Meet Connie

[OliveW]

This beautiful Sulcata is Connie, although I have no idea if she's a male or female, as she's had that name since she was hatched. That's my granddaughter and husband in the picture with her.

Connie is a homeowner who lives next door to my parents. Not an old shack, either. It's a very nice $300,000 or so home located on a cul-de-sac. Her family moved to Australia 5 or 6 years ago, and Connie lives on her own in the fenced yard. They won't sell or rent the home, and can obviously afford not to. They may be back one day, as they've moved abroad and returned before, even living for two years aboard a sailboat.

My parents are caretakers of the home, but were told that Connie can take care of herself, but they are welcome to feed her if they want. They do feed her romaine.

 

[wellington]

What about water for the poor thing?
Animal neglect is what they are doing. If they have that much money they should pay your parents more to take care of the tortoise.
Nice looking sully to bad they don't care more about it.

 

[OliveW]

What about water for the poor thing?
Animal neglect is what they are doing. If they have that much money they should pay your parents more to take care of the tortoise.
Nice looking sully to bad they don't care more about it.

About 1/4 of the yard is water/swamp. I assume that's how she stays healthy.

They may pay my parents to care for the house, I'm really not sure. I only found out Connie existed a couple of years ago. I did tell my parents that if they ever sold the house, I would take Connie. My mom really enjoys her, so leaving her there as long as everything stays as is.

I was angry at first because they never told my parents not to feed fruit. When I found out she was over there, I did a quick Google search on safe foods for tortoise. I didn't even know she was a Sulcata until last weekend when we went over there to show her to my granddaughter. Anyway, it immediately came up that fruit was a no-go. My parents have never fed her fruit again. I recently forwarded them a link to the Tortoise Table. My parents were also under the impression that Connie ate insects.

 

[wellington]

About 1/4 of the yard is water/swamp. I assume that's how she stays healthy.

They may pay my parents to care for the house, I'm really not sure. I only found out Connie existed a couple of years ago. I did tell my parents that if they ever sold the house, I would take Connie. My mom really enjoys her, so leaving her there as long as everything stays as is.

I was angry at first because they never told my parents not to feed fruit. When I found out she was over there, I did a quick Google search on safe foods for tortoise. I didn't even know she was a Sulcata until last weekend when we went over there to show her to my granddaughter. Anyway, it immediately came up that fruit was a no-go. My parents have never fed her fruit again. I recently forwarded them a link to the Tortoise Table. My parents were also under the impression that Connie ate insects.

Oh good, I'm glad there is water available.
Glad to know you are looking out for her, thank you and please keep it up.
Just be careful where you get your info from. A lot of websites are old and outdated on their info. Tortoise table is a good one though.
For those few times your temps get cold, does she have a place to get into that is kept warm? They really can't handle temps below 75-80 for very long without a warm heated hide to retrieve too.
Still sad the owners think she can just survive on her own.
Thanks to your parents too.

 

[OliveW]

Oh good, I'm glad there is water available.
Glad to know you are looking out for her, thank you and please keep it up.
Just be careful where you get your info from. A lot of websites are old and outdated on their info. Tortoise table is a good one though.
For those few times your temps get cold, does she have a place to get into that is kept warm? They really can't handle temps below 75-80 for very long without a warm heated hide to retrieve too.
Still sad the owners think she can just survive on her own.
Thanks to your parents too.

No, she doesn't have any place to get out of the cold, other than her burrow. 😭

Since I've only had ours three weeks, I hadn't even thought about Connie at winter yet. We have a few weeks every year where it gets too cold for them. This year we had even more. Nighttime temps dive even more often.

I can assure you 100% that she will have a properly heated shelter before winter this year! They keep the power on, access to an outdoor outlet is no problem.

I've only read lightly on winter requirements so far, as I was in deep learning to care for ours properly with his immediate needs. Ours does have a night box now, but we were planning to make something bigger and more appropriate before December. When I do the research and decide what we are doing for him, we will make one for Connie as well.

The owners definitely think she can survive on her own, as it's what they told my parents. When I found out about her a couple of years ago, they told my parents I can have her if I wanted. I left her over there because I know my parents would miss her, especially my mom. My parents are 80 & 82 but in perfect health physically and mentally. They are not your stereotypical old people at all. If I tell them she needs a shelter, they will let me put on over there.

The absentee owners had some kind of wild cat too, but they rehomed that before they moved away.

 

[wellington]

Take a read of @Tom night box thread. That's what both tortoises would need.
Thank you for looking out for her.
This forum will help with any questions and concerns you have.

 

[OliveW]

Take a read of @Tom night box thread. That's what both tortoises would need.
Thank you for looking out for her.
This forum will help with any questions and concerns you have.

Oh, absolutely! I found this forum and have followed all @Tom's advice in caring for ours. I have now disregarded all other sources, as I found crazy conflicting information all over the internet. None of it was from anyone with any actual credentials/long experience, so when I found this place, I stayed!

My introduction thread. I've learned a LOT in these past few weeks and our Sully is thriving!

 

[Tom]

View attachment 347535


This beautiful Sulcata is Connie, although I have no idea if she's a male or female, as she's had that name since she was hatched. That's my granddaughter and husband in the picture with her.

Connie is a homeowner who lives next door to my parents. Not an old shack, either. It's a very nice $300,000 or so home located on a cul-de-sac. Her family moved to Australia 5 or 6 years ago, and Connie lives on her own in the fenced yard. They won't sell or rent the home, and can obviously afford not to. They may be back one day, as they've moved abroad and returned before, even living for two years aboard a sailboat.

My parents are caretakers of the home, but were told that Connie can take care of herself, but they are welcome to feed her if they want. They do feed her romaine.

If you can get a picture of Connie's anal scutes and tail, we can sex her for you. Looking female from the size of the gular scutes.

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

You look to have gotten a very smooth animal even after a very long life.

 

[OliveW]

If you can get a picture of Connie's anal scutes and tail, we can sex her for you. Looking female from the size of the gular scutes.

I will do that next time I'm over there. She is bigger than she looks in the picture, so didn't want to have my husband lift her to see underneath. I can definitely get a butt pic, though. 😂