Godfrey

[Godfrey's Mom]

Enjoying a nice Fall day in Ohio and his treat of an apple slice. He is a pistol!

 

[Careym13]

What a handsome boy!

 

[Godfrey's Mom]

Yes and he knows it.........most adorable ***#ole!!

 

[Prairie Mom]

Oh man!...there is nothing better than a great tortoise tongue shot!!! Nice one!

 

[SGT Fish]

looks excellent, like a larger version of my Frank. where at in Ohio? do you bring him in at night now that temps are dropping? i had a temporary heated enclosure for mine while i was on vacation last week and he seemed to do fine. but im gonna start on a nice insulated house this weekend but ive still been leaving him outside to graze while im at work. he has a heated box in my kitchen that he retreats to every night and comes out for a snack occasionally

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Nice. Thanks.

 

[Prairie Mom]

I keep coming back to look at how cute Godfrey is! I love his name too He sure seems to love that apple. My own loves to have pumpkin as a very rare treat. I'm trying to be a good tortoise Mom and feed my Mavis mostly grass and weeds. There are some really good diet lists on this forum.
I'll link a couple of them just in case you're like me and always looking for ideas If you ever want to talk food, let me know. I love gardening and find feeding my tortoise is one of the best parts of having her!
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-diet-sheet.64290/

Here is another...
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Prairie Mom]

looks excellent, like a larger version of my Frank. where at in Ohio? do you bring him in at night now that temps are dropping? i had a temporary heated enclosure for mine while i was on vacation last week and he seemed to do fine. but im gonna start on a nice insulated house this weekend but ive still been leaving him outside to graze while im at work. he has a heated box in my kitchen that he retreats to every night and comes out for a snack occasionally

I'm not in Ohio, but still a very C..C...Cooold climate. There are quite a few really awesome members from your neck of the woods. There is a thread I'm following from a Ohio member named @lismar79. She is making an entire room tortoise safe to overwinter her young sulcata. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcatas-new-room-in-the-basement.128118/ I'm working on a similar project, because there have been a lot of deaths on the forum from tortoises wandering around the house. (I read a heartbreaking one where a tortoise had it's head squished in a door! ) anyway, what Lisa is doing is awesome and will help solve the problem. A member named Tom has also made several threads on his "Nightbox" designs that are definitely worth looking at.

Nice to meet you

 

[Prairie Mom]

Yes and he knows it.........most adorable ***#ole!!

ba ha haha!!! I'm sure he does!!!

 

[Godfrey's Mom]

Now that the weather has changed, he is inside. We sort of have a 3 house plan for him. Summer in the fenced in yard, intermediate is a huge (for a great dane kennel) with heating lamps-indoors, and finally an indoor winter house (we are building) that is in a spare room. The reason for the intermediate is because of me. I have MS and can't really lift him. So it's close to the door if it's warm enough for him to go out.

He is very well behaved. I am quite impressed. He has slowed a bit since the weather changed. I have him on a pretty regular feeding schedule, which makes his pooping somewhat predictable. He loves the dog kennel. Since I am home all day, i will leave the door open, at times. He will poke his head out but for the most part is happy to just be able to see all the action. He likes to watch T.V. ( i know i am weird) I think it's the lights and colors. If I open the door to the outside, he will walk out on his own. I am shocked how fast they learn a routine.

He is already 20-21 years old, so we don't worry as long as his pee is good and he poops once a day or more.

I think he is lazy! and quite spoiled. He loves being hand fed. The couple that had him, well he was their "child"

I will probably get scolded, but we figure we just let him lead us as to what he does or does not like to do. He is quite socialized.

Below is a photo of him in his kennel with Archie the cat. They sit together often. We thought he would destroy the kennel, but he doesn't push against it. I suppose one day he will get his dander up and show me who is boss The kennel is about 50 x 40.
.

Below is a pic of Godfrey trying squash for the first time. He does this weird thing where he gets up on his tip toes and literally quivers when he tastes something he really likes. The squash was a fiasco and made a huge mess. He had it all over him! and that ended in a "soaking" He wipes his face on his arms just like a little kid.


We also give him a corn on the cob. And this is Godfrey looking "cool" with his face covered in food. He is such a poser! He cleaned the cob like a pro!

 

[Speedy-1]

Great Pic's ! He sure looks like a happy guy !

 

[Prairie Mom]

Now that the weather has changed, he is inside. We sort of have a 3 house plan for him. Summer in the fenced in yard, intermediate is a huge (for a great dane kennel) with heating lamps-indoors, and finally an indoor winter house (we are building) that is in a spare room. The reason for the intermediate is because of me. I have MS and can't really lift him. So it's close to the door if it's warm enough for him to go out.

I love to hear about the really sociable tortoises I just melt over that stuff. I've created entire threads on the subject and asked members to post photos etc. Wow...Godfrey is in his 20's! That is sooo cool! How long have you had him?

As you build his winter home, you should post pics and definitely get in touch with lismar79. She's from the same state and is really nice. She is so good at enclosures and housing sulcatas. She could give you great ideas for hides and keeping proper temps and humidity etc.

I bet he loved that squash! The quivering cracks me up! Be sure to give him the leaves and stems as well. Those are actually the best part for these grassland tortoises. Too much fruit and veg can lead to health problems since they struggle to process the sugars. Does he do a good job grazing on grass and weeds outside?

When I first got my tortoise she had slight Metabolic bone disease (it manifested as soft parts in her shell) and I had to really work at giving her UVB indoors, natural sunlight outside, and my Mavis wasn't used to the proper diets. It took a little time before I could get her to eat grass!!! It was like she didn't even know what it was!! Now, she's a little superstar and eats all kinds of weeds and grass etc.
I'll post a photo of my "baby" so you can see her...


I'm sorry to hear that you have to battle against MS. You must be a really strong person.
Take care!

 

[Godfrey's Mom]

awww thank you and what a pretty girl! We had Godfrey out today although it was only a bit above 60. He likes to walk through the leaf piles, completely buries himself, then pops his head out like we didn't know he was there! Discovered also that he loves, (he loves everything) but really loves pumpkin. My step daughter (who is 14) was outside carving a pumpkin, and pulling out the guts, well he about knocked her off her chair, could not figure it out for a minute, then he tried to eat the whole pumpkin (hahahaa), so we fed him some of the inerds and he would stretch his neck out and gobble.

He can be a bit of a pain with the grass eating. He will go around the yard and eat grass with my husband, but (and i kid you not), I will go around and gather up the good stuff (dandelions, clover, etc) and make a pile for him. He wont eat it. He will sit there and wait for me to hand feed him, or take a walk about and keep coming to the pile, waiting Until I give in. My husband says when i am not around that he goes into the yard and chows down on his own.

I think they are both scamming me.

 

[Prairie Mom]

awww thank you and what a pretty girl! We had Godfrey out today although it was only a bit above 60. He likes to walk through the leaf piles, completely buries himself, then pops his head out like we didn't know he was there! Discovered also that he loves, (he loves everything) but really loves pumpkin. My step daughter (who is 14) was outside carving a pumpkin, and pulling out the guts, well he about knocked her off her chair, could not figure it out for a minute, then he tried to eat the whole pumpkin (hahahaa), so we fed him some of the inerds and he would stretch his neck out and gobble.

He can be a bit of a pain with the grass eating. He will go around the yard and eat grass with my husband, but (and i kid you not), I will go around and gather up the good stuff (dandelions, clover, etc) and make a pile for him. He wont eat it. He will sit there and wait for me to hand feed him, or take a walk about and keep coming to the pile, waiting Until I give in. My husband says when i am not around that he goes into the yard and chows down on his own.

I think they are both scamming me.

Ha ha! He sounds like such a character. You're making quite the Mamma's boy out of him You gotta get in those sixty degree temps while they last...sigh. I'm glad Godfrey has discovered the joys of pumpkin season. We're about to carve ours up tomorrow, so my Mavis is in for a treat as well.

 

[SGT Fish]

i still put mine out yesterday while it was just over 60 degrees. He still walks around and grazes on grass and weeds the whole time. I take him in as soon as theres no sun left hitting the yard. I kept him in all weekend while I was gone and he didnt poop once. After I put him outside he eventually pooped. Maybe it was luck or maybe he is learning haha. We carved pumpkins last night and he likes the guts, but won't go after a whole pumpkin except to just push it around. I plan on putting him outside as long as there is grass to eat and its not below freezing. Once his night box is complete I will leave him out all day unless its one of those especially cold times. I hate to keep him from the sunlight with his shell so pyramided, But he doesnt seem to mind the cold unless its dark out and he hasnt been inside all day

 

[Godfrey's Mom]

I was thinking about vacuum sealing some pumpkin and freezing it for a treat later on. I don't think Godfrey would mind, and since squash and pumpkin are so cheap right now.... Was wondering if anyone else has tried/or does that?

 

[Prairie Mom]

I was thinking about vacuum sealing some pumpkin and freezing it for a treat later on. I don't think Godfrey would mind, and since squash and pumpkin are so cheap right now.... Was wondering if anyone else has tried/or does that?

I haven't tried freezing pumpkin yet, but I think it sounds like a great experiment!

I've been testing out freezing and thawing different plants, leaves, and grass etc to add to my winter food supply. I've made a thread about it in the diet section. Here is a link... http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/these-can-be-frozen-thawed-and-retain-good-texture.128563/ You should test out freezing the pumpkin and if it works please add it to my list!!

 

[Godfrey's Mom]

Will do!!