Really?!?

Yvonne G

Old Timer
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Jan 23, 2008
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93,390
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Clovis, CA
I about had a heart attack...I have x amount of dollars in the bank, and more coming...but they wanted $368 UP FRONT to see him today. What a freakin insult! This is the same Vet who took care of Bob...So I fought for the exam (don't need it, as I know, and I palpated him but I didn't feel anything.) and 1 ex ray view not the 3 she wants. $206 and they snatched that amount from my bank account before they even took him inside. Robber barons
Why would the thought of using Bob's killer vet even enter your mind?
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
Could you even have one responsibly in Virginia?
That is something I have puzzled over since I moved to Oregon. So I set the tortoises up as good as I could. Over time I think I am realizing that winter is mean to an active big Sulcata. They have to be inside for 7 months out of the year. Bob used to pace and bang the walls. After a few years as he was bigger, I would open his doggie door and he would graze thru the snow and ice and he would go in when he got cold.
 
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queen koopa

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Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
754
Location (City and/or State)
Las Vegas Nevada
A lot of you know that Knobby has a new larger pen to roam around. More room, cooler room, more room, grass, grape plants too. So why oh why is he not happy there and continually testing the fence, and today. There's a great grape plant in the corner of fence and house, it's in and grown thru a 75 gallon cedar planter. Knobby seems fascinated by it, and keeps trying to squeeze around it. So I took a couple of cinder blocks and my old NASCAR tire and thought it was a done deal.
So I go to check on the tortoises, I do that thru out the day. Big Sam is playin in the sprinkler, but no Knobs to be seen. Seriously?
Cool tires
View attachment 297805

I don't know how long he had been there, but he wasn't trying to get out. I probably check on him especially every hour. Can you see him?
View attachment 297806
What a face. I'm thinking he is the ghost of King Robert III coming back to punish me. Look thru the grape leaves at that face in the previous picture
So here he is in all his badself.
View attachment 297808
this is a tortoise of a different color, no doubt. Even tho I moved the tire, he is still high centered and had just given up.


View attachment 297810

and just because, I have included this last picture as it is a prime example of what my sister always says, "if they can see thru it, they will try to get thru to it". He worries the gate time and time again. I have it wrapped so nobody is opening it. For me it is fun to show what ding bats Sulcata can be. How will he be controlled
when he's 100 lbs?
View attachment 297811
Always... give them something cool and they find out how to break it or they must move it.
 

Cindyberm

New Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2018
Messages
7
Location (City and/or State)
La Center, WA
That is something I have puzzled over since I moved to Oregon. So I set the tortoises up as good as I could. Over time I think I am realizing that winter is mean to an active big Sulcata. They have to be inside for 7 months out of the year. Bob used to pace and bang the walls. After a few years as he was bigger, I would open his doggie door and he would graze thru the snow and ice and he would go in when he got cold.
Hi, I live just north of Vancouver, WA, so practically a neighbor. When I moved here with Zippy I knew it would be a challenge giving him a good life because of the weather but my attempts to try to leave him with a suitable new owner in California failed. He is now around 4-5 years old, 40+ lbs, and lives in a tricked-out tool shed. He has a flap door to the yard that he accesses whenever he wants. He’s big enough that he can walk out for at least an hour anytime of year, rain or sun, and he does. So it looks like we are in the same place in taking care of our Sulcatas. We are not in a perfect environment but are doing the best we can. I feel I’ve made a commitment to him to give him the best life possible. I figure by the time I leave this house (I am 63 yrs) he will be much too big for me to take and care for. So I have turned the yard into as good a Zippy home as I can, with wading pond and all Sulcata-safe plants and trees. His shed has heaters, lamps, a separate bedroom with kane floor, a “playpen” area with damp coir that he goes in every day and fluffs around. The damp coir makes the whole place pretty humid. Here’s a picture I took yesterday of Z in the yard:
06F705A9-DF68-4140-B509-6C4DDBEA3CF4.jpeg
Anyway, my goal is to make the yard so livable for him, while being attractive, that the next owner of the house will take care of him. I know, a lot of things will have to go perfectly for this to go well, but leaving him to a family member is not an option, nor a rescue operation. It’ll come down to vetting prospective buyers. I can see the listing now: “House comes with Large Tortoise.”
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
Hi, I live just north of Vancouver, WA, so practically a neighbor. When I moved here with Zippy I knew it would be a challenge giving him a good life because of the weather but my attempts to try to leave him with a suitable new owner in California failed. He is now around 4-5 years old, 40+ lbs, and lives in a tricked-out tool shed. He has a flap door to the yard that he accesses whenever he wants. He’s big enough that he can walk out for at least an hour anytime of year, rain or sun, and he does. So it looks like we are in the same place in taking care of our Sulcatas. We are not in a perfect environment but are doing the best we can. I feel I’ve made a commitment to him to give him the best life possible. I figure by the time I leave this house (I am 63 yrs) he will be much too big for me to take and care for. So I have turned the yard into as good a Zippy home as I can, with wading pond and all Sulcata-safe plants and trees. His shed has heaters, lamps, a separate bedroom with kane floor, a “playpen” area with damp coir that he goes in every day and fluffs around. The damp coir makes the whole place pretty humid. Here’s a picture I took yesterday of Z in the yard:
View attachment 298006
Anyway, my goal is to make the yard so livable for him, while being attractive, that the next owner of the house will take care of him. I know, a lot of things will have to go perfectly for this to go well, but leaving him to a family member is not an option, nor a rescue operation. It’ll come down to vetting prospective buyers. I can see the listing now: “House comes with Large Tortoise.”
That big yard needs a Rose of Sharon, Sulcata love the blooms and leaves.
I tried to offer a set of tires to go with Knobby, a rescue I've had for a while. That didn't go over at all...lol
 

Ben and Luci

New Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2020
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Washington
Hi, I live just north of Vancouver, WA, so practically a neighbor. When I moved here with Zippy I knew it would be a challenge giving him a good life because of the weather but my attempts to try to leave him with a suitable new owner in California failed. He is now around 4-5 years old, 40+ lbs, and lives in a tricked-out tool shed. He has a flap door to the yard that he accesses whenever he wants. He’s big enough that he can walk out for at least an hour anytime of year, rain or sun, and he does. So it looks like we are in the same place in taking care of our Sulcatas. We are not in a perfect environment but are doing the best we can. I feel I’ve made a commitment to him to give him the best life possible. I figure by the time I leave this house (I am 63 yrs) he will be much too big for me to take and care for. So I have turned the yard into as good a Zippy home as I can, with wading pond and all Sulcata-safe plants and trees. His shed has heaters, lamps, a separate bedroom with kane floor, a “playpen” area with damp coir that he goes in every day and fluffs around. The damp coir makes the whole place pretty humid. Here’s a picture I took yesterday of Z in the yard:
View attachment 298006
Anyway, my goal is to make the yard so livable for him, while being attractive, that the next owner of the house will take care of him. I know, a lot of things will have to go perfectly for this to go well, but leaving him to a family member is not an option, nor a rescue operation. It’ll come down to vetting prospective buyers. I can see the listing now: “House comes with Large Tortoise.”
[/QUOTE
Yes I find my Luci likes to be out in so weather as well. Let's himself in when ever be here cold. They truly are fascinating creatures! Cinyberm I'm very interested in your house and your tortoise:)
 

K8E K

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Messages
91
Location (City and/or State)
N. CA
If I were looking at homes and it said "comes with tortoise" that would be the end of discussion, found our home ? Clearly, meant to be...?
 
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