My 14 yo son wants an aldabra

[Cathie G]

The pig board is a great invention. It seems things have come a long way in pig farming since I was a lad.

Coincidentally, I worked on the largest pig farm in CT in the 1960's (Secchiaroli's in Waterford which is still operating today) and we used bushel baskets to hold over the sows' heads to keep them at bay while we gathered up their male piglets for castration (performed by the owners with a straight razor on a 2 x 12 board laid across the tops of the stalls). By the time two or three stalls had been done, the sows were wise to the fact that their piglets were going to be hurt somehow and became quite nasty and harder to manage. By the time we reached the end of the barn, the sows were quite hard to keep under control. My job was getting into the stalls and grabbing the baby pigs with one hand while holding the basket over the mother's head with the other hand.

I once saw a huge sow leap over the side of a 4' high stall and bite one of my co-workers in the bicep while he was moving the castration board to the next stalls.

Inoculating the piglets (by a vet) required pretty much the same technique, but thankfully the sows did not get quite as upset on the inoculation days.

If you want the names and contact info for the two people I mentioned, let me know. I will send them to you in a PM.

I'm surprised you got to the third stall before they were trying to breaking the stalls down.

 

[Tom]

Thank you Zovick - I'm actually not too terribly far from Oneonta, I'm right by the border of Sullivan and Ulster counties.

To answer your questions - pigs. I am down to 2 minis right now, but I raised pigs for years. Pigs hit 250-300 lbs in less than a year. Like tortoises, they are stubborn, dig like excavators are much stronger than most give them credit for and (happily) believe that a barrier that can't be seen through can't be passed through. Unlike tortoises, they are also surprisingly fast and agile, occasionally carnivorous, and - contrary to what you read on the internet, while the average pig is nowhere near as smart as the average dog, they're certainly smarter than one might want them to be. A breeding sow weighs between 450 and 1000lbs. When a pig comes down with a case of Don't Wanna, Not Gonna, you use a pig board to say Not Here. It looks and works like this; https://familyfarmlivestock.com/what-is-a-pig-sorting-board-how-to-use-it/
Three sorting boards fastened in a U makes a pig box - the only way out is forward and you just follow along.
Then, for the truly tremendous and stubborn, there is the skid box, and all that means is basically the box that the animal is used to sleeping or eating in, when you build it, you build it on heavy wooden skids so you can hook the tractor to it and move it. Which works brilliantly for rotating pigs through pastures, will catch and move a pig who's decided he's feral exactly once and would likely be just as helpful for rotating tortoise pens and, in a pinch, moving a giant with a case of Don't Wanna.
But, it's only a 4 foot rise out of the basement and I'm sure if the ramp was set, the door was open and the animal wanted to move, it would. And if it didn't want to, I'd be more concerned with figuring out why than with making it do so.

We used those "pig boards" with the sea lion where I went to school years ago. Super handy for some situations!

 

[RiverOtter]

You have a really blessed son 🤗. It looks to me like you have made up your mind.😁🐢 Best wishes with your endeavor.😊.

Thank you @Helen Ruff . I actually adore dogs, used to work with them a lot, had the pleasure of meeting Wolfhounds and yeah, a Wolfhound is NOTHING like a Labrador. I click best with herding breeds and terriers, but I haven't had a terrier since little Sammy. Right now we have a Great Pyrenees, a GSD, a Chow/Australian Shepherd X, a standard Poodle and a Border Collie - quite a range of personalities!

@Cathie G thank you! My mind isn't totally made up yet, but it does seem doable, especially as I already have a lot of the equipment and experience to work with large animals. But, cost, time, etc, still a lot to consider and still definitely not this year. On the other hand, it's not exactly fair to say no as his sister got a horse at that age, and it's not like those aren't expensive and time consuming 😵 So right now it seems like a goal to work towards as a family.

Wow @zovick , that is a hairy job!! I've never had more than a few sows at a time, and I've always given them a few beers (yes, really folks, pigs LOVE beer and most of them are happy drunks. Most...) and taken the piglets a bit away. I'm also surprised you were able to get even 3 in before trouble - even a cannibalistic sow goes a bit nuts hearing piglets squeal. I hope they paid you well!!
I'd really appreciate that info, and thanks for all the help!

 

[RiverOtter]

We used those "pig boards" with the sea lion where I went to school years ago. Super handy for some situations!

Ok, I need to know what school you went to where you worked with a sea lion...

 

[Tom]

Ok, I need to know what school you went to where you worked with a sea lion...

Moorpark College. I wasn't an assigned trainer on the sea lion, but we did a lot of work with them. I was a trainer on the olive baboon, the water buffalo, the turkey vulture, and several others.

 

[zovick]

Wow @zovick , that is a hairy job!! I've never had more than a few sows at a time, and I've always given them a few beers (yes, really folks, pigs LOVE beer and most of them are happy drunks. Most...) and taken the piglets a bit away. I'm also surprised you were able to get even 3 in before trouble - even a cannibalistic sow goes a bit nuts hearing piglets squeal. I hope they paid you well!!
I'd really appreciate that info, and thanks for all the help!

Hi @RiverOtter Pay was $12 per day for a day which started at 4:30 AM and ended at 5:00 PM if all the work for that day was finished. If not, we just stayed till it was done and got no additional pay.

Check your conversations for contact info for my two friends.

 

[Cathie G]

Yes of course you should take your time as you are doing. Even with all the best preparation a tortoise is still a very unique animal. Even the smaller ones are. 🤗

 

[zovick]

@RiverOtter How is everything going? Just checking to see if you made contact with either of the two breeders to whom I referred you in upstate NY.

Did you and your son get a tortoise yet? If so, is it an Aldabra or did your son become interested in another species?

Final note: I sent my daughter (who lives in Selkirk) the links to both of your locations and she might make a trip down to visit and see your operation(s) one of these days.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Just want to interject a few words here.

One of my friends from PA kept a couple of Galapagos Tortoises for many years. When they were younger and he could lift them, it wasn't a big problem moving them in and out of his house in cold weather. When they became adults it was very difficult to make them go in or out if they did not wish to move. At that point, he needed a forklift and another person to help him move them from wherever they were back to his house of vice versa. Eventually, he got tired of the ordeal and parted with the animals.

I lived in the northwestern corner of CT for 30 years and kept 4 adult sulcatas there. They stayed in my basement during cold weather and were carried up the basement stairs to the outside whenever weather permitted. I had to put them in a garden cart (separately as only one fit in it at a time) at the top of the basement stairway to wheel them to their fenced pen, then lift them out of the cart and over the fence to place them into the pen. The process was reversed when they had to be brought inside again. Doing this 8 times a day when it was warm enough for them to be out in the daytime, but too cold to leave them out at night was very time consuming (but a lot of good exercise). After 4 years of doing this, the males were becoming very heavy and extremely difficult for me to lift, and I found it best to find them a new home at a zoo in TX.

The basement stairs being converted to a ramp is fine, but if the tortoise doesn't feel like walking up or down the ramp when you want it to do so, it can be problematic. It sounds as though you can solve it, though.

Where is your farm in NY? Just curious. I have several friends who are dairy farmers in different parts of the state.

Good luck with the project.

Thank you. Because I had visions of a tortoise thriving for years in a converted, warm basement.
Then an owner trying to carry a nearly grown Aldabra up the stairs and out of the basement.

 

[RiverOtter]

@RiverOtter How is everything going? Just checking to see if you made contact with either of the two breeders to whom I referred you in upstate NY.

Did you and your son get a tortoise yet? If so, is it an Aldabra or did your son become interested in another species?

Final note: I sent my daughter (who lives in Selkirk) the links to both of your locations and she might make a trip down to visit and see your operation(s) one of these days.

Hi! Thanks for checking in!
No, we haven't gotten one yet, when I posted this I was thinking of gathering information for next year - including info on exactly when Aldabras are available! This spring went sideways in a lot of ways anyhow, including the terrible loss of my sister in April, so I haven't been moving forward on much, more just keeping everything ok. BUT, we did find a property that we love and that will work out long term for our farm, cross your fingers for us, we have it under contract!! No matter how good or long-term a farm lease is, owning is always better. If we manage this (knock on wood for us) we'll be doing a lot of building on the new place, and a heated barn is definitely on the list.

In the meantime, once the move is complete, my daughter (early 20s) has so enjoyed learning about tortoises and being already a reptile enthusiast is thinking about doing some tortoise rescue and rehab.

Zovick, if your daughter wants to have a farm tour, tell her to mention you and I'll be sure to send her home with some lovely (also edible and tortoise friendly) purslanes.

 

[zovick]

Hi! Thanks for checking in!
No, we haven't gotten one yet, when I posted this I was thinking of gathering information for next year - including info on exactly when Aldabras are available! This spring went sideways in a lot of ways anyhow, including the terrible loss of my sister in April, so I haven't been moving forward on much, more just keeping everything ok. BUT, we did find a property that we love and that will work out long term for our farm, cross your fingers for us, we have it under contract!! No matter how good or long-term a farm lease is, owning is always better. If we manage this (knock on wood for us) we'll be doing a lot of building on the new place, and a heated barn is definitely on the list.

In the meantime, once the move is complete, my daughter (early 20s) has so enjoyed learning about tortoises and being already a reptile enthusiast is thinking about doing some tortoise rescue and rehab.

Zovick, if your daughter wants to have a farm tour, tell her to mention you and I'll be sure to send her home with some lovely (also edible and tortoise friendly) purslanes.

Best of luck with the purchase! As you said, owning the property is better, so I hope it all works out for you.

Thanks for the offer to give my daughter the tour and the purslane. My grandfather (Ph.D. in Botany from Brown University) grew it in his garden, and we ate quite a bit of it whenever we visited them. His vegetable garden and fruit trees were amazing and produced lovely and tasty fruits and veggies.

I'm sure your children and grandchildren will have similar fond memories once you get your place organized.

Very sorry to hear about your sister.

 

[Sarah2020]

Tortoise are fun to keep but needy in our Northern climate, they are not for everyone and sadly there must be some unhappy ones around. I recommend getting a smaller tortoise to get familiar with the heat, light, soaks, diet, substrate, routine care and needs and then when your ready go larger.

 

[wellington]

So sorry to read about the loss of your sister. I know the feeling of losing a sibling.
🤞 Are crossed you get the property you are after and all goes good for you and yours from here on.