Our beloved Buggy passed away

[MenagerieGrl]

Oh no, please keep your watchful eye on alert all the time. See, after 17 years of having him, I thought I knew him very well, until 2 days ago when he decided to go on an adventure. I was so hopeful that he was just burrowed somewhere, keeping cool in these hot temperatures. He was our first “child” when we first were dating, my husband and I. It’s so crushing!!!

Were you ever able to determine how Buggy was able to escape? I understand you have a large yard, that makes it difficult to Tort Proof. My "yard" is a little over a 1/8 of an Acre, so protecting a fence line for me is Not that hard. But, Yes, I will take your advice . .
Honestly, seeing my Tort crushed or ran over would be the worst thought imaginable, secuming to an infection, or being egg bound while tragic would to me be a lil easier to take.

 

[VlastaRichter]

I'm so sorry you lost your beloved Buggy, my heart goes out to you ❤️ losing a part of the family is heart breaking I've been there too many times so know exactly what you're going through.

Thank you, losing a pet is so difficult, it’s part of the ownership, but it’s so hard to deal with 💔

 

[VlastaRichter]

Were you ever able to determine how Buggy was able to escape? I understand you have a large yard, that makes it difficult to Tort Proof. My "yard" is a little over a 1/8 of an Acre, so protecting a fence line for me is Not that hard. But, Yes, I will take your advice . .
Honestly, seeing my Tort crushed or ran over would be the worst thought imaginable, secuming to an infection, or being egg bound while tragic would to me be a lil easier to take.

We don’t have a fence at all, and all around us is forest. He managed to climbed out of his enclosure, using part of his shade cover. I didn’t think he would be able to do it but here I was proved so wrong. 💔

 

[VlastaRichter]

I'm so sorry you lost your beloved Buggy, my heart goes out to you ❤️ losing a part of the family is heart breaking I've been there too many times so know exactly what you're going through.

Thank you for the kind words, I’m playing it over and over in my head, if I had done things differently and all the should haves.
I’m so sorry for your losses, it’s so heartbreaking, confusing, mentally exhausting and challenging to deal with and move forward 💔🙏🏻

 

[vladimir]

I'm so very sorry for your loss

 

[VlastaRichter]

I'm so very sorry for your loss

Thank you! Every morning I wake up and look at his empty indoor table, it hits me all over again 💔

 

[RhodaE]

This is with a heavy heart…our beloved Buggy, 16 year old T. Hermanni, passed away. He escaped his outdoor enclosure two days ago, and after exhausting search everywhere in our yard (2,5 acres), we found him by the road, hit by a car or a truck. He was probably attempting to cross over to the state park that’s across our house.
I would have never thought he’d travelled that far, across wide open spaces, let alone towards the road.
My heart is crushed, and I blame myself for not providing him with a 100 secured enclosure. We got so comfortable with him outside, he loved it out there and never tried to dig or escape before.
This is so hard and devastating.
He was our very first pet with my husband together, we got him as a tiny baby. He travelled from Czech Republic to Canada, where we moved to, and later to PA, USA on our recent move. Since he was CITES registered, how it where do I report his death? Does anybody know?
I’m heartbroken 💔

I'm so sorry to hear this. Caring for pets is tough because there's about a million things that can go wrong at any time. We recently moved from CA to TN with our 35 yr old leopard tortoise, and before we got our new fence put up, he broke through the temporary fence and also scraped off his gps tracker. We'd been checking on him every 10 minutes, so after finding him gone we had to search fields, neighborhood, and a huge forest behind our house. I thought we'd lost him for sure but my husband listened in the forest and heard him move about 50 yards in. (He's very fast!). Really close call. We have also found wild box turtles here, on the road, and we pick them up and move them away from the road, and I think that the survival of wild turtles/tortoises must be very challenging. I don't know how many of them live to a ripe age. Buggy had many many good years.

 

[Alibeka]

This is with a heavy heart…our beloved Buggy, 16 year old T. Hermanni, passed away. He escaped his outdoor enclosure two days ago, and after exhausting search everywhere in our yard (2,5 acres), we found him by the road, hit by a car or a truck. He was probably attempting to cross over to the state park that’s across our house.
I would have never thought he’d travelled that far, across wide open spaces, let alone towards the road.
My heart is crushed, and I blame myself for not providing him with a 100 secured enclosure. We got so comfortable with him outside, he loved it out there and never tried to dig or escape before.
This is so hard and devastating.
He was our very first pet with my husband together, we got him as a tiny baby. He travelled from Czech Republic to Canada, where we moved to, and later to PA, USA on our recent move. Since he was CITES registered, how it where do I report his death? Does anybody know?
I’m heartbroken 💔

Hi.

 

[VlastaRichter]

I'm so sorry to hear this. Caring for pets is tough because there's about a million things that can go wrong at any time. We recently moved from CA to TN with our 35 yr old leopard tortoise, and before we got our new fence put up, he broke through the temporary fence and also scraped off his gps tracker. We'd been checking on him every 10 minutes, so after finding him gone we had to search fields, neighborhood, and a huge forest behind our house. I thought we'd lost him for sure but my husband listened in the forest and heard him move about 50 yards in. (He's very fast!). Really close call. We have also found wild box turtles here, on the road, and we pick them up and move them away from the road, and I think that the survival of wild turtles/tortoises must be very challenging. I don't know how many of them live to a ripe age. Buggy had many many good years.

35 years! That’s wonderful! I always wished for that with our Buggy, he was a very happy and active tort, and I wanted to “grow old” with him.
I’m very happy you guys were able to find him, please don’t make a mistake like I did and get too comfortable. You were SO lucky to find him!
I will never stop blaming myself what I could have done differently and that I failed to protect him but I know it will not change the tragedy that happened.
We have box turtles here in PA, too! I’m not sure why he felt he calling to cross the road to venture out to the state park, maybe he could smell other torts there?! If only he would have decided to go the other direction, where there is about 3 acres of hay field and more forest.
I’m not sure if I can imagine life without a tortie now, they are such a great and easy going pet, I loved every minute of the 17 years that we had Buggy for.
Thank you for your supportive words!

 

[bioteach]

This is with a heavy heart…our beloved Buggy, 16 year old T. Hermanni, passed away. He escaped his outdoor enclosure two days ago, and after exhausting search everywhere in our yard (2,5 acres), we found him by the road, hit by a car or a truck. He was probably attempting to cross over to the state park that’s across our house.
I would have never thought he’d travelled that far, across wide open spaces, let alone towards the road.
My heart is crushed, and I blame myself for not providing him with a 100 secured enclosure. We got so comfortable with him outside, he loved it out there and never tried to dig or escape before.
This is so hard and devastating.
He was our very first pet with my husband together, we got him as a tiny baby. He travelled from Czech Republic to Canada, where we moved to, and later to PA, USA on our recent move. Since he was CITES registered, how it where do I report his death? Does anybody know?
I’m heartbroken 💔

Please accept my deepest sympathy. I know how attached I am to my "Sunshine" and I truly understand how you feel. Unfortunately, tortoises do wander. I live on an acre; but my tort is confined by block walls. I know that she would probably like to get beyond those walls; but I know that she wouldn't survive if she found her way out. I have lost pets over the years and I still grieve for them. I hope that you find peace of mind and remember the good times that you shared with Buggy.

 

[Dawn'sTooToo]

This is with a heavy heart…our beloved Buggy, 16 year old T. Hermanni, passed away. He escaped his outdoor enclosure two days ago, and after exhausting search everywhere in our yard (2,5 acres), we found him by the road, hit by a car or a truck. He was probably attempting to cross over to the state park that’s across our house.
I would have never thought he’d travelled that far, across wide open spaces, let alone towards the road.
My heart is crushed, and I blame myself for not providing him with a 100 secured enclosure. We got so comfortable with him outside, he loved it out there and never tried to dig or escape before.
This is so hard and devastating.
He was our very first pet with my husband together, we got him as a tiny baby. He travelled from Czech Republic to Canada, where we moved to, and later to PA, USA on our recent move. Since he was CITES registered, how it where do I report his death? Does anybody know?
I’m heartbroken 💔

So sorry for your loss. 16 years of love

 

[janevicki]

So sorry for your loss. It is never easy when the pass on to the other side.Take care.

 

[healingTortz]

This is with a heavy heart…our beloved Buggy, 16 year old T. Hermanni, passed away. He escaped his outdoor enclosure two days ago, and after exhausting search everywhere in our yard (2,5 acres), we found him by the road, hit by a car or a truck. He was probably attempting to cross over to the state park that’s across our house.
I would have never thought he’d travelled that far, across wide open spaces, let alone towards the road.
My heart is crushed, and I blame myself for not providing him with a 100 secured enclosure. We got so comfortable with him outside, he loved it out there and never tried to dig or escape before.
This is so hard and devastating.
He was our very first pet with my husband together, we got him as a tiny baby. He travelled from Czech Republic to Canada, where we moved to, and later to PA, USA on our recent move. Since he was CITES registered, how it where do I report his death? Does anybody know?
I’m heartbroken 💔

I’m s

 

[healingTortz]

I’m s

I’m so sorry about buggy, I’m sure he had an amazing life with you, and this is definitely educational to some degree. But do not blame yourself, sometimes you just don’t think about it or plain forget

 

[Julie Anne]

This is with a heavy heart…our beloved Buggy, 16 year old T. Hermanni, passed away. He escaped his outdoor enclosure two days ago, and after exhausting search everywhere in our yard (2,5 acres), we found him by the road, hit by a car or a truck. He was probably attempting to cross over to the state park that’s across our house.
I would have never thought he’d travelled that far, across wide open spaces, let alone towards the road.
My heart is crushed, and I blame myself for not providing him with a 100 secured enclosure. We got so comfortable with him outside, he loved it out there and never tried to dig or escape before.
This is so hard and devastating.
He was our very first pet with my husband together, we got him as a tiny baby. He travelled from Czech Republic to Canada, where we moved to, and later to PA, USA on our recent move. Since he was CITES registered, how it where do I report his death? Does anybody know?
I’m heartbroken 💔

I’m sorry for your loss I know you must’ve loved your tortoise well and did everything to take care of him properly. They do escape sometimes and it’s very scary when they do. your tortoise didn’t die he was murdered by an evil person who ran him over it when he could very well not done so. I have rescued many of turtle crossing the road but have also seen people go directly after them. it’s a horrid shame so, again, I’m truly sorry for the loss of your pet

 

[Dragon]

im so sorry for your loss, please dont blame yourself, you did the best you could and he had a fun and wounderful life with you. i doupt he was running away from home or anything like that...he was just a happy tort who found a way to get out of his enclouser and go expolareing. I dont know how many animal children i have lost over the last 64 years....and it is never easy.... sometimes we must remember we are only human... I lost a parricat onces because i forgot to lock the outside door, so of course some one walked in and my beloved little bird flew out....when my oldest daughter was 1 in a half i had just made a hot cup of tea and pushed the cup way to the back of the counter to seep and then went to change her little sister....a few minutes later i head a scream my oldest daughter had built an intercite ladder, climbed up to the conter and pulled a cup of boiling water or down her front! ofcourse she wound up with 3d dregee burns and i blamed myself so much! what a horrable mother i must be to have had that happen! i'll tell you what the ER dr told me.....you are only human you do not have eyes in the back of your head and there is no way any one can be totaly on top of everything all the time. you wore not neglectful you made sure to push the cup as far back on the counter as you could....you did your best to make sure everything was safe for all your children before you left the kitchen to change the baby....you could not predict your older daughter would build a way to climb up on to the counter.... now you did your best to keep buggy safe and happy...you gave him a good life, you could in no way have perdicted he would find a way out sometimes despite our best efforts things happen....iv lost a the few animal children over the years due to one kind ofaccident or other its hard its even harder when in hindsight we think of things we could have or should have done to prevent it....so we will all moarn with you and give you the ciber hugs wed love to give you in person and hopefuly we will all learn from this and be reminded to check our enclousers hugs my friend

 

[Gbarnes743]

This is with a heavy heart…our beloved Buggy, 16 year old T. Hermanni, passed away. He escaped his outdoor enclosure two days ago, and after exhausting search everywhere in our yard (2,5 acres), we found him by the road, hit by a car or a truck. He was probably attempting to cross over to the state park that’s across our house.
I would have never thought he’d travelled that far, across wide open spaces, let alone towards the road.
My heart is crushed, and I blame myself for not providing him with a 100 secured enclosure. We got so comfortable with him outside, he loved it out there and never tried to dig or escape before.
This is so hard and devastating.
He was our very first pet with my husband together, we got him as a tiny baby. He travelled from Czech Republic to Canada, where we moved to, and later to PA, USA on our recent move. Since he was CITES registered, how it where do I report his death? Does anybody know?
I’m heartbroken 💔

My tortoise tried to do the same he was probably looking for a girl friend please don’t blame your self 🥺

 

[BernieL]

So sorry for your loss. I agree with Wellington and those who suggest you not blame yourself. It sounds like you gave your friend a very good life. Hindsight is always 20-20, but the fact is accidents happen even to good people like yourself. Not sure if you can, but once your mourning subsides, maybe you can find another of these little friends to take care of.

 

[Alibeka]

Thank you for your condolences. Yes, he literally travelled the world, he was so easy going and just the kindest pet. I could have done better and will not forgive myself allowing his escape to happen and, ultimately, costing him his life. He is so missed!

Just wanted to say I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm going through the exact same torment at the moment. I feel very responsible for the death of Toffee my 3yr old shell baby, also a Hermann. Very similar circumstances! He was out in garden with me as he had been many many times and I popped into conservatory for no more than 5 mins. Came back to go put him away and he was no where to be seen 😭. Discovered a gap under fence that a hedgehog had made.

Weeks of searching desperately in a nearby field, roping family and friends in to help, flyers, even a heat signature camera and we eventually got told he'd been hit by a car not far from us.

He was put to sleep from his injuries on 9th June but we didn't even get notified until beginning of this month thanks to the incompetence of our local animal shelter 😭.

The constant what ifs and the guilt is absolutely crushing and we think of him every single day, even find ourselves looking for him out of habit.

I can so relate but as others have said Buggy will know he was very very much loved as will my Toffee.

Hopefully the pain eases a bit in time.

 

[Twistedbydesign]

So sorry for your loss. It breaks my heart too. My deepest condolences as well as prayers sent. Try to find some peace knowing Buggy is watching down on you from heaven and thankful for all your love.