Friendly reminder

Sleppo

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Jun 28, 2018
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Hi all,

Just a friendly reminder to never leave your tortoises outdoors unattended. I was outside gardening and took one of my adult Russians out for a bit to soak in the sun. ( they are housed indoors 24/7 until my outdoor enclosure is completed.) I wanted to run inside to refill my drink all which took about 2 mins and I decided if I placed Ike in the very far corner of the yard there is no way he would be able to get into anything by the time I got back. Well I got back and could not find him anywhere. I frantically searched everywhere and finally saw him, he managed to squeeze through a wrought iron fence and was walking on a wall which hangs over a 8-9 foot drop down to a stone patio. The posts on the fence were not big enough for him to get through, I still cannot figure out how he did it. When he saw me sprinting to him he took off even faster and I grabbed him as the front end of him was about to go over the wall. I was so incredibly mad at myself as I have read the horror stories of others who have done the same and had them go missing, etc. Anyway heed this warning, you do not want to feel that guilt especially something that could have been avoided.
 

wellington

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Glad you got him in time and thank you for sharing.
A first hand experience is usually better then just telling people it can happen.
Btw, they can move fast when they really want too right?
Again, glad it worked out.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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A lot of tortoises also due to camouflage, can dissapear in plain sight.
Whenever mine are out of the pen for repairs or maintenance, I use a secondary enclosure of some kind.
Right now it's a collapsible plastic gate/fence meant for toddlers.
They do quite well in nature by being seldom seen.
 

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