just wonderful to chew on.

I doubt my son gave a second thought to which came first, the turtle or the pup. He had fallen in love with the pup, and the turtles just had to go! “Mom, will you take my turtles?”

I had a couple tortoises when I was first married, forty or fifty years ago, but I never really had an affinity for them. It was just something you had out in the backyard. But I had become a more sensitive person in my old age, and decided if I were to start caring for these animals, I needed to do some research and find out how they should be cared for…do it the right way. This was before computers…you know, the olden days! I bought every book I could find on the subject, some good – some bad – some in between. I was one of the first subscribers to Reptiles magazine. I started a turtle club in my city. And guess what? I discovered you can’t just have one or two turtles.

When people find out you like turtles, they bring you more. Or when you go to the pet store for cat food and see a different kind of turtle, you just have to buy it!

I’ve been in the “turtle business” for about 35 years now. I have reached the point where I realize I have to say “no” occasionally. I have stopped diversifying and have settled into keeping only a few different species. My whole property is covered with turtle and tortoise pens. There is no “front yard,” only tortoise pens. There is no “back yard,” only tortoise pens.

I recognized quite early on that there was a need for a turtle rescue in my city. At first I operated the rescue through the local turtle club, but now I’m totally on my own. I have a long list of people waiting to adopt, and I receive turtles and tortoises weekly. I keep them for a period of two weeks just to make sure there isn’t a previous owner looking for them. During this time I make sure the animal is eating and looks healthy.

When it’s time to find a home for my animals, I make an appointment and go look at the prospective owner’s habitat.

I try to place water turtles in a home where they can be outside in a pond, and I like for tortoises to have their own separate pen, not to be allowed to roam freely in the yard. The majority of the animals I receive have been lost & found. This means the previous home was not secure. Either a gate was left open or he dug out under the fence, or whatever. This is why I caution people to build him a separate pen.

I believe that each different type of turtle or tortoise needs it’s own enclosure, and I don’t adopt to people who plan on mixing species. I think that animals from different continents have different micro-organisms inside them that might prove harmful to other species.

This is a labor of love for me. I’m retired now, and spend all my free time with the turtles and tortoises. And, after all these years, I still have that first rottweiller chewed box turtle, and the disc scarred desert tortoise.

Clovis Turtle & Tortoise Rescue
Clovisturtlerescue.tripod.com
[email protected]

 

[mike taylor]

Thats an awesome story Yvonne .

 

[mtdavis254817]

Re: RE: Just wondering..

Would this be the same tortoise? It's from 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8RwXqEzr_4

When my son came home from serving his country in about 1980 or so, and he set up housekeeping on his own, he took in several box turtles and a desert tortoise. After a few months he got a rottweiler pup. The pup wouldn't leave the turtles alone so he asked me if I would take them.

We had tortoises in the '60's, but really didn't take the time to learn about them. They were just another animal in the back yard. So I told him yes, I would take them.

There was no internet at that time for doing research, so I joined a national tortoise club and a local reptile club and set about learning how to care for my new animals.

I still have the desert tortoise he gave me - Mi-Shelle. She was full grown at that time, so she's around 70 years or so.

Edit: I went through my computer looking for an article on this subject that I wrote for our club's newsletter, and I found it (copied here). Just ignore any discrepancies you find between the abbreviated version above and the full length article below...I'm old):

Mom, Will You Take My Turtles?
By Yvonne M. Gomez


Many years ago, my son bought a home of his own and started to accumulate his own pets. First of all he “rescued” (read bought) a female box turtle with puffy eyes that was being kept in the water turtle enclosure in a local pet store. Then another such box turtle, then a Gopherus agassizi that a co-worker’s father had run over with the disc in his vineyard….well, you get the idea.

Things went along smoothly for months. He built separate pens for each kind of turtle he had. He nursed them all back to health and he had a happy, healthy family of turtles and tortoises.

But then came the desire to get a rottweiller puppy. Big mistake! The puppy decided that all these little crawly, wiggly things in “his” backyard were just wonderful to chew on.

I doubt my son gave a second thought to which came first, the turtle or the pup. He had fallen in love with the pup, and the turtles just had to go! “Mom, will you take my turtles?”

I had a couple tortoises when I was first married, forty or fifty years ago, but I never really had an affinity for them. It was just something you had out in the backyard. But I had become a more sensitive person in my old age, and decided if I were to start caring for these animals, I needed to do some research and find out how they should be cared for…do it the right way. This was before computers…you know, the olden days! I bought every book I could find on the subject, some good – some bad – some in between. I was one of the first subscribers to Reptiles magazine. I started a turtle club in my city. And guess what? I discovered you can’t just have one or two turtles.

When people find out you like turtles, they bring you more. Or when you go to the pet store for cat food and see a different kind of turtle, you just have to buy it!

I’ve been in the “turtle business” for about 35 years now. I have reached the point where I realize I have to say “no” occasionally. I have stopped diversifying and have settled into keeping only a few different species. My whole property is covered with turtle and tortoise pens. There is no “front yard,” only tortoise pens. There is no “back yard,” only tortoise pens.

I recognized quite early on that there was a need for a turtle rescue in my city. At first I operated the rescue through the local turtle club, but now I’m totally on my own. I have a long list of people waiting to adopt, and I receive turtles and tortoises weekly. I keep them for a period of two weeks just to make sure there isn’t a previous owner looking for them. During this time I make sure the animal is eating and looks healthy.

When it’s time to find a home for my animals, I make an appointment and go look at the prospective owner’s habitat.

I try to place water turtles in a home where they can be outside in a pond, and I like for tortoises to have their own separate pen, not to be allowed to roam freely in the yard. The majority of the animals I receive have been lost & found. This means the previous home was not secure. Either a gate was left open or he dug out under the fence, or whatever. This is why I caution people to build him a separate pen.

I believe that each different type of turtle or tortoise needs it’s own enclosure, and I don’t adopt to people who plan on mixing species. I think that animals from different continents have different micro-organisms inside them that might prove harmful to other species.

This is a labor of love for me. I’m retired now, and spend all my free time with the turtles and tortoises. And, after all these years, I still have that first rottweiller chewed box turtle, and the disc scarred desert tortoise.

Clovis Turtle & Tortoise Rescue
Clovisturtlerescue.tripod.com
[email protected]

Wow that is a really cool tort. I love the little cart. Unfortunately the one I use to see did not have that.. I like your story Yvonne thank you

---

I love how you kinda just stumbled into becoming a huge benefit to tortoises and turtles all over the world.. Think about it.. We have members of this forum scattered all around this world, and your advice and knowledge has helped many tortoise owners raise a healthy happy animal. You have helped diagnose, treat, identify, and give great guidelines to people eager to obtain the correct information on their own tortoise... On behalf of happy healthy tortoises all across the planet we thank you..

 

[Saleama]

I got mine the same as many others, through my Father. Like many on here, there was not a single time that we saw a turtle on the road that we didn't stop for it. Heck, my father would pass ten gas stations with three kids screaming they had to pee if he was in a hurry, but let one little box turtle or even a giant snapping turtle come even close to the road and there we were, pulled over until Dad could deal with the turtle appropriately. If it was a box turtle, it came home with us until he could determine it was ok and then it was returned to the area we found it (unless we were far from home and then that determination was made on the road and release was immediate). If it was a water turtle the search for the nearest body of water began and we would release it there. We also found dozens of box turtles while hunting. We had a black lab named Bratt that LOVED her some box turtles. She did not chew them, she retrieved them. There were litterally hundreds of times she would come back to the hunting site with the dead bird and immediatly run back into the field. If she did not come back as soon as we called, we knew she had found a turtle and would be back with it soon. I remember one hunt she went back and forth and brought us 3 of them! Of course, this was back in the 80's when they were still plentifull and Bratt has been gone now for nearly 30 years. Anyway, I just started caring for them again last year when my Uncle offered me his babies. So now we try and rescue as many as we can and we try and adopt out the babies after their first winter. We have 9 adults, 9 juveniles and 5 babies at the moment. I am sure there are more babies we did not find in the garden and as soon as they pop up in the spring, they will join the other babies. It is alot of work and gets pretty expensive, but I would not stop now for anything! I love my little guys.

 

[Moozillion]

Wonderful stories!

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Re: Just wondering.

This is a long story.

My parents call it an obsession. I call it an "extreme hobby". Whatever. To put it simply, I have spent the last 4 months losing my marbles over anything with four legs and a shell.

I don't know what triggered it. I remember the exact moment it started. It will be etched into my mind forever. It was a regular old day in August. I was at my cousins house, and we were riding scooters. My birthday was in November, and it seemed really close. Of course, it wasn't, but i liked to pretend it was right around the corner. I was thinking about what I wanted for my birthday from my folks. I don't know what happened really. It was like someone snapped their fingers under my nose and I woke up. Not knowing what I was doing, I blurted out, "HOW ABOUT A TORTOISE?" I remember saying it really loud, but not shouting it, like it was a huge revelation. I was excited, because it felt perfect. The word flew in my ears and sounded smooth on my tongue. Rambling. I just started rambling. "How cool would that be?? I could come home everyday and do my homework with him, and then like hang out with him, yeah you know, I have seen them at the pet store and stuff. Like a hundred bucks. I should. I should get a tortoise!!!" The last part I, um, screamed. It just felt so right! Of course a tortoise, why not. It all seemed so perfect and simple.

So that's my story. Kind of lame I know. But its how my obsess- er, "extreme hobby" came about. *cough cough* its an obsession really *cough cough*

Hope you enjoyed!!

 

[Eloise's mommy]

It's simple I have never heard of a tortoise or turtle hurting anyone. To me they are as peaceful as can be. One day while browsing my local news station's website I came across a story about a college kid's social experiment. He placed a RUBBER turtle in the road. He was looking to see how many would notice the "creature" and what reaction they would have. People are cruel many didn't stop to help most didn't stop is a better description I suppose. Some swerved to miss it but then there were those who intentionally tried to run the turtle over( it's a fake turtle remember). How and why anyone could be so absolutely cruel is beyond my comprehension. It sparked a curiosity in me and I then discovered the difference between a water turtle and dry tortoise and knew if I ever got one it would be a tort because I don't do tanks full of water. About a month later I went into petsmart for dog food and left with a tortoise and no dog food. I fell in love immediately and I am grateful to the rubber turtle for enlightening me to the cruelty of people and sparking my curiosity I've never had a better friend or pet.

 

[jennanne]

Wonderful stories everyone.
As a child I grew up near the beach, and basically lived on it. This is where I fell in love with sea turtles. They are so beautiful and graceful, and as a swimmer and water polo player, I feel closest to this animal. My obsession with sea tortoises led to the best gift I have ever received--a red foot called speedy--for my eighth birthday. Unfortunately, speedy was not healthy and died three days later. As an eight year old girl, this was devastating. But I was promised another tortoise, and a few months later, received my baby girl Peanut. Peanut is a gift from heaven, and opening up a box to find a little animal that could fit in my pocket was precious. We both grew up together, played together, and anytime I had a bad day, I knew peanut was at home waiting for me.
Ten years later, she still runs to her opening when she hears my voice after school. She is the love of my life.

 

[mtdavis254817]

Great stories

 

[Vishnu2]

Mine also starts with my father. My father is a police officer in Texas. While he was patrolling he saw a turtle in the middle of the road. I was 9. We kept the turtle in the bath tub not knowing what to do with the little guy. I decided to let him go at the creek in my town. I wrote my phone number in white out on his shell incase he fell into trouble and needed me (Remember I was 9). About 2 years later my phone rang. My dad answered the phone and it was a person in Louisiana that had my old turtle. I was in disbelief. The white out lasted that long…. But, it was the turtle my dad found. He traveled long and far. I became very involved in tortoises and turtles. I became a licensed Vet Tech specializing in exotics care for a few Vet's in the Dallas area. Tortoises and Turtles are my passion. Even though I have a cert I still learn new things everyday about tortoises and turtles from this forum.. That's my story. Great thread by the way.