Y's Tortoise Sanctuary

[EppsDynasty]

To those who don't know @Yvonne G is a big part of why our Family is in the position it's in now. She showed me what Kindness is, acceptance, and most of all fortitude : strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. She also put the Tortoise Bug in us, as reptile lovers we had housed Snakes, Lizards, etc. but not Tortoises. She was in our lives at a time that uncertainty ruled and I could count on her to put it all into perspective. She guided the way with compassion and was patient enough to deal with me, you may have guessed that was a chore. Our lives would not be what they are today without that time spent with her. As our lives go into directions we never thought possible we wanted to show our appreciation for her and the love she shared with us. We have decided to Dedicate a portion of our property to @Yvonne G and her decades of work with Desert Tortoises, it will be called "Y's Tortoise Sanctuary." I am including a video of this natural habitat on our property where we plan on housing over 35 Desert Tortoises permanently. There will have to be interaction with us for food, water and possibly shelter, don't know if they'll burrow naturally in the pens yet. Please share any thoughts or ideas you have on this project as it is not set stone yet how the area will be set up. We are thinking of nothing smaller than 24'x24' (about 7x7 meters) for the individual pens, we like to go big and want this to be as good as it can be. We look forward to hearing your responses and ideas enjoy.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm honored and humbled!

Love all the little Joshua Trees and teddy bear cacti. What type of fencing are you planning?

 

[EppsDynasty]

2"x8" 's. We can get them cheaper than any other size, 3 2x8's (24" total stacked on top of each other) is more than 25% cheaper than 2 2x12's. The pens will not be perfect squares/rectangles they will have to go around Joshua Trees, Sage etc.

 

[SinLA]

Looks lovely but I had to stop at the demonstration of jumping cactus removal.

Also, not sure what you have against @Tom but calling him a Turkey doesn't seem very nice, LOL

 

[Ink]

How thoughtful of you to name it after Yvonne. She deserves a lot of credit. Thank you Yvonne.

 

[Yvonne G]

How thoughtful of you to name it after Yvonne. She deserves a lot of credit. Thank you Yvonne.

Yeah, I really appreciate it, but am having a hard time wrapping my mind around deserving it.

 

[SinLA]

Yeah, I really appreciate it, but am having a hard time wrapping my mind around deserving it.

Nonsense!

 

[Ink]

Yeah, I really appreciate it, but am having a hard time wrapping my mind around deserving it.

You help so many people, tortoises, and turtles. You are appreciated by many.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

To those who don't know @Yvonne G is a big part of why our Family is in the position it's in now. She showed me what Kindness is, acceptance, and most of all fortitude : strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. She also put the Tortoise Bug in us, as reptile lovers we had housed Snakes, Lizards, etc. but not Tortoises. She was in our lives at a time that uncertainty ruled and I could count on her to put it all into perspective. She guided the way with compassion and was patient enough to deal with me, you may have guessed that was a chore. Our lives would not be what they are today without that time spent with her. As our lives go into directions we never thought possible we wanted to show our appreciation for her and the love she shared with us. We have decided to Dedicate a portion of our property to @Yvonne G and her decades of work with Desert Tortoises, it will be called "Y's Tortoise Sanctuary." I am including a video of this natural habitat on our property where we plan on housing over 35 Desert Tortoises permanently. There will have to be interaction with us for food, water and possibly shelter, don't know if they'll burrow naturally in the pens yet. Please share any thoughts or ideas you have on this project as it is not set stone yet how the area will be set up. We are thinking of nothing smaller than 24'x24' (about 7x7 meters) for the individual pens, we like to go big and want this to be as good as it can be. We look forward to hearing your responses and ideas enjoy.

Yeah, she's good people.

 

[EppsDynasty]

I'm honored and humbled!

Love all the little Joshua Trees and teddy bear cacti. What type of fencing are you planning?

I find it pretty amusing you call them Teddy Bear Cacti, I call them Death Cactus. This is due to the fact that I have had thorns from said cacti in my body for almost a year before finally getting them out, no decomposition at all. A wood splinter wood never last that long.
1st: We have to wait for the Home Store (Orange one) to enter in their computer when they expect to receive 2x8's. Once it's in the computer we then drive down and order ALL of them for our fencing. We have already ordered over 100 2x8's. The post will be 4x4's 4' long, 2' in the ground and 2' above. The town of Ridgecrest has had no 2x8's because we are doing this, checking the computer for an expected date of delivery to store then go buy em up.
2nd: Some may think that 40 Desert Tort pens is crazy, to many, never gonna happen. When we spoke with the Biologist that is the PERSON for the government around here to go to for Desert Torts there were some red flags. When I explained how Sally was most likely "singed" "burned" and we were doing Keratin Treatments (Coconut Oil) to help her shell she asked "Do you know if this works." Whoa this floored me, here is a highly educated biologist that knows nothing about shell care. She explained they have DT's that were in grass fires and other fires that needed rehab and they knew NOTHING about Coconut Oil. I explained how Lauric Acid acts, responds with Keratin and what Keratin damage is. SO .... we plan on doing whatever we can to help out the Desert Torts in need, even if that means housing torts for the Government. We are also building 20+ more pens an acre away for the quarantine area, with Joshua Trees as well. I was blown away by the lack of knowledge they actually possessed about the ACTUAL care for these wonderful animals they were the experts about.
Example: When they have to Trans Locate them they are all put together in the back of a truck, van something of the sort. NO BIO SECURITY at all. They also house them together ...uhhhh Pairs are no good.
So 4x4 post in the ground 2' and 2' above, 2x8's as the fence. This project is a BIG one but we feel a necessary one. The lack of competent care for these creatures is what is driving this, if ya don't believe me just google "Desert Tortoise Care." You will see for yourself that they may be smart Biologist but might not really know how to care for them in a captive setting. The Biologist explained to me she is a "Professional" Desert Tortoise in the wild person. Captive care is NOT one of their specialties.
This IS happening and I will keep updating on here as we go step by step.

 

[Yvonne G]

It's good that you're working with the Gov on the project. Can you give say your Biologist's name? I'm wondering if I would recognize her. I had a good rapport going with the Department of Fish and Game (Now Fish and Wildlife) here in our town. It helps to have them on your side.

 

[Yvonne G]

It's also sometimes referred to as the jumping cactus as it seems all you have to do is walk in close proximity to the plant to get it stuck to you. It's really a cholla in the Cylindrapuntia family (pronounced choya)

 

[EppsDynasty]

It's also sometimes referred to as the jumping cactus as it seems all you have to do is walk in close proximity to the plant to get it stuck to you. It's really a cholla in the Cylindrapuntia family (pronounced choya)

O ... Thank you.

 

[EppsDynasty]

HELLO EVERYBODY!
It looks like we will be starting the pens in the Sanctuary this month. Finally the home store is helping instead of hurting our efforts. "You can get more with Honey than you can with Sand Paper" Well Home Depot don't sell Honey! We have settled on 24'x24' for the individual pens, What do ya think? Not big enough? We want "Walking" to be a big part of the pens, walking is so vital to their health. I have thought of 16'x32' as well to encourage walking, by having a long wall to walk. We want to provide as large of an area as possible but still help as many as possible. The biologist threw out the idea of housing 5 or 6 in the whole area, fenced in....we didn't like this due to there are so many more that need homes. We will also eliminate all the "Teddy Bear Cacti," There is no GOOD outcome I can think of. I can not think of any benefits from keeping them, only injuries and suffering.
I am curious to what you all think of the pen size?
What would be the best house for them? A small one 2'x2'? What is the best Desert Tort house? There has to be water dishes as well, what do you think would be best? I was thinking of putting small shallow water dishes made from cement. Our DT's seem to drink better when it is a shallow puddle instead of a bowl or something similar that holds inches of water. We will have to water this area with a water trailer, so I was thinking of something that would naturally catch this water and provide them with a more natural drinking atmosphere.

 

[Yvonne G]

So you're thinking you'll be keeping the rescues rather than adopting them out? Because holding pens don't need to be that big.

 

[EppsDynasty]

So you're thinking you'll be keeping the rescues rather than adopting them out? Because holding pens don't need to be that big.

I know they DON"T need to be that big but ya know me "Go big or don't go at all." We will be adopting them out but why not have a bigger area for them while in "Home Limbo." It is just not a good feeling that comes over me when I see any animal in a small enclosure. In doing research for this I came across Government Facilities that house DT's, all their pens are WAY to small for us. Most pens are as you say a lot smaller 12'x12' or 8'x18'. Would it be less stressful if the pens were filled with vegetation and "roomy"?

 

[TammyJ]

I find it pretty amusing you call them Teddy Bear Cacti, I call them Death Cactus. This is due to the fact that I have had thorns from said cacti in my body for almost a year before finally getting them out, no decomposition at all. A wood splinter wood never last that long.
1st: We have to wait for the Home Store (Orange one) to enter in their computer when they expect to receive 2x8's. Once it's in the computer we then drive down and order ALL of them for our fencing. We have already ordered over 100 2x8's. The post will be 4x4's 4' long, 2' in the ground and 2' above. The town of Ridgecrest has had no 2x8's because we are doing this, checking the computer for an expected date of delivery to store then go buy em up.
2nd: Some may think that 40 Desert Tort pens is crazy, to many, never gonna happen. When we spoke with the Biologist that is the PERSON for the government around here to go to for Desert Torts there were some red flags. When I explained how Sally was most likely "singed" "burned" and we were doing Keratin Treatments (Coconut Oil) to help her shell she asked "Do you know if this works." Whoa this floored me, here is a highly educated biologist that knows nothing about shell care. She explained they have DT's that were in grass fires and other fires that needed rehab and they knew NOTHING about Coconut Oil. I explained how Lauric Acid acts, responds with Keratin and what Keratin damage is. SO .... we plan on doing whatever we can to help out the Desert Torts in need, even if that means housing torts for the Government. We are also building 20+ more pens an acre away for the quarantine area, with Joshua Trees as well. I was blown away by the lack of knowledge they actually possessed about the ACTUAL care for these wonderful animals they were the experts about.
Example: When they have to Trans Locate them they are all put together in the back of a truck, van something of the sort. NO BIO SECURITY at all. They also house them together ...uhhhh Pairs are no good.
So 4x4 post in the ground 2' and 2' above, 2x8's as the fence. This project is a BIG one but we feel a necessary one. The lack of competent care for these creatures is what is driving this, if ya don't believe me just google "Desert Tortoise Care." You will see for yourself that they may be smart Biologist but might not really know how to care for them in a captive setting. The Biologist explained to me she is a "Professional" Desert Tortoise in the wild person. Captive care is NOT one of their specialties.
This IS happening and I will keep updating on here as we go step by step.

Lol! I have to admit never having encountered one of those endangered Professional Desert Tortoise in the Wild people myself. It made me think of Shirley Strum who stayed with and studied wild troops of baboons. I don't see how you can really understand and effectively help an animal unless you either captive manage it or live in the wild with it. Anyway, what you are doing is magnificent and I follow and look forward!

 

[SinLA]

The one down side of bigger spaces with rescues is you'll max out more quickly. And you WILL max out. So make them as a big as they need to be to make you happy with it, but if you make each pen 2x what is needed that will be half as many torts as you can rescue...

 

[EppsDynasty]

The one down side of bigger spaces with rescues is you'll max out more quickly. And you WILL max out. So make them as a big as they need to be to make you happy with it, but if you make each pen 2x what is needed that will be half as many torts as you can rescue...

I know sucks.... We want 55 1 acre pens.. LOL.
In Y's Tortoise Sanctuary we can fit 35-40 24'x24' pens, but we do have another area about 3/4 of an acre with Joshua Trees as well we plan on having as a quarantine area, staging or temporary housing. These pens could be smaller in size since it will only be "Temporary" housing, I guess I could deal with that. Today is going to be good weather maybe I'll shoot another video of this "other" area.

 

[SinLA]

Also save one of those desert tort pens for me. I have a neighbor with a desert tort who really needs a new home and she's very distrustful of rescues. Thinks he is better where he is, but his life is not... good. Its a good life for a cat, not a tortoise, but that's pretty much how she keeps him. I was thinking one day she might turn him over to me, but i"m coming more and more to the conclusion that my yard can't really be made good for a tortoise. I'm slowly chipping away at her, but I suspect one day she just will "need" to find a new home for him