Mary's adventures part 1...

[Maggie3fan]

As some of you know I am seriously fed up with Mary Knobbins. She seems to get in more trouble than any other Sulcata I have had. I am hoping that by writing about her, it might save other Sulcata keepers some trouble...
So the last y'all heard about her she had learned how to climb 7 stairs to the deck, then she went around the deck knocking stuff over and just causing me grief again.
I don't suppose that I have really kept Mary safely. While my Bob would escape often enuf...he always climbed the stairs and took off up the street. Mary is not that smart...I hav wondered what she has against the bird bath?..haha. You can always know she's somewhere or someplace she's not supposed to be...
So I put t-posts down inside 2 high cinder block, and those iron rods, I pounded them down in the blocks as well...see the result
please notice the blocks are broken while the rod still stands...nothing I tried worked. She is a stubborn woman in menopause...she fights any thing I do to make her happier and safe. So in my quest of happiness for Mary K. I decided to give her more room..so I opened up the pathway from my house to the tort shed.. So she got 3 pens added to her original pen. So I walked around each pen determined to make it Mary proof, yeah right,
see the gate?.so I opened the gate to that section, blocking off my hydrangea from damage...also I had to block off the Day Lily...and move the birdbath...can anybody see trouble coming???
watch for the continuation of Mary's adventures...

 

[zolasmum]

What a girl !!! You just can't help loving her !!
Angie (a Mary K fan , obviously )

 

[wellington]

She is one determined tort for sure.

 

[Cathie G]

As some of you know I am seriously fed up with Mary Knobbins. She seems to get in more trouble than any other Sulcata I have had. I am hoping that by writing about her, it might save other Sulcata keepers some trouble...
So the last y'all heard about her she had learned how to climb 7 stairs to the deck, then she went around the deck knocking stuff over and just causing me grief again. View attachment 347752
I don't suppose that I have really kept Mary safely. While my Bob would escape often enuf...he always climbed the stairs and took off up the street. Mary is not that smart...I hav wondered what she has against the bird bath?..haha. You can always know she's somewhere or someplace she's not supposed to be... View attachment 347753
So I put t-posts down inside 2 high cinder block, and those iron rods, I pounded them down in the blocks as well...see the result View attachment 347765
please notice the blocks are broken while the rod still stands...nothing I tried worked. She is a stubborn woman in menopause...she fights any thing I do to make her happier and safe. So in my quest of happiness for Mary K. I decided to give her more room..so I opened up the pathway from my house to the tort shed.. View attachment 347767 So she got 3 pens added to her original pen. So I walked around each pen determined to make it Mary proof, yeah right, View attachment 347771
see the gate?.so I opened the gate to that section, blocking off my hydrangea from damage...also I had to block off the Day Lily...and move the birdbath...can anybody see trouble coming???
watch for the continuation of Mary's adventures...

Mary Knobbins sounds like mother's revenge to me 😉😁😘

 

[Maggie3fan]

What a girl !!! You just can't help loving her !!
Angie (a Mary K fan , obviously )

I CAN help it!!! lol

 

[Maggie3fan]

Ok...so here's her pretty face for a friend of mine...
So if you remember I was giving Mary K more room, thinking that it might settle her down some, haha here's my hydrangea blocked by 4 tires some wood and a cement pylon
so here she comes thru the open gate and she see's the tires and she jumped in the air, clicks her heels and ran towards the tire...or she remembers she has been behind that plant...so she climbs up putting her left foot on the tire and her right foot on the fence...look...lol...omg I can hardly lift that pylon but she moved it, no problem
This tortoise is determined...
I felt she was so close to discovering she can climb fences...so I put her out that gate and closed it...she is not happy at all... oh lordy! Have you ever seen a mad 40 pound tortoise? Yep...to be continued...

 

[Maggie3fan]

Part 3 So as you remember, I moved her away from the tires as she was climbing the fence (sorta) I moved her out of the gate and closed it...see in the first photo the small gap between boards has caught her attention...she can see the gap and she starts digging at it... all the damage at the bottom of the boards is her claws...sulcata claws then she rattles the gate...and pushes it and bangs it...and gets the damn thing open...and discovers the day lily... this may not be good...
to be continued...

 

[Sarah2020]

You do get them houdinin (I miss him) and Mary Knobbins who is a strong tortoise exploring her boundaries in search for food and testing your patience. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MenagerieGrl]

Aw. Maggie, what, your not up for a good challenge? She just keeping you on your toes . . 😆
I think you need to up your construction technique to adapt to Mary's determination . . them dang Hydrangeas do look tasty

 

[Yvonne G]

This reinforces what I've always said to newbies: Once you allow them out of their normal area, they'll try like hell to get out again. She/he now knows there is more to the world than what's inside her fence, and she/he is not going to be happy until she/he finds a way out!

 

[Ink]

Lyns still loves Mary.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Yvonne's advice is right on, and . I believe Mary remembers when she escaped last freakin year and she went behind the hydrangea and almost slipped her sleazy butt out of the chainlink!!! They have an elephant type memory. I make all this funny, most of the time...but I am 76 years old and have shrunk from 5'8" 130lbs to 5/5" and 104 lbs. She keeps me on my toes yes, but she makes it hard for me...I can pick her up and walk, but she struggles and makes it hard not to drop her. Right now it's 90 headed to 105 degrees and the last thing I want to do is save that damn tortoise for the next 8 hours. but even if she does not escape, I have to get up or go out and check on her. So if I can't see her from the deck, I have to go find her. Right now she's sound asleep in the shade. Keeping a tortoise like this is physically and mentally exhausting. Most probably a keeper with money can provide much better enclosures than I. I am hoping my tales about my problems with Mary will help someone somehow. I have a friend in Texas that a lot of you longer members might remember, Tortuga Mike...he will take Mary to his acres in Texas, just as soon as the Nazi Moderator decides whether it's Knobby or Mary Knobbins.

 

[Cathie G]

It's like that having a house rabbit also. You can't allow them to know they've hopped over Aaaaa!!!! the pet/child safety gate even once. They'll never forget it and only improve on their performance at it 😜 from then on your life is 💩

 

[Yvonne G]

Yvonne's advice is right on, and . I believe Mary remembers when she escaped last freakin year and she went behind the hydrangea and almost slipped her sleazy butt out of the chainlink!!! They have an elephant type memory. I make all this funny, most of the time...but I am 76 years old and have shrunk from 5'8" 130lbs to 5/5" and 104 lbs. She keeps me on my toes yes, but she makes it hard for me...I can pick her up and walk, but she struggles and makes it hard not to drop her. Right now it's 90 headed to 105 degrees and the last thing I want to do is save that damn tortoise for the next 8 hours. but even if she does not escape, I have to get up or go out and check on her. So if I can't see her from the deck, I have to go find her. Right now she's sound asleep in the shade. Keeping a tortoise like this is physically and mentally exhausting. Most probably a keeper with money can provide much better enclosures than I. I am hoping my tales about my problems with Mary will help someone somehow. I have a friend in Texas that a lot of you longer members might remember, Tortuga Mike...he will take Mary to his acres in Texas, just as soon as the Nazi Moderator decides whether it's Knobby or Mary Knobbins.

I'm not well versed in the transgender scene, or even if that's the right word to use here, but I truly believe Mary has external characteristics of one gender but is really the other gender.

 

[Nash]

Mary Knobbins/Knobbins is a handful. Your stories tell us just what sulcatas are capable of. It's scary Maggie! And she's only 40 lbs. At full growth they can reach 200-250 or more??? What then? I think we all hope and cringe that we don't run into your troubles. Glad Tortuga Mike is coming to the rescue.

 

[Yvonne G]

Last night I was washing dishes and heard a bunch of clunking and banging just outside the window (Dudley is forced to live in the backyard while road widening (that affects his original yard) is going on), so I opened the back door to see what he's doing. I had a cinderblock pushing up against his shelter's plywood doorway to help hold it in place and he had pushed the cinderblock over to where I had another cinderblock just sitting there to use where needed. There was plenty of room to go around the two cinderblocks, but he chose to go over the top of them. By the time I got my camera he had already gotten over and was on his way down:



This is what he left in his wake:



I can't tell funny stories like my sister, but I thought these pictures would add to HER story.

 

[Nash]

This is very important for everyone to see and hear about how destructive they are. Anyone who is interested in housing especially cute little baby sulcatas; beware! Your beautiful flower gardens and lawns will never be the same.

 

[Maggie3fan]

This is very important for everyone to see and hear about how destructive they are. Anyone who is interested in housing especially cute little baby sulcatas; beware! Your beautiful flower gardens and lawns will never be the same.

Just wait until I figure out just how to word her next exploits...this thread got kinda serious, I think it's hard to consider the right thing to do, as opposed to what my heart wants to do. And this will also be part of owning Sulcata...most of them will outlive us. I am really glad you get what her stories are about, that's exactly why I take her pictures. And now maybe a story about getting her to Mike...or just let whoever is left in my family deal with all my animals. I won't get anymore cats...well nevermind.

 

[Ink]

I would take Mary knobbins if I had the space. I re-homed one small tortoise because my life changed and it was more stressful with 3 tortoises. I understand and I truly wish I could help. Lyns would love to have Mary knobbins until it is time to take care of her. Good luck

 

[tag78]

After 12 years experience learning how to negate some of the nefarious activities of a large sulcata (I acquired him at about 60 lbs, now over 100lbs) I have too many examples of him overcoming my efforts to tell them all. I can say this, it really got easier when I learned that if you can block their vision of anything that might be interesting (and that is just about everything) it becomes easier to secure the barricades you have to invent.
It really doesn't matter that you think you have made their universe larger, they will want to get to the other side of anything they can see past. It is amazing what they can and are willing to climb - to the point that you will find them upside-down on occasion (as you can imagine, that is not good in the heat of the day). One would think that instinct would tell them not to attempt such things.
Chain link fences are great but you have to install a "smooth" surface between them and the links in the fence. They love to pace the limits of fence lines and the links in chain-link fences can be tough on the scales on their legs and they just love to use them as climbing walls.
Everyone that talks about their memory is spot on. He, and I, are fortunate to have a large space for him. I once made a not well judged access gate to his enclosure and he found the weakness in it immediately. I found him where he wasn't welcome, pushing a 16 ft extension ladder around the side of the garage. I digress - the point is that I changed that arrangement and he went back to that spot for days trying to get through again. Only people who have experienced it understand their strength and determination.

Absolutely, anyone considering the responsibility of letting a sulcata into their life needs to thoroughly investigate all that goes with it. I have enjoyed every minute of it, had some close calls with my mistakes, and had to go to some expense to keep up with his containment but what joy it is to have them share their lives with you, your family, and your neighbors.

Sorry about the ramblings but it easy to tell long stories about these bulldozers of the natural word.