My first craigslist rescue!

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Saleama

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After reading many horror stories on here I decided to go to Craigslist and see what I could find. To my delight and utter horor, the first post was a free land turtle to good home, includes cage. The "land turtle" turned out to be a beautiful, if scarred, three toed male with the coolest eyes! They were white at first and my friend and I checked over and over to make sure, well, when I got him home, his eyes had turned a scary looking, thin red color! Just beautiful. The cage he was being housed in for ten years was a plastic bird cage with no sub at all and no heat lamp or food and water dish. My buddy, who picked him up for me, asked if I wanted the cage and I told him no, because this little guy was NEVER going to go back in there, even for the ride home!

His back appears smooth with his scutes rubbed down smooth and also his plastron has been rubbed smooth, but he appears to be friendly and in good health. Unfortunatly, I have my quarantine tank filled with three baby GCB's and I have to house him in a box for the night until I can get him a nice tub and heat lamp. He will be with me for a few weeks and then he is going to go to my Uncle's garden where he will have seven new friends to hang out with.

I encourage everyone here to check craigslist weekly if not daily. I almost lost this guy to a person who wanted a pet for their kid. I am not saying he would have been put in a bad place becoming a pet for a kid, but we all know how most of those cases turn out!

Anyway, here he is and please do not judge. It was late when I got him and the stores were closed. I had to choose between getting him while unprepared or losing him to a person seeking a pet! My turtles and torts are not pets, they are companions that I take care of and they take care of me in an odd way. I had to put him in a box for the night. He has 4" of coconut coir and mulch, plenty of water and good food including a bit of scambled egg I cooked him. He will get a proper quarantine tub with fresh plants and a proper dish tomorrow!
 

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wellington

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Congrats and good for you. He is a handsome fella. Your temp box, looks better then his 10 year old home sounds:)
 

lynnedit

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Good grief, he is in the Hilton compare to his previous set up.
Well done! Will you quarantine/check him out before he heads to his paradise at your Uncle's?

Well done for taking him in.
 

Saleama

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lynnedit said:
Good grief, he is in the Hilton compare to his previous set up.
Well done! Will you quarantine/check him out before he heads to his paradise at your Uncle's?

Well done for taking him in.

He is in quarantine now. My quarantine tank is housing a 3 year old and 2 two year old gulf coast boxies I picked up from a Tortoise guy in Waxahachie Texas on Saturday so I had to put him in a box for now. he will get an adult quarantine tub tomorrow and maybe move to his garden paradise in two weeks after the Dallas Reptile Breeder show on the 10th.
 

*misskerrimoo*

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You go! :D *high five* I have rescued for years, & its always sweet to see others joining in! ^.^

MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN:

3.2.0 Cats (Neeko, Bootsie, Bean (Special Needs), Puff (Special needs), Pokie)
1.0.0 Dog (Sidney (Special needs))
2.0.0 Bearded Dragons (Lochey & Zane (Special needs))
2.1.0 Leopard Geckos (Hopper, Spanky-Butt (Special needs), Rumi)
0.0.1 Greek Tortoise Hatchling (Mookie-Boo - Ibera species)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Ellie, Teddy)
0.0.1 Emporer Scorpion (Mr. Pickles)
1.0.0 Betta Fish (Mr. Pook-Pook)
 

luvpetz27

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He is adorable!!
You have a huge heart for saving this sweetheart!! :) He can have a great life now.
 

AnnV

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So happy for the little guy. Is it normal for the shell to be that smooth? It looks polished!

Ann from CT
 

Jlant85

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Oh nice! that was the couple that was being sold for $30 am i correct? i saw that and i wanted to buy them!
 

Sulcata_Sandy

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He has a sweet face! I'm so happy you saved him. No judgement here, who cares if he's in a cardboard box...as long as he has proper substrate, environment and diet...and especially LOVE!

{{{{hug}}}}


Sandy in Oregon
.....................................................
Veterinary Technician, 21 years of critter luvin'
Schlomo aka "Mo" the rescue Sulcata, "man without a face"
Dexter and Lola (Basenjis...show dogs extraordinare)

No kids, no husband, just critters and I'm happy.
Sent from my iPad using TortForum mobile app
 

thatrebecca

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Good for you! I'm sure he'll be happy digging into that nice substrate. I, too, am curious about his smoothness. What is that a result of? You said 'rubbed smooth' in your post. Do you mean his owner did it somehow?
 

Saleama

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Ok....no it was not a pair for $30 but I am willing to go broke to rescue these guys so if anyone sees postings for boxies or torts in the Dallas area please PM me in case I missed it. I rescued a total of 6 this weekend alone. I got this guy in Cedar Hill Texas. The other 5 were not really rescues but more like people who cared a great deal about them but they did not fit into their plans at the moment. They are three Gulf Coast Boxies 2 around 2 years old and one around three, and two baby Three Toed boxies around a year old. I also have any number of hatchling Three Toed coming in another month as we find them in my Uncle's garden, which is where this guy is going in a few weeks.

I don't know why he is this smooth. The picture on the post was not like this. He had normal patterns. I have never seen anything like it. I know he was in a bird cage on the porch with no substrate and no food or water, just some grass and two big rocks. He is a 20 gal tote as of this afternoon with a good heat lamp and about 4 -5 inches of substrate. he just finished hi 6th super worm so I know he is having a good time. He had a salad of mung bean sprouts, carrots and scrambled egg last night. He didn't eat his carrots! LOL... I can't wait to see if he gives us any babies next season after hibernation!
 

terryo

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Wonderful! I love seeing things like this. He is smooth because he is old. He must have been old when they got him 10 years ago.
 

Tk.dinh

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Yes, I agreed with you, they aren't pet, they are companions. Beautiful!
 

Mantissa3

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Hi Saleama:

I just saw your post and pictures of your wonderful "land turtle"...

I love the way you put it- that your torts are your companions, not pets. That is exactly how I've felt for years about my rescues of many wild birds and hurt-from-bad-homes/pet store neglect birds, and now my baby Gibby, the RF who was housed out in the open, in scorching heat with two frisky sulcata babies (Gibby is from South America, with no moist hide, roasting in the "hot sun" while his companions from the desert gobbled food and played on his back...)

I'm so happy you got him- he's wise and lovely looking,
Karen

PS Nobody in their right mind would judge the cardboard box, the first night home, as "bad" or "wrong" m'dear- you did a wonderful, angelic act bringing him home with you and fixing up his healthy habitat!!!!


Saleama said:
After reading many horror stories on here I decided to go to Craigslist and see what I could find. To my delight and utter horor, the first post was a free land turtle to good home, includes cage. The "land turtle" turned out to be a beautiful, if scarred, three toed male with the coolest eyes! They were white at first and my friend and I checked over and over to make sure, well, when I got him home, his eyes had turned a scary looking, thin red color! Just beautiful. The cage he was being housed in for ten years was a plastic bird cage with no sub at all and no heat lamp or food and water dish. My buddy, who picked him up for me, asked if I wanted the cage and I told him no, because this little guy was NEVER going to go back in there, even for the ride home!

His back appears smooth with his scutes rubbed down smooth and also his plastron has been rubbed smooth, but he appears to be friendly and in good health. Unfortunatly, I have my quarantine tank filled with three baby GCB's and I have to house him in a box for the night until I can get him a nice tub and heat lamp. He will be with me for a few weeks and then he is going to go to my Uncle's garden where he will have seven new friends to hang out with.

I encourage everyone here to check craigslist weekly if not daily. I almost lost this guy to a person who wanted a pet for their kid. I am not saying he would have been put in a bad place becoming a pet for a kid, but we all know how most of those cases turn out!

Anyway, here he is and please do not judge. It was late when I got him and the stores were closed. I had to choose between getting him while unprepared or losing him to a person seeking a pet! My turtles and torts are not pets, they are companions that I take care of and they take care of me in an odd way. I had to put him in a box for the night. He has 4" of coconut coir and mulch, plenty of water and good food including a bit of scambled egg I cooked him. He will get a proper quarantine tub with fresh plants and a proper dish tomorrow!
 

Saleama

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Well he is quite the pig this one. I bought him a bucket of super worms and fed him one at a time. He ate 14 the first sitting and another 2 before I went to bed. The third one he sniffed, picked up and dropped in his water dish. He is in a large tub now. I found no sign of parasites in his gifts, and trust me, he plopped them all right in the water dish for me to find. Nothing quite like cleaning up after 6 torts and 9 boxies at 6 am! His outdoor quaratine pen has been completed in my Uncle's garden and he is going to go live there Saturday morning. He will be going with his little Gulf Coast Cousin that needs an outdoor home soon. It kills me to get these guys and then rehome them but it feels good to get them to places they can be happy and healthy!
 

*misskerrimoo*

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It's nothing like feeding a starved rescue a good meal, is it? ;) I was sooo happy to feed Zane, my special needs beardie, his first live bugs I think he'd ever had! He ate 25 crickets in one sitting & wanted more, but I didn't wait to overload him.. I rescue all I can, but Always try to keep the special needs ones, if there's something severely wrong... & I'm very careful who I adopt out to, & demand pictures & such to see how much baby us doing in his/her new home.. I just rehomed a a female beardie, & she seems really loved with her new mommy. :) & her new beardie friend, spike. :) its so heartbreaking to see them go, though... I always keep up with my people who adopt them, in case something goes wrong & I have to take the animal back... Glad your uncle can give these turtles a happy home! & you can go visit & all! :B

I have a rescued veiled chameleon coming here tomorrow! He's special needs, so he'll live out his life with me. :)

MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN:

3.2.0 Cats (Neeko, Bootsie, Bean (Special Needs), Puff (Special needs), Pokie)
1.0.0 Dog (Sidney (Special needs))
2.0.0 Bearded Dragons (Lochey & Zane (Special needs))
2.1.0 Leopard Geckos (Hopper, Spanky-Butt (Special needs), Rumi)
0.0.1 Greek Tortoise Hatchling (Mookie-Boo - Ibera species)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Ellie, Teddy)
0.0.1 Emporer Scorpion (Mr. Pickles)
1.0.0 Betta Fish (Mr. Pook-Pook)
 
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