Ojai Sulcata Project, Open House

[Tom]

Question... if hatchlings are never seen in the wild, how were the initial hatchlings collected for the pet trade? Were they collected as eggs?

I agree with Mr. Benson. To my knowledge nothing under 4" could legally be imported and I never saw any imports smaller than that back when they were still importing. I was told that they were mostly "farm" raised. That could mean many things...

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when i saw Open House.. i thought we were all invited... darn..
So.. i notice they house lots together.. do they have problems with that? males only?
also,, his fences.. do they push thru them?

Dave is the one that told me about training them to get along by flipping any new additions who get aggressive for a few minutes at a time. This seems to work for him as that big pen in the pic had a whole lot of them, around 70, and they all were getting along fine. He has one big male (in the other pic) that has to live alone as he refuses to play well with any of the others.

Other than the normal sulcata digging, he has no problems with pushing on the fence or escaping. I don't know anyone with sulcatas that doesn't have to do SOME perimeter maintenance, and Dave's place seems no different in that respect. That pen is also pretty big. Its sort of triangle shape (Dean corrected me and called it more of a trapezoid...). Its around 75 yards tall and 55 wide. He looking to expand it onto another two acres there.

 

[DeanS]

This is Rambo...Dave's only 'problem child'. At somewhere between 150 and 175 pounds, Rambo tolerates no male tortoise...and is relegated to bachelor life. Poor guy! His pen is only aout a quarter to half an acre...loaded will bermudagrass (and hay), mallow by the ton...and his own private chalet...what more can you ask? Don't you love how he blocks out the SUV in that second pic...

BTW, this is me with Tomas and Dave...

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Wow this is awesome information to read!!!!!! I can't wait until summer roles back around and I can move Gupta outside and let him live more natural lol
Plus I get to create an awesome outdoor enclosure for him and the others.
I'm totally jealous that you guys get go and do all these awesome things with other tortoises enthusiasts! Awesome and amazing , jealous, jealous, jealous

 

[Zamric]

It's nice to know WalkingRock will be happy in his 1/4 acre back yard for years to come... iwas afraid he might outgrow it but that 150lb monster looks happy!

 

[Zamric]

Is Dave the guy in the middle?

 

[DeanS]

Is Dave the guy in the middle?

Are you joking? Tomas is on the left...Dave is on the right! Hmmmmmm!

 

[Zamric]

So the guy in the middle is Tom?
It's kinda important...

 

[jaizei]

Tom is the guy in the hat in the first picture.

 

[Zamric]

heheeh OK, thats what I thought... I thought Tom had the hat and Tomas was the guess speaker.... didn't realize Dave was older.

But.... Cathie recognized the guy in the middle as the guy she got WalkingRock From years ago.... turns out it was his sisters child in her class.... So, whos the guy in the middle?
DUH! Dean... sorry I wasnt paying atintion... Do you remember Cathies Classroom? it was back in 2000 in Davis California

 

[jaizei]

Dean.

 

[DeanS]

heheeh OK, thats what I thought... I thought Tom had the hat and Tomas was the guess speaker.... didn't realize Dave was older.

But.... Cathie recognized the guy in the middle as the guy she got WalkingRock From years ago.... turns out it was his sisters child in her class.... So, whos the guy in the middle?
DUH! Dean... sorry I wasnt paying atintion... Do you remember Cathies Classroom? it was back is 2000

Cathie is mistaken...sorry! I've only been to Texas once...driving through to Florida! I wouldn't mind taking credit for WalkingRock...except it wouldn't be true! In 2000, I lived in FL the first half of the year...then back to CA for the rest of my life

 

[Zamric]

Cathie was in Davis California as a Montessori teacher in 2000, she got WR right after his birth in June. She's usually good with faces over the years... Do you have a sister that live in Davis in 2000. She mentioned that there where lots of wild fire that year and the guy she got him from lost lots of adults in the fires.

 

[DeanS]

Funny thing...I didn't even get into tortoises until about 3 years ago. I went to Davis back in the 80s, but left when I got a gig with Western Zoological. This is me in 2000...in Florida

 

[Zamric]

sigh.... she is quite disappointed! She always likes to meet parents from past years and she diffinatly wanted to reunite with the guy that gave her WR.

Looks like a great time tho!

 

[Tortuga_terrestre]

Too cool...Love the pics. Sulcatas definitely need a big property to roam...

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Dean that picture with the giraffe's is awesome !!!!!! That must have been an amazing job to have

 

[Tom]

4. This one blew me away... It seems that toward the end of the rainy season all the wild sulcatas use their shoulders and gulars to collect and drag bunches of green grass down into their burrows. He said they line the entire bottom of their burrows with it and made a hand motion demonstrating a thickness of about a foot. He said they stay down their and eat their collected grass for the 8 or 9 month dry season and by the end of the dry season there is none left. Anyone wanna guess how humid it is in a sulcata burrow with 12" of fresh green grass lining the entire bottom?

Doesn't anyone want to comment on #4? This one was the most amazing things I learned over the weekend. Second only to the babies in the marsh.

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

4. This one blew me away... It seems that toward the end of the rainy season all the wild sulcatas use their shoulders and gulars to collect and drag bunches of green grass down into their burrows. He said they line the entire bottom of their burrows with it and made a hand motion demonstrating a thickness of about a foot. He said they stay down their and eat their collected grass for the 8 or 9 month dry season and by the end of the dry season there is none left. Anyone wanna guess how humid it is in a sulcata burrow with 12" of fresh green grass lining the entire bottom?

Doesn't anyone want to comment on #4? This one was the most amazing things I learned over the weekend. Second only to the babies in the marsh.

I was actually really happy you posted this information because I had been wondering for a while how wild Sulcatas that spent so much time in their burrows got enough food and sunlight. I was going to start a thread and ask , I am wondering though what keeps it all from rotting in such humid burrows and molding ? Maybe they just eat it after it goes bad
Do the hatchlings do into the burrows with the older ones?

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and why if they spend months and months in their burrows without sunshine they don't get soft shells and bones like they would if in captivity we kept them for half the year without any source of sunlight

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Also when I was reading the information on the website of the Ojai Sulcata Project about how they suggest you raise your hatchlings and such it was very different from the way I am raising Gupta. Much lower humidity (40-50%) and no daily soaks and to use UV lights and lots of other things that just plain confused me

 

[pdrobber]

it's amazing to learn that they are so intelligent that they plan ahead like that and actually carry greens into their burrows...

 

[lynnedit]

Yes, that was very impressive. I had friends over last night, and was telling them all about Sulcatas and how they survive the 'hotter' weather. It is so amazing that they drag so much grass (a foot thick!) into the burrow, and have learned to do this to survive over the millenia. (It is possible my friends' eyes glazed over at some point, but I did not care).
What amazing information (just behind the fermenting gut grass possibly protecting the Ojai Sulcatas from freezing temps...)