Introducing Sheldon

elizabeth_jasmine

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Joined
Sep 21, 2022
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Greater Manchester
Meet Sheldon, a 16 year old Herman's tortoise residing in the UK!

We've had her since she was 1 year old, and admittedly been fairly ignorant about tortoise care for much of that time. She's been well taken care of, but since discovering this forum a couple of years ago I've learned so much and have started to make improvements to her care, with more planned, including a bigger enclosure.

In case anyone comments on it, I must confess that despite browsing this forum a lot over the past few years, I had no idea what pyramiding was until yesterday; I thought the little bumps on top of her shell were supposed to be there. However, they were more prominent when she was younger, so I'm hoping that she's in good health, and her care is improving as I learn more.

I love her with all my heart, she's lively, curious and playful and absolutely loves attention :)
 

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OliveW

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@elizabeth_jasmine welcome, and you sure found the right place for proper care information. The fact that you didn't have all the knowledge before just shows what amazing creatures tortoises are. Sheldon is a beautiful tort!

My Sulcata has pretty bad pyramiding, but I'm glad he did as it's what got my attention when we found him. We have lots of tortoises around here, but the bumps made me stop and check him out close to realize he wasn't a native and bring him home.
 

zolasmum

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5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,003
Meet Sheldon, a 16 year old Herman's tortoise residing in the UK!

We've had her since she was 1 year old, and admittedly been fairly ignorant about tortoise care for much of that time. She's been well taken care of, but since discovering this forum a couple of years ago I've learned so much and have started to make improvements to her care, with more planned, including a bigger enclosure.

In case anyone comments on it, I must confess that despite browsing this forum a lot over the past few years, I had no idea what pyramiding was until yesterday; I thought the little bumps on top of her shell were supposed to be there. However, they were more prominent when she was younger, so I'm hoping that she's in good health, and her care is improving as I learn more.

I love her with all my heart, she's lively, curious and playful and absolutely loves attention :)
Hello - we have a 22year old Herman's tortoise - Zola - actually he is the one in charge. He is a wonderful little companion - we live in Devon, a few miles from the sea, and he forces us to go out every day for a drive and for him to look at the sea ! We had to learn as we went along, as there wasn't much advice or help 21 years ago, but he is well and lively, and, like Sheldon, he loves attention.
Angie
 

elizabeth_jasmine

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2022
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Greater Manchester
@elizabeth_jasmine welcome, and you sure found the right place for proper care information. The fact that you didn't have all the knowledge before just shows what amazing creatures tortoises are. Sheldon is a beautiful tort!

My Sulcata has pretty bad pyramiding, but I'm glad he did as it's what got my attention when we found him. We have lots of tortoises around here, but the bumps made me stop and check him out close to realize he wasn't a native and bring him home.
Thank you! :)
I'm glad you found him and hope he's doing better now! I found an old photo of Sheldon earlier and was actually shocked by how much more prominent her pyramiding used to be, so hopefully that means things are only improving from here. From what I've read, the cause is probably lack of humidity when she was little, as we used the wrong kind of substrate when we first got her
 

elizabeth_jasmine

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2022
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Greater Manchester
Hello - we have a 22year old Herman's tortoise - Zola - actually he is the one in charge. He is a wonderful little companion - we live in Devon, a few miles from the sea, and he forces us to go out every day for a drive and for him to look at the sea ! We had to learn as we went along, as there wasn't much advice or help 21 years ago, but he is well and lively, and, like Sheldon, he loves attention.
Angie
Love Zola's name! And that's so cute that he loves the sea- Devon is certainly beautiful! We're in Manchester, sadly not close enough to take Sheldon to the sea.
I find that most people don't realise how sociable torts can be- my friends are always surprised when they first meet Sheldon and see how much she loves neck rubs etc from us!
 

zolasmum

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Joined
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Messages
2,003
Love Zola's name! And that's so cute that he loves the sea- Devon is certainly beautiful! We're in Manchester, sadly not close enough to take Sheldon to the sea.
I find that most people don't realise how sociable torts can be- my friends are always surprised when they first meet Sheldon and see how much she loves neck rubs etc from us!
We take Zola out with us every day, and have done since he was little - he wants to see things and meet people, and often they are amazed at how he stretches his neck out and looks at their faces - also, he is happy to let people hold him, and trusts us not to let anyone he wouldn't like get near. We sometimes let a child hold him, and the expression on their faces is wonderful. The thing is that many of the places we go with him have families on holiday, and they notice him and want to stop and chat. We have had adults in tears, saying they have never seen a tortoise up close, let alone be able to touch or stroke one. It is so nice when we can make people happy - sometimes the most unlikely people, too !
Your Sheldon looks lovely.
Angie
 

Gillian M

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Jordan
Oh, she's gorgeous. God bless her.

And a warm welcome to the forum to both of you.
 

elizabeth_jasmine

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2022
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Greater Manchester
We take Zola out with us every day, and have done since he was little - he wants to see things and meet people, and often they are amazed at how he stretches his neck out and looks at their faces - also, he is happy to let people hold him, and trusts us not to let anyone he wouldn't like get near. We sometimes let a child hold him, and the expression on their faces is wonderful. The thing is that many of the places we go with him have families on holiday, and they notice him and want to stop and chat. We have had adults in tears, saying they have never seen a tortoise up close, let alone be able to touch or stroke one. It is so nice when we can make people happy - sometimes the most unlikely people, too !
Your Sheldon looks lovely.
Angie
The bond you share with Zola is so lovely! He's such a lucky tort! And sounds like he might be a bit of a celebrity in Devon, lol!
 

elizabeth_jasmine

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2022
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
Greater Manchester
Welcome and very cool having him 15 years!!


Gosh, is this bad?;
Sheldon@16y/o and jeff@16 y/o both struck the same pose as pic#1....LOL...

and you go ahead and dote on him just as much as you want to, he's a Beast!

jeff
Thank you! She's actually a girl, we called her Sheldon when we thought she was a boy and decided not to change it :)

LOL, I love it when they get all comfy and stretch their legs out like that!
 

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