tmp3
New Member
Sorry for a depressing post, but I would like to know how others cope with their tortoise loss.
I live in Southern California. The desert tortoise was in my family for 50 years. Different generations took care of the tortoise, and it was my mom's turn to take care of him. (The tortoise was a male.) My mom and I fed the tortoise with lettuce and strawberries and apples. My dad built the shelter for him. The shelter had a ramp (leveled by the bricks) that connected the outside to the interior (lots of sand and cool place) within the plastic trash can with heavy, black covering on the top of the can. The tortoise was adventurous as it would always climb up on the wall and walk around. Our backyard's enclosed by stone walls.
Yesterday was a tragic accident. My mom and I just saw that the tortoise was lying upside down during a hot day. Dehydrated. We felt so bad and guilty that we did not go outside and regularly check on the tortoise. We did check on the tortoise every day by re-filling the bowls with food, but today was just an unlucky day. My mom cried a lot. We felt guilty that we let the tortoise die alone - that we could not imagine what it was like for the tortoise to suffer, lying upside down and dealing with the heat. I could imagine that it was internally screaming as it tried to survive. We think the tortoise was trying to climb into the shelter, but it just fell off the ramp or the bricks. Something that the tortoise slipped off and it got flipped upside down. Mom noticed that the ramp had a lot of scratches as if the tortoise was trying to stand on its own. We just don't know what happened.
We cleaned our tortoise and gave the dead body to the cremation. It was a hard moment for us. I'm feeling sad that my future children won't be able to inherit the tortoise. And that although the tortoise could've lived more than 50 years, I wish the tortoise could live a bit longer and enjoy life in our care. I wish I could go back in time and prevent the tragic accident.
I was wondering if anyone has had experienced with the similar situation (seeing the tortoise lay upside down by accident)? And how did they cope with the tortoise loss while mitigating their guilt?
It would help me and my family process this accident and accept the loss.
I live in Southern California. The desert tortoise was in my family for 50 years. Different generations took care of the tortoise, and it was my mom's turn to take care of him. (The tortoise was a male.) My mom and I fed the tortoise with lettuce and strawberries and apples. My dad built the shelter for him. The shelter had a ramp (leveled by the bricks) that connected the outside to the interior (lots of sand and cool place) within the plastic trash can with heavy, black covering on the top of the can. The tortoise was adventurous as it would always climb up on the wall and walk around. Our backyard's enclosed by stone walls.
Yesterday was a tragic accident. My mom and I just saw that the tortoise was lying upside down during a hot day. Dehydrated. We felt so bad and guilty that we did not go outside and regularly check on the tortoise. We did check on the tortoise every day by re-filling the bowls with food, but today was just an unlucky day. My mom cried a lot. We felt guilty that we let the tortoise die alone - that we could not imagine what it was like for the tortoise to suffer, lying upside down and dealing with the heat. I could imagine that it was internally screaming as it tried to survive. We think the tortoise was trying to climb into the shelter, but it just fell off the ramp or the bricks. Something that the tortoise slipped off and it got flipped upside down. Mom noticed that the ramp had a lot of scratches as if the tortoise was trying to stand on its own. We just don't know what happened.
We cleaned our tortoise and gave the dead body to the cremation. It was a hard moment for us. I'm feeling sad that my future children won't be able to inherit the tortoise. And that although the tortoise could've lived more than 50 years, I wish the tortoise could live a bit longer and enjoy life in our care. I wish I could go back in time and prevent the tragic accident.
I was wondering if anyone has had experienced with the similar situation (seeing the tortoise lay upside down by accident)? And how did they cope with the tortoise loss while mitigating their guilt?
It would help me and my family process this accident and accept the loss.