Sam and the watermelon

[Maggie Cummings]

OK, this is Sam's first watermelon. I believe he is not quite 2 and before these pictures he weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz.
He's not quite sure about the whole thing, and was very interested in the camera



He seemed to like the rind more than the fruit itself







But he seemed to have a bit of trouble....



So the "experienced" Sulcata keeper decides to help....(please note that is NOT watermelon that he is actually biting.)


Alright, I'm gonna see if this worked, I'm gonna hit the full image button.


Ok, i failed. I'm sorry....
I'm going to get @Pearly to give me caption lessons, cuz she does it good....

 

[Maggie Cummings]

What month is 22? tee hee.
Oh heck no wonder I can't change the date. It's in my camera not my computer. Man, can I be stupid.....

 

[Yvonne G]

One would think that after almost having one's finger bitten off by a big sulcata, one would learn about tortoise mouths and people fingers. You'd think, right?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

One would think that after almost having one's finger bitten off by a big sulcata, one would learn about tortoise mouths and people fingers. You'd think, right?

obviously, I don't think

 

[Carol S]

It looks like Sam is sure enjoying his watermelon.

 

[Blakem]

I like watching mine eat watermelon! Hello Sam!

 

[Pearly]

OK, this is Sam's first watermelon. I believe he is not quite 2 and before these pictures he weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. View attachment 187476
He's not quite sure about the whole thing, and was very interested in the camera


View attachment 187477
He seemed to like the rind more than the fruit itself


View attachment 187478



View attachment 187479
But he seemed to have a bit of trouble....


View attachment 187480
So the "experienced" Sulcata keeper decides to help....(please note that is NOT watermelon that he is actually biting.)


Alright, I'm gonna see if this worked, I'm gonna hit the full image button.View attachment 187476 View attachment 187477 View attachment 187478 View attachment 187479 View attachment 187480


Ok, i failed. I'm sorry....
I'm going to get @Pearly to give me caption lessons, cuz she does it good....

Awwww! How cute!!!! But is he trying to eat your fingers??? Bahahaha!

 

[Pearly]

@maggie3fan, the captions are easy to do if you use the pictures from the photolibrary which is what I'm doing. My phone is not sophisticated enough to get good quality images each time I shoot so I never use live pics

 

[Taco*mom]

Oucch.. maggie3fan, is your finger ok? My sulcata bit my feet when he was a hatchling.. just trying what he can or can't eat, I guess.. just like babies... I barely felt anything. How bad was your finger? Mind showing us a picture? Better to learn these kinda things from someone else's experience.. hehehhe

 

[Fredkas]

obviously, I don't think

Maggie is one stubborn mom

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Maggie is one stubborn mom

Truer words were never written...

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Oucch.. maggie3fan, is your finger ok? My sulcata bit my feet when he was a hatchling.. just trying what he can or can't eat, I guess.. just like babies... I barely felt anything. How bad was your finger? Mind showing us a picture? Better to learn these kinda things from someone else's experience.. hehehhe

Sam is not quite 2 and is developing bad habits, learned from me I guess. His bite just hurt. This is what you and any new Sulcata keeper needs to know....seriously...

My avatar is Bob, King Robert III; he was 125 lbs and 17 years old. He was 5 when I got him. He was 17 when the Vet killed him (no disrespect meant to all Vets, just this bad one). Our bond and love for each other was obvious to see and would take much too long to describe here. Do a search on Bob stories or even King Robert I think. But Bob himself was more intelligent than the average Sulcata, went more public places and was very well socialize. I trusted him with small children. However I had a habit of feeding him treats by hand. So one day I was just standing in his yard looking around trying to decide what I needed to do. Well, where ever I was, Bob was, but I wasn't paying any attention to watching him, I was staring and thinking (hard for me) and I believe he thought my hand automatically meant strawberries, and so he grabbed 3 fingers. Now, think about this, he's probably 100 lbs at the time and almost an adult and is used to pulling up tough weeds etc. so once he got my fingers in his mouth he bit hard and tried evidently to pull it out of the dirt (in his mind).
So when I finally got my hand back and it was only by hitting him in his face; the one and only time I ever had to do that. Blood was flowing and my neighbor took me to the ER for 7 stitches on my pointer finger and 8 at the base of my finger on the pad of my hand. Bob was not mean, but I always brought him a treat and this time I just didn't. He thought , "I" think, that my hand was an automatic treat machine. Who knows. BUT NEVER feed a growing Sulcata by hand as then YOU are teaching him bad habits and he WILL end up biting someone thinking their hand has treats. I really don't know how they think, but the fact is they WILL bite looking for food, so anytime you feed your growing Sulcata treats, use tongs. Simple.
Bob and my grandson.



He's surveying his kingdom in the Oregon rain.....he died August 28, 2015, he was 17.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

This was the TFO calendar winning picture in 2015...only it certainly wasn't this blurry ick!




Bob was always smiling



He loved to swim...



And he would drink water from a gallon jug


So what? I hijacked my OWN thread, to tell about Bob biting, and then I had to show some of the good memories. I do not believe I will ever get over missing him.

 

[Fredkas]

I still can't believe he is gone

 

[Taco*mom]

Whatt.. I will find your stories about Bob and read them. He sounds too precious to be just gone now. I have never seen a sulcata that smiles like that. You must miss him terribly.

Great advise about using tongs! I almost give up completely serving treat personally. And thank
you for the warning and great story!

 

[bouaboua]

I think Sam like it and really enjoy them.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I think Sam like it and really enjoy them.

What, my fingers? Or the melon????

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Whatt.. I will find your stories about Bob and read them. He sounds too precious to be just gone now. I have never seen a sulcata that smiles like that. You must miss him terribly.

Great advise about using tongs! I almost give up completely serving treat personally. And thank
you for the warning and great story!

Here's one I found today, it made me cry.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hot-summer-day-watermelon-and-bob.7875/

 

[Fredkas]

Here's one I found today, it made me cry.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hot-summer-day-watermelon-and-bob.7875/

Im in the middle of work, that first sentence "remember when you were 10 years old.." and i stopped.
Damn if my eyes watery right now, i'll save it for tonight

 

[Taco*mom]

Maggie, today is the second day I'm reading your stories about Bob and they are all wonderful. Some of them made me laughed so hard that I scared people around me. Some of them brought tears to my eyes.. I am sorry that I made you cry remembering him. Thank you for sharing. I hope you will always be healthy and happy.