Is it safe to lift a sulcata by the edges of its shell above its legs?

[TechnoCheese]

Curtis is very difficult to get a grip on nowadays. I can lift his weight, but I am a very small person and Curtis is the size of my entire torso. I usually use the “bear hug” technique and cover myself in mud, but it’s getting hard to do without feeling like I’m dropping him.

Is it safe to use the overhangs of his shell above his limbs to lift him? I’ve never done it out of fear that they can’t support his weight, but I figured I’d ask because it would be very convenient.

Here’s Curtis now while I try to move him into his night box. It’s rainy and a little chilly, and he seems to have forgotten that he can walk into his house because the flaps are wet.

 

[TechnoCheese]

spent like 10 minutes standing in the rain trying to move him only for him to decide that he can, in fact, just walk there himself 😐

 

[TechnoCheese]

spent like 10 minutes standing in the rain trying to move him only for him to decide that he can, in fact, just walk there himself 😐

Actually he walked right back to the corner of the yard and I had to pick him up and carry him through ankle high water anyway. He’s lucky I love him…

 

[wellington]

They do that. Test you like a bratty kid, just to see if you will bite lol
@Tom
@Yvonne G
I believe you can, I've seen huge snappers be picked up that way, but see what Tom or Yvonne has to say. I don't have a large sulcata

 

[zovick]

Curtis is very difficult to get a grip on nowadays. I can lift his weight, but I am a very small person and Curtis is the size of my entire torso. I usually use the “bear hug” technique and cover myself in mud, but it’s getting hard to do without feeling like I’m dropping him.

Is it safe to use the overhangs of his shell above his limbs to lift him? I’ve never done it out of fear that they can’t support his weight, but I figured I’d ask because it would be very convenient.

Here’s Curtis now while I try to move him into his night box. It’s rainy and a little chilly, and he seems to have forgotten that he can walk into his house because the flaps are wet.View attachment 364387

I feel your pain! I had 4 adult sulcatas in CT where it gets quite cold, sometimes rather unexpectedly, and I had to move the big bruisers in and out of my basement rather frequently in spring and fall which involved carrying them up and down stairs. I dropped one of them one day, which was the impetus for me to send them all to the San Antonio Zoo back in 1977. Luckily the dropped tortoise landed completely flat on his belly and no shell damage or other problems occurred, but that scared me enough to find them a new home as I mentioned.

To answer your question, it is OK to lift them using the leg holes, but you may get your fingers pinched fairly hard. Here is another option for you. You can buy a garden cart with a slanted front which will tilt down to the ground. Using that, you can push the tortoise into it while it is tilted down, then move it to wherever you like and tilt it down and push the tortoise out of it.

@Tom had posted a link on this forum a while back showing the garden cart he uses for this purpose. Maybe he will see this and re-post it for you here.

Good luck.

 

[TechnoCheese]

While we’re on the topic of Curtis, his plastron finally concaved recently. Figured it would happen earlier and not when he’s 18-20 inches, but maybe he’s just a late bloomer, lol. Maybe it has something to do with his incubation temperature (I’m assuming it was higher because of his split/extra scutes), I remember reading a post here where someone implied that increased temperatures might affect not sex, but the time it takes to reach sexual maturity. I believe they bought a whole herd of tortoises incubated to be female, but they ended up almost entirely male and they all just started showing really late compared to the “male” incubated ones. It was a pretty long time ago, not sure which thread I saw it on. I think they might’ve been Burmese stars.

 

[TechnoCheese]

I feel your pain! I had 4 adult sulcatas in CT where it gets quite cold, sometimes rather unexpectedly, and I had to move the big bruisers in and out of my basement rather frequently in spring and fall which involved carrying them up and down stairs. I dropped one of them one day, which was the impetus for me to send them all to the San Antonio Zoo back in 1977. Luckily the dropped tortoise landed completely flat on his belly and no shell damage or other problems occurred, but that scared me enough to find them a new home as I mentioned.

To answer your question, it is OK to lift them using the leg holes, but you may get your fingers pinched fairly hard. Here is another option for you. You can buy a garden cart with a slanted front which will tilt down to the ground. Using that, you can push the tortoise into it while it is tilted down, then move it to wherever you like and tilt it down and push the tortoise out of it.

@Tom had posted a link on this forum a while back showing the garden cart he uses for this purpose. Maybe he will see this and re-post it for you here.

Good luck.

Thanks for the info! A year or two ago, maybe 3, I actually fell down the stairs with Curtis in my arms. I ended up sacrificing my knees to keep him from hitting the ground, lol

 

[wellington]

While we’re on the topic of Curtis, his plastron finally concaved recently. Figured it would happen earlier and not when he’s 18-20 inches, but maybe he’s just a late bloomer, lol. Maybe it has something to do with his incubation temperature (I’m assuming it was higher because of his split/extra scutes), I remember reading a post here where someone implied that increased temperatures might affect not sex, but the time it takes to reach sexual maturity. I believe they bought a whole herd of tortoises incubated to be female, but they ended up almost entirely male and they all just started showing really late compared to the “male” incubated ones. It was a pretty long time ago, not sure which thread I saw it on. I think they might’ve been Burmese stars.

Usually bad/incorrect care even early on, too small enclosure or keeping in pairs will delay the onset of male attributes. Never heard of incubation temp affecting delayed growth only whether the sex will be male or female and that's not 100%.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Usually bad/incorrect care even early on, too small enclosure or keeping in pairs will delay the onset of male attributes. Never heard of incubation temp affecting delayed growth only whether the sex will be male or female and that's not 100%.

Good to know!

 

[Tom]

Curtis is very difficult to get a grip on nowadays. I can lift his weight, but I am a very small person and Curtis is the size of my entire torso. I usually use the “bear hug” technique and cover myself in mud, but it’s getting hard to do without feeling like I’m dropping him.

Is it safe to use the overhangs of his shell above his limbs to lift him? I’ve never done it out of fear that they can’t support his weight, but I figured I’d ask because it would be very convenient.

Here’s Curtis now while I try to move him into his night box. It’s rainy and a little chilly, and he seems to have forgotten that he can walk into his house because the flaps are wet.View attachment 364387

It is not safe to lift a sulcata that way. They will wipe your finger right off of that handhold, hurting you, and possibly themselves when they fall.

The bear hug technique is safest for his size. The cart will serve you well when you are ready for it. There is only one cart that works for this. They cost $229, but they are sturdy and they work.



Tip it down, shimmy the tortoise in, then tip it back up and roll the tortoise home. I tip it down and deposit the tortoise right on its door and shimmy it in if it doesn't go on in to the house on its own.

 

[TechnoCheese]

It is not safe to lift a sulcata that way. They will wipe your finger right off of that handhold, hurting you, and possibly themselves when they fall.

The bear hug technique is safest for his size. The cart will serve you well when you are ready for it. There is only one cart that works for this. They cost $229, but they are sturdy and they work.
View attachment 364389


Tip it down, shimmy the tortoise in, then tip it back up and roll the tortoise home. I tip it down and deposit the tortoise right on its door and shimmy it in if it doesn't go on in to the house on its own.

Well then, for the sake of my fingers, I will continue to bear hug

Thanks!

 

[Tom]

While we’re on the topic of Curtis, his plastron finally concaved recently. Figured it would happen earlier and not when he’s 18-20 inches, but maybe he’s just a late bloomer, lol. Maybe it has something to do with his incubation temperature (I’m assuming it was higher because of his split/extra scutes), I remember reading a post here where someone implied that increased temperatures might affect not sex, but the time it takes to reach sexual maturity. I believe they bought a whole herd of tortoises incubated to be female, but they ended up almost entirely male and they all just started showing really late compared to the “male” incubated ones. It was a pretty long time ago, not sure which thread I saw it on. I think they might’ve been Burmese stars.

Its normal for plastron concavity to start to happen around 20 inches in sulcatas. That is not late.

For sulcatas, and sulcatas only: Incubation at 84 degree will produce 100% males. Incubation at 90 degrees will produce 100% females.

The 15 Burmese stars you are referencing matured normally, but all were male. They were sold as "temp sexed for female". This happened because the temperatures needed for that species, and every other species except for sulcatas, are not known. Sulcatas are the only species that have been studied with lab grade precision.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Its normal for plastron concavity to start to happen around 20 inches in sulcatas. That is not late.

For sulcatas, and sulcatas only: Incubation at 84 degree will produce 100% males. Incubation at 90 degrees will produce 100% females.

The 15 Burmese stars you are referencing matured normally, but all were male. They were sold as "temp sexed for female". This happened because the temperatures needed for that species, and every other species except for sulcatas, are not known. Sulcatas are the only species that have been studied with lab grade precision.

Oh, awesome! I was under the impression that temperature sexing wasn’t super accurate for sulcatas. Cool to know that isn’t the case. Thanks!

 

[Tom]

Oh, awesome! I was under the impression that temperature sexing wasn’t super accurate for sulcatas. Cool to know that isn’t the case. Thanks!

It isn't because no one has lab grade accuracy with their incubation equipment. But if someone did, and kept the correct consistent temperatures all through incubation for sulcata eggs, it would be guaranteed. I don't have equipment that is that accurate, and I also think some variation is good for the developing embryos. Most species have some day to night variation, and some seasonal variation over the course of incubation in the wild.

 

[TechnoCheese]

It isn't because no one has lab grade accuracy with their incubation equipment. But if someone did, and kept the correct consistent temperatures all through incubation for sulcata eggs, it would be guaranteed. I don't have equipment that is that accurate, and I also think some variation is good for the developing embryos. Most species have some day to night variation, and some seasonal variation over the course of incubation in the wild.

Ah, I see! That’s really good to know, never realized it was the equipment/readings and not the development itself.

 

[dd33]

Here are two videos of Aldabras being loaded into a Rubbermaid cart. These two are a little over 100lbs and they fit easily. I have moved animals in the 200-400lb range in this type of cart, you just have to be careful with their legs when they get to be the size of the cart.
If you are loading them into the cart with the intention of dumping them directly into their house, its nice to load them backwards but they are significantly more resistant to that and will dig their feet in. Galapagos will often walk backwards out of the cart when you tip it towards the house but our Aldabras don't seem to have a reverse gear. Not sure about sulcatas in that regard.