R.I.P. Sully

[Sully06012018]

Ok...it took me a while to be a able to share this. On July 3 I had Sully a month old Sulcata in his kiddie pool filled with organic soil and little seedlings. I was watching him but realized I left my phone indoors. I wasn't gone 3 minutrs and came out and Sully was gone. I looked to the side and there was my 3 yr old shorkie with Sully in his mouth. I ran over but it was too late. I felt terrible and cried all day. Since that awful day I located a almost 7 month old sulcata and named him Sheldon. My husband just finished a 4'X6' table with hardware fence framed for a lid. It is up on legs and there is no way anything can get to him. Tomorrow I will fill it with organic soil and add edible plants for him. He has part of it covered with boards for shade. I plan on letting him spend part of hi day outside and the rest inside. I learned a very hard lesson and Sheldon will benefit from it.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for sharing this. That couldn't have been easy to type. I hope other people will read this and be more careful.

 

[KarenSoCal]

Ok...it took me a while to be a able to share this. On July 3 I had Sully a month old Sulcata in his kiddie pool filled with organic soil and little seedlings. I was watching him but realized I left my phone indoors. I wasn't gone 3 minutrs and came out and Sully was gone. I looked to the side and there was my 3 yr old shorkie with Sully in his mouth. I ran over but it was too late. I felt terrible and cried all day. Since that awful day I located a almost 7 month old sulcata and named him Sheldon. My husband just finished a 4'X6' table with hardware fence framed for a lid. It is up on legs and there is no way anything can get to him. Tomorrow I will fill it with organic soil and add edible plants for him. He has part of it covered with boards for shade. I plan on letting him spend part of hi day outside and the rest inside. I learned a very hard lesson and Sheldon will benefit from it.

I'm so very sorry you had to go through such a horrifying experience.
And glad you have Sheldon to enjoy now!

 

[TriciaStringer]

I am so sorry. Thank you for sharing this with us. I know it must have been difficult.

 

[NewTortEnthusiast]

I had a similar event which was very traumatizing. I posted it in another thread, but I will paste the story here.

When I was around 9 years old, I used to have a RT. He was about a year old. Had a really good shell, was healthy, ate everything I gave him. I was so excited. I built him probably a 4ft by 4ft box thing as soon as I got him. 2 weeks go by and my father and I were planning on building him a real super duper awesome enclosure for him.
I'll never forget. I was watching him walk around in my front yard. I was laying down next to him and he would come up to me every once in a while. I truly think he liked me. Then a few minutes go by and he's probably 10 ft away from me and just laying there basking, I was still laying there watching him. Then out of nowhere my neighbors german shepherd jumps my front gate and killed him right in front of me; he was so fast. I saw Bob's lifeless back half of his body fall to the floor. I cried.

To this day, I still hate my neighbor.

Pretty dark story, but I too lost my tortoise and was scared for my life. I cried for weeks.

 

[daniellenc]

It’s a tough lesson to learn and I’m sorry it happened to you. Definitely my greatest fear with two cats and a dog. My guys indoor enclosure is locked and a closed chamber. I’m using a 12x12 roofed dog pen with door for the outside next year when he’s two and bigger. Even with these precautions I worry. Dogs are dogs. In his mind it was a toy or prey.

 

[Jay Bagley]

Very sorry this happened to your tortoise, sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Sully06012018]

I had a similar event which was very traumatizing. I posted it in another thread, but I will paste the story here.

When I was around 9 years old, I used to have a RT. He was about a year old. Had a really good shell, was healthy, ate everything I gave him. I was so excited. I built him probably a 4ft by 4ft box thing as soon as I got him. 2 weeks go by and my father and I were planning on building him a real super duper awesome enclosure for him.
I'll never forget. I was watching him walk around in my front yard. I was laying down next to him and he would come up to me every once in a while. I truly think he liked me. Then a few minutes go by and he's probably 10 ft away from me and just laying there basking, I was still laying there watching him. Then out of nowhere my neighbors german shepherd jumps my front gate and killed him right in front of me; he was so fast. I saw Bob's lifeless back half of his body fall to the floor. I cried.

To this day, I still hate my neighbor.

Pretty dark story, but I too lost my tortoise and was scared for my life. I cried for weeks.

I know it was long ago...but I am still sorry for your loss.

 

[tacotaco]

So very sorry that happened. I’m sure Sheldon will have a very happy life!

 

[Tim Carlisle]

OMG... that is my worst nightmare. Only in my case replace "shorkie" with "owl". So sorry to hear your news. I agree with @Tom ... that couldn't have been easy to type.

 

[wellington]

So very sorry. Your story will hopefully help to convince others that torts and dogs don't mix and how quick it can happen. We are trying to convince people all the time. Your story will help to do that. At least a little bit of good out of a sad story.

 

[Sully06012018]

Thank you all for all of your kind words. I still cry when I see one of Sully's pictures. Sheldon is a great tort...Sully was light colored so I picked Sheldon who is darker. Will get some pictures of him and his new outdoor enclosure soon.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I had a large Sulcata, It's too hard to tell his story, but he lived with me for almost 17 years. We had a bond most people never get to experience. If you want to read some stories about him just search Tortoise Forum for Bob. It's been 3 years since he died and I still cry about him, and I miss him so bad still there are no words to describe it. I am very sorry for all you that lost their beloved tortoises. I certainly under stand.