ok everyone read this! (LONG story advice needed!)

[moswen]

ok, so there is a lady on my tulsa craig's list putting her 30lb sulcata up for adoption, i contacted her immediately when i saw it bc i absolutely did NOT want him to go to a rescue or to the first big spender to come her way, and she called me last night, and i'm really impressed with her!!

so this is the story (i posted this and the link on the adoptions page so some of you may have already read this):

she is getting older and she lives in a second story appartment, and he is getting too big and she is getting too old to carry him up and down the stairs every evening to let him graze in the un-sprayed park behind her appt complex.

his name is sunshine, she also "rescued" him when he was three years old, he has the usual amount (if possably more) of pyramiding but that could have come from the previous owners. she thinks of him as her baby, and wants him to go to a woman, because she believes that a woman can love him better than a man can. she asked me if i have dogs, where i live, if i have any other animals, how old i am, if i'm married, we talked about all kinds of stuff! I'm really really impressed with her initiative in finding him a good home!

now, when i origionally contacted her my thought was "grab him before someone else takes him and doesn't treat him right, i can provide him a temporary home until i can find the person on this website who wants an adult sulcata, and hand him over to this person." (p.s. if you're the guy who wants the adult sulcatas, i'm sorry, she only wants him to go to a woman...) but now i can see that she does care for her sunshine and does want him to go to a good home, so i'm not concerned anymore, but i actually recieved another call from her this morning and she wants to come over and look at my yard and bring sunshine to see if he likes it!

so, it seems that she likes me and may choose me to be the future mother of her baby... but honestly i think she can find a better home for her than mine, and that's the truth. our privacy fence has holes in the bottom and our dogs would have to live inside while this sully lives outside, and i'm willing to do this because we are looking for a home in the country and i can provide him with an entire acre and his life will be perfect then, but i've honestly been looking for months and months right now and we haven't found one to suit our budget or our likings. so who knows how long this situation will last? i mean, if we can't find a house by the end of this summer i'm going to have to make a house for tula in our room and let sunshine live under the pool table! and i'm sure a 30lb sulcata makes a HUGE poo mess!!!

but this woman has apparently been looking for a while and her friend actually posted this guy on craig's bc she just couldn't find someone to take this guy, so i really don't want to turn her away.

the facts are, i can give him an ok -acceptaple- home right now and treat him properly and financially my husband and i can feed him, and in the future we can give him a GREAT place to live, but there could be someone else right now who can treat him well, love him forever, feed him well, and who are CURRENTLY living in the country.

the facts also are, she may never find that person!

ADVICE!!!!!! please.

and hey, if there's someone else out on this forum (who is female lol) who wants this guy, go after him!!!

 

[khanvict]

i think if your intentions are good then the rest will take care of itself. sure, she may find a better home but there is always someone out there who has it better than you. she may also not end up going to a better home. i say, don't over think it. if this is what you truly want then go for it. opportunity doesn't knock twice. your family will adapt and so will the tortoise.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

i think if your intentions are good then the rest will take care of itself. sure, she may find a better home but there is always someone out there who has it better than you. she may also not end up going to a better home. i say, don't over think it. if this is what you truly want then go for it. opportunity doesn't knock twice. your family will adapt and so will the tortoise.

2nd that!

 

[Stephanie Logan]

I hope it all works out for the best. Sure sounds tempting. Sunshine sounds awfully lovable, and used to being loved.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You can always get some cinder blocks to make a pen, you can get scrap wood to cover the holes in the fence. He's used to living in an apartment so living outside in your yard no matter how small will seem like heaven to him. I wish you were closer to Oregon, I sure would help you out. I know Bob would love having someone to push around. Our temps went up today, the talking heads said "the temperature went soaring up to 75!" these people don't have a clue what hot is. But I don't miss those hot temps either. Bob's strawberry patch is all ripening but the store has been sending watermelons home for him and I am getting concerned about a sugar overdose. Don't tell him, but I have been giving his strawberries away... lol

 

[moswen]

Oh thanks everyone! Actually, the situation has fixed itself... She's got a friend who is going to take sunshine at the end of the summer, so I am basically going to be his temporary home giver! So I'm okay with being his temporary mommy! She came over this morning and brought him and he's so awesome! I've never seen a sulcata before mine in real life and he's just awesome. So I'm just going to line my fence with rr ties and feed him! (So look out cory, I'm going to be sending you a big order soon!) I'm SO HAPPY!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

How fun is that! They are such awesome tortoises, you will see that he has a personality like a dog. He will follow you around and love to be pet. Rub your hands on his carapace and he will do the hootchie cootchie dance for you...