Oh No! Escape

[FunnyGirl]

I posted on another thread that I forgot ET in his bath for 24 hours and everyone was so nice to me but now I deserve to be beaten!

I have an outdoor pen that I put my Russian in so he can hang out in the sun. It is in mostly shade under the trees. I stood on the deck and checked up on him and the two dogs in the backyard and Crash was reallly happy soaking up the warm weather and sitting on top of his log. 20 minutes later he was GONE! I have NO IDEA how he got out of his enclosure. I raked through the dirt and bark just to make sure he didn't bury himself. I had been cutting blackberries and had moved the pen and I am guessing that he moved a section that was not secure and got out.

Now he is loose is my huge backyard that is the dogyard. I have one dog that I KNOW would think he was a ball and so now I cannot let the dogs out until I find him. My yard is not really super tort proof but he cannot get out of my yard any too easily. (It could happen) The problem is that 1/4 of the yard is a huge ivy patch mixed with long grasses. There is also a number of pine trees and a huge, lovely cedar that grows to the ground. There are thousands of places he could bury himself that I can not find.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to entice him to come out of wherever he is? I told my dad he was on tortoise patrol and had to walk the yard several times a day but the only thing he has found is dog poop! I just hope Crash doesn't eat any dog poop cause I don't know if the dog's dewormer is toxic. I do not use Ivermectin.

I did put PowerBall on his tail but we did not find him. That was last night.

Any suggestions???

Valerie

 

[Nay]

I posted on another thread that I forgot ET in his bath for 24 hours and everyone was so nice to me but now I deserve to be beaten!

I have an outdoor pen that I put my Russian in so he can hang out in the sun. It is in mostly shade under the trees. I stood on the deck and checked up on him and the two dogs in the backyard and Crash was reallly happy soaking up the warm weather and sitting on top of his log. 20 minutes later he was GONE! I have NO IDEA how he got out of his enclosure. I raked through the dirt and bark just to make sure he didn't bury himself. I had been cutting blackberries and had moved the pen and I am guessing that he moved a section that was not secure and got out.

Now he is loose is my huge backyard that is the dogyard. I have one dog that I KNOW would think he was a ball and so now I cannot let the dogs out until I find him. My yard is not really super tort proof but he cannot get out of my yard any too easily. (It could happen) The problem is that 1/4 of the yard is a huge ivy patch mixed with long grasses. There is also a number of pine trees and a huge, lovely cedar that grows to the ground. There are thousands of places he could bury himself that I can not find.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to entice him to come out of wherever he is? I told my dad he was on tortoise patrol and had to walk the yard several times a day but the only thing he has found is dog poop! I just hope Crash doesn't eat any dog poop cause I don't know if the dog's dewormer is toxic. I do not use Ivermectin.


Oh FunnyGirl, that sucks!! I had 2 Russians that I used to put out in this nice flower garden along the side of our old house. I would check them and they always seemed to be fine.. Well one day the male was missing, we looked for hours. Now this fence was kinda like a picket fence, but the rails(or boards standing up) were opposite each other. We did finally find him and I put him right back in, he went right up to the rocks that lined the edges, stood up on them and twisted himself side ways and dropped over. I would never had believed it. All I can say is check at dinner time when they seem to be most active, and try to just scan.. you know how sometimes your looking real hard for things and miss them.
Also what's powerball?
Good Luck and happy thoughts to you.

Na

 

[Crazy1]

Valerie, Ivermectin is toxic to torts even in dog poo. So get to cleaning up the (poo) backyard. Look early in the AM and later in the PM when it is cooler. That is when Crash should be out. Remember they also like to climb. The more eyes the better to spot him with. I hope you are able to locate him soon.

 

[FunnyGirl]

Thanks guys- I do NOT use Ivermectin. I use pyrantal on my dogs and the one female I have here that I co-own was dewormed with Panecure. I did do several poop checks and Crash checks as has my dad. There is no water that he has access too as my dog water buckets are too high. Do you think at some point he would gravitate to the water points? I work from 6 AM to 2 PM so the evening checks are much easier. Because of my breed, I check my dogs constantly so I do several walk arounds in order to find him. My yard is a virtual Russian jungle. I hope nothing is poison. The back fence is chain link that has a virtual blackberry disaster patch growing up against it. The fence on one side of the house is solid wood sitting on top of concrete wall for most of it. The dogs have dug a hole under that part of the fence that is not solid cement under the neighbors property but he has his reinfornced with wire. There is just so much foliage and loose soil, especially under the pine trees. I am just freaking out about it.

I rather doubt he was able to climb out of the pen as the walls are 4 feet high. I am guessing that he moved it, found a small opening and sqeezed out.

NAY - PowerBall is my dog who is really high drive. Once when Switch got loose in the backyard I put him on "HER" tail and he found her in seconds. He is really smart and a pretty good tracking dog, albiet, a very untrained one. He is also do the dog I cannot trust to be in the yard with Crash missing. I wish I knew someone with a bloodhound. I have some canine officer friends who have bomb dogs, drug dogs, and street dogs - too bad they live in California!!! My old dog Funny could find ET when he went missing in the house. But alas, Funny is gone!

I just don't want him to get hurt. The LOVES to dig!!!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Let the dog out and let him find the tort...get down on your hands and knees and look for him from that view. That's what the tortoise see's so try to find him from that way...that way you see things the same way he is...

 

[tortoisenerd]

I would put out a shallow water dish and some yummy foods with a shaded area where you can see them, and see if it's a lure. I like Maggie's idea though. Sounds like you have a lot of work to do!

 

[Madortoise]

One time when we first got Penelope, we thought for certain that we lost her as I was on computer inside the house and she was out loose in a living room for an hour. That was when he asked me to watch her and I supposely said "sure" half-heartedly. My husband was sooo upset that she left the house somehow b/c we looked everywhere and couldn't find her for hours afterwards in/out of the house. I was in so much trouble. I then thought to myself, where would she go and what would she like to do? A nice and quiet dark place....we looked under our bed and there she was burying her head between two boxes and her butt sticking out. We laughed and cried sticking our heads underneath the bed ourselves.

Sounds like your yard has a lot of comfy hiding place.
Think & Act like Crash to find him and keep your hopes up.

I'm sending positive energy your way.

 

[Traveller]

Oh my goodness.
Hopefully you have found Crash by now.
Sending good vibes your way for the hunt.
I'd do what Maggie suggested. Also sometimes when I've lost things
I get the kids involved, and we're usually successful. Seems a fresh
pair of eyes sometimes does the trick.
Good luck in the search.

 

[Meg90]

Check all the corners....its a prime spot. I would get down on my hands and knees, and sweep every inch of the ground with my hands as well. They are made to be unseen by predators. Its amazing what a little coating of dirt does to the shell, they become almost invisible.

 

[FunnyGirl]

-Meg - that is my fear! My yard is huge and alive with foliage. I am so afraid I might step on him.

I am going to try having PB look for him again. I heard my other dog barking in the yard at 5 AM this morning and I ran out half naked (picture fat lady running around in backyard with a towel half-heartedly wrapped around her that is no way near big enough to cover the amble backside - EWWWWW!!!) hoping by hope it was Crash Bicker was barking at. Alas, no luck. I knew it was pretty rare for him to bark at the tortoises since I have had them longer than him so he is used to it.

I have no kids but some will be coming to visit at the end of the month and if I haven't found him by then I will put them on it.

 

[bettinge]

They are good diggers, so look for freshly disturbed soil! You will find him!

 

[K9KidsLove]

I heard my other dog barking in the yard at 5 AM this morning and I ran out half naked (picture fat lady running around in backyard with a towel half-heartedly wrapped around her that is no way near big enough to cover the amble backside - EWWWWW!!!)

Girl...you sure made me laugh. I thought you were talking about me!!

By the way, my sister's name is Valerie.

Do you have any friends with kids that you could borrow? The longer he is gone the deeper he can dig!!

Good luck
Patsy

 

[dmmj]

I would entice him/her with a favorite food. Rusians love to climb, I can not say that enough, they love to climb, and are good climbers. And mine love to dig downwards like little land mines, if he/she is hiding you could walk over him/her every day and still not see him/her. Good luck on finding it.

 

[Traveller]

-Meg - that is my fear! My yard is huge and alive with foliage. I am so afraid I might step on him.

I am going to try having PB look for him again. I heard my other dog barking in the yard at 5 AM this morning and I ran out half naked (picture fat lady running around in backyard with a towel half-heartedly wrapped around her that is no way near big enough to cover the amble backside - EWWWWW!!!) hoping by hope it was Crash Bicker was barking at. Alas, no luck. I knew it was pretty rare for him to bark at the tortoises since I have had them longer than him so he is used to it.

I have no kids but some will be coming to visit at the end of the month and if I haven't found him by then I will put them on it.

Thanks for the morning chuckle......
I've done that also although we're out in the country so there is usually no one around.

Still no luck, that's tough.
I may be crazy here( certainly have been told that before) but what about using a temperature gun? Would your tort register I wonder or be the same as the surrounding dirt?

 

[tortoisenerd]

If it was a heat gun that could take a large picture that would work well, but a typical handheld temp gun like you buy for a small amount of money I don't think could work. I think there are some great ideas here--just takes a lot of time.

 

[Crazy1]

I tried pointing my temp gun at the spot in the enclosure were I knew my hatchling was just under the surface and though it showed a temp increase it was really small. I agree. Time, time time. Remember Yvonnes story of her lost Russian? Its in here someplace. She finally found her when she dug up I think I remember after some months. Perhaps Yvonne can point us to that link. Chin up Eyes down FunnyGirl I have faith she will be found.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I've even heard of people "losing" a tort and finding them 6 months later after the tort comes up for hibernation. Not an issue in summer but quite interesting how hardy they can be.

 

[FunnyGirl]

Thanks so much guys for all your support! I still have not found him. It was so funny about the temperature gun. I was thinking the EXACT same thing today! When a group of people were stealing hogs from the farms I managed, the big guns were called in and they watched the people through the infa-red. Somehow the theives found out about this and told me, not knowing I knew about it already. I wish I had FBI connections.

I think I might take pictures of my yard and have you guys guess the best place. I am thinking he dug down into the softer dirt under the pine trees. The weather has been unusually hot here so I am guessing that he has burried himself to keep cool. I do know that we have racoons here but of course they are active at night. I am just so stressed. I don't think he could survive the winter outside up here. We had an unnually cold winter. Our summers usually only last about 8 weeks and we are at the 1/2 way point now! I just know that he makes a mess of his indoor enclosure and that soil is only 5" thick. When he was in the old tub I got him in, he never burried himself bellow his shell but in his new one he did. I REALLY need to weed wack the back fence but I am scared he is in that grass quagmire which is now about 4 feet high!

As far as climbing, I just don't know what he could climb over. If he gets out of my yard, he is going under!



I am feeling so sad! I hope I can be a success story too!

 

[tortoisenerd]

Keep up the hope! Can you get friends and family together for a team search party to walk a "grid" to try to find him? Like said before, look for hiding spots and loose dirt.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I had an adult 3-toed box turtle named Patches...now you know box turtles can move a lot faster than tortoises. So somehow he got out of his pen (climbed a corner I think)and I was devastated. My yard was very small surrounded by a 6 foot tall solid wood fence. So I got down on my hands and knees at tortoise level like my sister told me to do and I walked my yard like that, looking at everything from down low and couldn't find him. Time passed and no Patches. Winter comes and goes and no Patches. I named him that because he had a fiberglass patch that covered his whole carapace...
Now it's Spring time and I am moving on, and literally moving....up here to Oregon. Then one day a knock on the door from the guy who mows the empty lots in the trailer park. (Well, actually it was a girl, but it took me a number of years to know that, and that's a whole nuther story) He/she says "I found this tortoise and I thought you might like to have him. I almost ran over him with the mower. He was right next door up against the fence in a sun spot trying to warm up."
Yep! That tortoise was Patches who hibernated all winter outside! I had never hibernated him before because of his patch and his injury was catastrophic but he instinctively knew how to do it. That was simply too cool. So the moral of this story is too never give up.
Poor Patches, he went thru all that and lived, and then packed in a box to move up here and lived, and jiggled around in the moving truck for 800 miles leaving California and lived, and after being here for a few months he died. (didn't see that coming didja???)