Ideas for moving a 125 lb sulcata

[jerankin]

My wife and I adopted a mature male sulcata a couple months ago. His age is reportedly about 50 (previous owners had him for about 20 years) and his current weight is 125 lb. I've lurked in this forum to learn how to house and care for him and he seems to be doing well except we often have trouble getting him to go to bed.

He has an outdoor pen that is about 15' x 30' which has an attached heated house measuring 4' x 4'. If we let him out of the pen to roam the yard (terraced weed covered quarter acre shared with chickens), he will often settle down and go to sleep far from 'home'. I've already built a skateboard for moving him on the road and a sled for loading him into the truck, but I'm looking for a solution to move him in our hilly yard. If he's settled down and has access to his heated house, is it okay to leave him out? Our night time temperatures are in the 50's. I can carry him to his enclosure and he'll always go immediately to his house, but I'm looking for another solution before I hurt him (or myself!)

Here's Rambo-man so you can see how cute he is. Thanks in advance!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

@Tom
@Maggie3fan
@Yvonne G
These members and others have plenty of experience with larger breeds.
I've got my hands full just moving my 20 pounders around.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[TammyJ]

He is quite adorable. And it being 3:25 a.m. here in Jamaica, my insomnia has as usual taken my brain to some outer limits about this problem you have. Here goes: make him his very own portable heated (or not) night house, which is attached to his body and covers him so that he is protected and warm wherever he ends up to sleep. All kinds of design ideas are blooming right now in my sleepless brain! Good luck.

 

[TammyJ]

He is quite adorable. And it being 3:25 a.m. here in Jamaica, my insomnia has as usual taken my brain to some outer limits about this problem you have. Here goes: make him his very own portable heated (or not) night house, which is attached to his body and covers him so that he is protected and warm wherever he ends up to sleep. All kinds of design ideas are blooming right now in my sleepless brain! Good luck.

Tammy. Knock yourself out.

 

[wellington]

I would suggest a larger hide box. A 4x4 is recommended for a single leopard. A 4x8 is needed for an adult sulcata. This may make him want to go in on his own, once he has learned it's bigger.
Otherwise I have seen wheel barrels that the bed is flatter than a regular wheel barrow and it tilts. I can't remember the name of them. Husky maybe.

 

[wellington]

Something like these. The red one is a bit extreme but too cool.

 

[Tom]

My wife and I adopted a mature male sulcata a couple months ago. His age is reportedly about 50 (previous owners had him for about 20 years) and his current weight is 125 lb. I've lurked in this forum to learn how to house and care for him and he seems to be doing well except we often have trouble getting him to go to bed.

He has an outdoor pen that is about 15' x 30' which has an attached heated house measuring 4' x 4'. If we let him out of the pen to roam the yard (terraced weed covered quarter acre shared with chickens), he will often settle down and go to sleep far from 'home'. I've already built a skateboard for moving him on the road and a sled for loading him into the truck, but I'm looking for a solution to move him in our hilly yard. If he's settled down and has access to his heated house, is it okay to leave him out? Our night time temperatures are in the 50's. I can carry him to his enclosure and he'll always go immediately to his house, but I'm looking for another solution before I hurt him (or myself!)

Here's Rambo-man so you can see how cute he is. Thanks in advance!

View attachment 357949

Hello and welcome. Where in CA are you? Different advice for Big Bear vs. Palm Springs.

1. 15x30 feet is a good size for a 6-10 inch juvenile. That is way to small for an adult.
2. We didn't have sulcatas until around 1990, so he's not 50.
3. They should not have access to a paved road or concrete. This will eventually wear through their feet and you will find bloody foot prints.
4. A 4x4 heated box is fine for one tortoise.
5. They should not be sharing their yard with chickens. The likelihood of having an eye pecked or eating chicken poo is high.
6. This is the type of cart you need. They cost $200 at Home Depot. No other cart is going to work for this application. Tip it down, slide him in, tip it up, wheel him home, tip it down, and get him in the box. He should not sleep outside unless night temps are in the high 70s or more, or unless your area get 100 degrees every day and he's sleeping in a burrow.

Rubbermaid Commercial Products 8.75 Cu.ft. Big Wheel Plastic Yard Cart FG564200BLA - The Home Depot

The Rubbermaid 8.75 cu. ft. Plastic Yard Cart offers a wheeled cart for heavy-duty use around the yard. The sturdy, structural-foam construction resists denting, rust, chipping and peeling for lasting

www.homedepot.com

 

[Maggie3fan]

When it's bedtime and he's not going into his house, I keep strawberries so when Mary K doesn't go to bed on her own, I lead her to bed with the strawberries. A few times leading with the berries and she will go to bed on her own...welcome

 

[wellington]

Hello and welcome. Where in CA are you? Different advice for Big Bear vs. Palm Springs.

1. 15x30 feet is a good size for a 6-10 inch juvenile. That is way to small for an adult.
2. We didn't have sulcatas until around 1990, so he's not 50.
3. They should not have access to a paved road or concrete. This will eventually wear through their feet and you will find bloody foot prints.
4. A 4x4 heated box is fine for one tortoise.
5. They should not be sharing their yard with chickens. The likelihood of having an eye pecked or eating chicken poo is high.
6. This is the type of cart you need. They cost $200 at Home Depot. No other cart is going to work for this application. Tip it down, slide him in, tip it up, wheel him home, tip it down, and get him in the box. He should not sleep outside unless night temps are in the high 70s or more, or unless your area get 100 degrees every day and he's sleeping in a burrow.

Rubbermaid Commercial Products 8.75 Cu.ft. Big Wheel Plastic Yard Cart FG564200BLA - The Home Depot

The Rubbermaid 8.75 cu. ft. Plastic Yard Cart offers a wheeled cart for heavy-duty use around the yard. The sturdy, structural-foam construction resists denting, rust, chipping and peeling for lasting

www.homedepot.com

You are always confusing me. 4x4 used to be for leopards, your thread. Now it's okay for an adult sulcata?

 

[Warren]

When it's bedtime and he's not going into his house, I keep strawberries so when Mary K doesn't go to bed on her own, I lead her to bed with the strawberries. A few times leading with the berries and she will go to bed on her own...welcome

Why are you giving Mary K strawberries. Sammy has only had 1 strawberry in five years, the day I received him to see if he would eat.

 

[jerankin]

Thank you all for the replies, I appreciate it! That Rubbermaid wheelbarrow does look like the best thing I've seen for the application. In response to some of Tom's comments / questions:

- We're in the far east bay area, so hot summers but usually cool nights, it will almost always get down to the 60s at night. Sounds like sleeping out is a non-starter.
- Regarding his 'run' size, we were worried about him being an escape artist and I needed to prep something before he arrived so I built walls out of 2"x8" for him dug 12" underground. When he's active he has free access to the larger area, and then larger areas still under supervision (taking walks... he's gone up to 0.5 miles, can you over exercise them?)
- Interesting on the 1990 fact; we were told he was rescued from an overcrowded breeding situation about 20 years ago already at a large size, so I guess we'll assume he's ~25 years old?
- Noted on the concrete. He does not have free access to the road he's pictured on, we'll try to keep him on the dirt shoulders (although as you can imagine, he's stubborn).
- For the 4x4 box, I followed Tom's design guidelines
- Noted on the chickens. Due to predators the chickens do not free range unless someone is physically watching them so there isn't a ton of poop, and no unsupervised interactions.
- Is a small piece of fruit per day ok for trying to lure him in? We have hardly given him any fruit up to this point.

Thank you again.

(edited for spelling)

 

[wellington]

Gorilla carts are the ones I was trying to think of. They have several types, some that have a flatter bottom and more cart like but still tilts and some more wheel barrow like.

 

[wellington]

Thank you all for the replies, I appreciate it! That Rubbermaid wheelbarrow does look like the best thing I've seen for the application. In response to some of Tom's comments / questions:

- We're in the far east bay area, so hot summers but usually cool nights, it will almost always get down to the 60s at night. Sounds like sleeping out is a non-starter.
- Regarding his 'run' size, we were worried about him being an escape artist and I needed to prep something before he arrived so I built walls out of 2"x8" for him dug 12" underground. When he's active he has free access to the larger area, and then larger areas still under supervision (taking walks... he's gone up to 0.5 miles, can you over exercise them?)
- Interesting on the 1990 fact; we were told he was rescued from an overcrowded breeding situation about 20 years ago already at a large size, so I guess we'll assume he's ~25 years old?
- Noted on the concrete. He does not have free access to the road he's pictured on, we'll try to keep him on the dirt shoulders (although as you can imagine, he's stubborn).
- For the 4x4 box, I followed Tom's design guidelines
- Noted on the chickens. Due to predators the chickens do not free range unless someone is physically watching them so there isn't a ton of poop, and no unsupervised interactions.
- Is a small piece of fruit per day ok for trying to lure him in? We have hardly given him any fruit up to this point.

Thank you again.

(edited for spelling)

Well according to some reports, the sulcata have been around the US since the 60's. I guess it all depends on where yours originally came from as to how old it could actually be.

 

[zovick]

Hello and welcome. Where in CA are you? Different advice for Big Bear vs. Palm Springs.

1. 15x30 feet is a good size for a 6-10 inch juvenile. That is way to small for an adult.
2. We didn't have sulcatas until around 1990, so he's not 50.
3. They should not have access to a paved road or concrete. This will eventually wear through their feet and you will find bloody foot prints.
4. A 4x4 heated box is fine for one tortoise.
5. They should not be sharing their yard with chickens. The likelihood of having an eye pecked or eating chicken poo is high.
6. This is the type of cart you need. They cost $200 at Home Depot. No other cart is going to work for this application. Tip it down, slide him in, tip it up, wheel him home, tip it down, and get him in the box. He should not sleep outside unless night temps are in the high 70s or more, or unless your area get 100 degrees every day and he's sleeping in a burrow.

Rubbermaid Commercial Products 8.75 Cu.ft. Big Wheel Plastic Yard Cart FG564200BLA - The Home Depot

The Rubbermaid 8.75 cu. ft. Plastic Yard Cart offers a wheeled cart for heavy-duty use around the yard. The sturdy, structural-foam construction resists denting, rust, chipping and peeling for lasting

www.homedepot.com

Just a point of order here, Tom. There were sulcata tortoises in CA before 1990. I saw a huge male on display at the International Turtle and Tortoise Society Annual Show in Pasadena, CA in 1972. It was owned by a fellow from the SF Bay area whose name escapes me at the moment. It was the only one known in the US prior to 1971.

I sold groups of baby CB sulcatas (produced by my 2.2 adults which I imported in 1971) to both Ron Tremper (who was then in CA) and East Bay Vivarium in 1979, 1980, and 1981. If you consider that the tortoise in question could be from one of those groups of babies, he could possibly be as much as 42-44 years old.

 

[Yvonne G]

Why are you giving Mary K strawberries. Sammy has only had 1 strawberry in five years, the day I received him to see if he would eat.

@Warren : Yes, you're correct, however, this is an extreme situation. They have to be able to move that heavy creature into his shed, so you try to entice him with something that he'll chase after. I used to skewer a strawberry then put the fruit in front of his face. Once he's seen it and is interested, you walk backwards towards the shed and he follows readily, trying to get the strawberry. If he loses interest along the way, you allow him to take the fruit, then continue on with a new strawberry on the skewer.

 

[Markw84]

Just a point of order here, Tom. There were sulcata tortoises in CA before 1990. I saw a huge male on display at the International Turtle and Tortoise Society Annual Show in Pasadena, CA in 1972. It was owned by a fellow from the SF Bay area whose name escapes me at the moment. It was the only one known in the US prior to 1971.

I sold groups of baby CB sulcatas (produced by my 2.2 adults which I imported in 1971) to both Ron Tremper (who was then in CA) and East Bay Vivarium in 1979, 1980, and 1981. If you consider that the tortoise in question could be from one of those groups of babies, he could possibly be as much as 42-44 years old.

@Tom Additionally, I got a pair of adults in 1994 that was imported from Africa (Mali) as full adults. There were others imported with those sold at a reptile store in Riverside, CA. I've lost track of where mine went now, but they would certainly be in the range of over 50 years old now.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Why are you giving Mary K strawberries. Sammy has only had 1 strawberry in five years, the day I received him to see if he would eat.

Because when she stays out at night she is too heavy now, for me to pick up...so I take 1 damn berry

@Warren : Yes, you're correct, however, this is an extreme situation. They have to be able to move that heavy creature into his shed, so you try to entice him with something that he'll chase after. I used to skewer a strawberry then put the fruit in front of his face. Once he's seen it and is interested, you walk backwards towards the shed and he follows readily, trying to get the strawberry. If he loses interest along the way, you allow him to take the fruit, then continue on with a new strawberry on the skewer.

and make her follow that berry to her shed.

Thank you Y...most of what I do I learned from you...lol

 

[Tom]

You are always confusing me. 4x4 used to be for leopards, your thread. Now it's okay for an adult sulcata?

I use both for both. A large adult male sulcata is usually around 32 inches long. this fits in a 48 inch night box, and since the the box is sorta kinda simulating a burrow for them, the tight confines are just fine. Large adult male Sudan sulcatas would need something bigger.

 

[Tom]

Gorilla carts are the ones I was trying to think of. They have several types, some that have a flatter bottom and more cart like but still tilts and some more wheel barrow like.

Those don't work for large heavy tortoises. I've tried. The one I linked works for tortoises up to around 250 pounds.

 

[Tom]

Thank you all for the replies, I appreciate it! That Rubbermaid wheelbarrow does look like the best thing I've seen for the application. In response to some of Tom's comments / questions:

- We're in the far east bay area, so hot summers but usually cool nights, it will almost always get down to the 60s at night. Sounds like sleeping out is a non-starter.
- Regarding his 'run' size, we were worried about him being an escape artist and I needed to prep something before he arrived so I built walls out of 2"x8" for him dug 12" underground. When he's active he has free access to the larger area, and then larger areas still under supervision (taking walks... he's gone up to 0.5 miles, can you over exercise them?)
- Interesting on the 1990 fact; we were told he was rescued from an overcrowded breeding situation about 20 years ago already at a large size, so I guess we'll assume he's ~25 years old?
- Noted on the concrete. He does not have free access to the road he's pictured on, we'll try to keep him on the dirt shoulders (although as you can imagine, he's stubborn).
- For the 4x4 box, I followed Tom's design guidelines
- Noted on the chickens. Due to predators the chickens do not free range unless someone is physically watching them so there isn't a ton of poop, and no unsupervised interactions.
- Is a small piece of fruit per day ok for trying to lure him in? We have hardly given him any fruit up to this point.

Thank you again.

(edited for spelling)

They can reach 100 pounds in 10 years, and in spite of the notable rare exceptions listed by Mark and Zovick, they were not widely available to the public until around 1990, so 30 years old is certainly possible and probable, but it is unlikely that it is older than that.

I would not ever give fruit to a sulcata, but as you can see in this thread, some people do give small amounts and it doesn't kill them.

I don't think you can over exercise them. I have tortoises living in pens that are over 300' long and they go top to bottom all day long.