# Missouri Sulcata



## reptylefreek (Apr 22, 2010)

So i'm in Missouri right now visiting my cousin and she tells me that the place that she takes her dogs for puppy daycare has this gigantic tortoise and she wanted me to see it. After a few questions I knew it had to be a sulcata and I started getting excited. So when we got there they said he was outside, so we went around and he(Charlie) was in the fence where they round the dogs up. I was a little concerned because there were puppies every where sniffen him and running around him. But they seemed to leave him be for the most part. So we left and went to a few wineries and came back to get the dogs and I started talking to one of the girls about him. First off, none of the people there we at all interested that I owned one and wanted to talk about their tortoise and ask questions, and two the girl that I did talk to seemed to have little info on how to care for one of these guys. I'm up by O'Fallon and its pretty warm here for the most part so I thought they would let him graze, he only eats produce and I think they feed him an apple a day. Then she tells me that he's only 13 and will reach 350lbs. I told her its a myth that sulcatas get that large, they only usually reach 100 to maybe 150lbs if they a shaq sized sulcata. She says that he already weighs 115lbs. I have pix of him and I will post when I get home. He is really blonde compared to most Sully's I've seen but he looks really good. They did glue a tracking device on him because he has gotten away. So at 13 are they supposed to weigh that much?


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## Tom (Apr 22, 2010)

Sometimes they do. I'm dying to see the pics. How do they know he's 13? Who raised him? Sometimes, as my animals get older, I forget to add a year on to their age here and there. I worked with a baboon that was 18 for several years.

I only know my sulcatas age, because I wrote down the hatch date almost 12 years ago.


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## Yvonne G (Apr 22, 2010)

How true, Tom. My Dudley was 15 for the longest time until I looked up his record and had to add several years onto his life!


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## Jacqui (Apr 22, 2010)

Tom and Yvonne, thanks for making me feel not so senile. I never think any of my critters are as old as they are, until one of my children will correct me on it. I can remember how old my kids are, but with the animals, it always seems like they have been with me for such a short time. Hmmm wonder if there is a reason why I remember one, but not the other. 

Small world, we just drove past O'Fallon as I sat reading this. 

I would worry that some dog coming into the day care was just treated with something containing Ivermectin (such as flea or heart worm control products) and might have a bowel movement (thus passing on the Ivermectin) and the tortoise eat the stool and become sick or even die.


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## TortieGal (Apr 22, 2010)

I would also worry the puppies would chew on him.


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## reptylefreek (Apr 24, 2010)

This is Charlie. You can see there is a smaller sulcata next to him, that guy was probably about a foot long(kinda bad at estimating). Im not sure how they know that he is 13, but the same girl that told me they get 350lbs told me he was 13. He is a rescue so maybe they have had him for 13 years. Have no idea


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## Maggie Cummings (Apr 24, 2010)

He doesn't have a very attractive face...thanks for posting the pix, I always enjoy looking at other Sulcata...


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