Warning!!!

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stells

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Its with a heavy heart that i post this here... on Sunday i lost 1 and 2 (Horsfield hatchlings)...

I found 2 beside my kids trampoline... but unfortunately he was already dead... it looks like he was trodden on i'm afraid to say :( 1 was still AWOL.. and with the size of my garden and the size of the tortoise i really didn't hold out hope of finding him...

I feel it is completely my fault for not being vigilant enough... i thought i had taken everything into account when doing their pen... they had wire bottom and top so nothing like this could ever happen... sadly though i didn't think anything of the 2 inch gap which ran across the back where the fence post stuck out abit and wouldn't let me fit the lid flush to the fence... if i had taken the time and effort i could have fixed the problem so easily... but was concentrating more on them going down than up... i caught 3 shimmying the corner at the back and can only think his siblings did the same...

Luckily this morning i put some Romaine in the enclosures... something i do every week whilst they are outside... i went indoors for 10 mins but popped out for a walk up the garden path to look at the animals... to my joy number 1 was sat looking at a piece of Romaine in the Ibera enclosure...

I am very sad that this has had to happen... i have put myself in the firing line here... and some may think i am a bad keeper for allowing this to happen.... but to be honest i really don't care... nobody can think i am any worse than what i do right now...

And if me saying make sure you check everything regularly and if you have any doubts about possible escape... act on it right away and don't be fooled by the smallest of gaps... if that saves another tortoise from the same fate as number 2 then i'm happy to let others know of my stupid mistake...


Here are pics of the enclosure from when it was being built.. so its not brilliant... the problem has since been resolved... all be it a little to late...
If you look at the back of the enclosure you can see where the fence post is and how small the gap is... not even sure it is 2 inches...

tortoises121-1.jpg


Here is how i found 1 this morning.... look to the right of Dandelion (Ibera)... he really did like the look of that lettuce leaf...

tortoises528.jpg


Kelly
 

way2gfy

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I am sorry to hear about your loss.

I am going to start making my outdoor pen once it cools off here so I have it ready... makes me think of the things I need to know.

Thanks, and sorry again.
 

Shelli

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I'm so sorry, and thankyou for the warning, honestly not in a million years would I have though either that they would climb up and now I know.. (((())) so sorry! :(
 

ChiKat

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I'm so sorry for your loss, I can't imagine how you must feel :( :(
 

Seiryu

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I'm sorry Kelly :(. At least you have now fixed the problem and did double time to make sure they couldn't escape any further. And you found 1 alive so that is a positive thought.

I may come across the same issue as you (One of the walls for my outdoor pen will be using the wooden fence), and I'm still not sure how i'm going to seal that gap yet.
 

terryo

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Oh Kelly, I am so sorry. I DO know exactly how you feel. Thank you for helping others by posting this. We all make mistakes..
 

Nay

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Kelly, It sucks and we do our best.
I had chickens and peacocks that I rasied from babies. Because of an earlier bout with a fox a few years earlier getting my family pet peacock, we made the decision not to let them free range. So, to give them the best area I started to 'collect' dog kennels that I could add together to give then loads of space. We found another one and added the panels. we needed to have a top because the litlle bantam chickens would get out. Went on vacation and my sitter found all my flock including my 2 full grown raised from eggs peacock dead from a raccoon. I was devasted. I had left a 6 inch gap at the top and that racoon had a blast.(I did catch him when we got back,I drove him far away but could not kill him) My peacock guy knowing I was so upset said yes it was my fault. Learn from it. That's all we can do.
Sorry for your little guy.
Na
 

dmmj

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I have read and reread the post, and I don't know what has happened? were they trampled or something, I am not tryng to be mean or callous, but I would like a little explanation if you don't mind, thank you. Maybe I should say I would like some more info.
 

Stazz

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Aw Kelly, thats really sad. Indeed we all make mistakes, and we can all learn from eachother's mistakes. Thanks for sharing you story, it had a slight happy ending with number 1 coming back A-OK. But these things do happen, and you're not alone. I know for a fact you're a damn good keeper....you're engaged to Danny :p (Just trying to make you smile!)
 

Crazy1

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Kelly, sorry for your loss. Thank you for the warning for new enclosures. One can not be to careful when building a pen. But accidents do happen and that is what this was. Sorry you lost #2 but at least the rest are now safe. Keep up the good work and don't beat yourself up, you don't deserve it.
 
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