Stop Bullying my Tortoise!!!

[Katti]

I’ve gotten many comments on other sites about my Panzer boys shell and how it’s not healthy and ugly!!! My baby was rescued from an abusive environment where he was hit with baseball bats and kept in a dog cage with no sunlight or proper nutrition I KNOW his health condition and were slowly but surely getting him back to health his vet bills prove it so! My poor baby is NOT ugly he is beautiful and the most sweet tortoise in the world I dont care what anyone says about them not having personality because he has an amazing one! Why do people have to be so mean! I hope this group is more open and understanding of my babies situation and don’t jump to conclusions!

 

[Tom]

Why would someone berate the people who have rescued this poor tortoise and given him a good life? That makes no sense.

If you were the one who mistreated him in the first place, and told me you intended to continue mistreating him, then I'd berate you up one side and down the other, but that is clearly not the case.

Don't know where you were spending time before, but you and Panzer are welcome here, and you'll receive nothing but praise for rescuing this tortoise from horrible circumstances and giving him a good home.

 

[Katti]

Why would someone berate the people who have rescued this poor tortoise and given him a good life? That makes no sense.

If you were the one who mistreated him in the first place, and told me you intended to continue mistreating him, then I'd berate you up one side and down the other, but that is clearly not the case.

Don't know where you were spending time before, but you and Panzer are welcome here, and you'll receive nothing but praise for rescuing this tortoise from horrible circumstances and giving him a good home.

Thank You so much! And before I was just posting pictures of him in other groups and his progress he has made and I guess nobody read his story and automatically started assuming it was our doings! It just hurt my spirit so bad to see my sweet boy being bashed while making so much progress!

 

[Bambam1989]

The TFO is a very open group. Many of the people here own rescued tortoises. You would be quite surprised at how many people have joined and realized that they were lacking in their pets care. We want to help and share our knowledge of tortoises.
Sometimes members can get quite passionate about a subject but no one wants to make you feel bad.
Welcome to the Forum!

 

[JoesMum]

They come in all shapes and sizes. There’s nothing that can be done to change the shape of old torts that have had a poor start - call it a “characterful appearance “

We’ll try to persuade owners of young torts to do the right thing to prevent misshapen shells.

With ones like yours, we’ll offer dietary and care advice if requested and congratulate you on giving this one a good home

 

[Big Charlie]

Welcome! Without knowing anything about you or your tortoise, my first assumption was that you had rescued Panzer. Kudos to you for giving this guy a good home. My tortoise would go crazy over that lush grass.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Ditto what Big Charlie said, kudos and Welcome!

 

[Taylor T.]

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you for rescuing that Sulcata!

BTW, I like your squirrel trap on the bird feeders.

 

[Katti]

Thank you everyone so much this really makes me so happy to see such a loving community

 

[Yvonne G]

Please understand that you are not alone here. You'd be surprised at just how many of our members are caring for tortoises whose shells look much worse than Panzer's.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and the beautiful Panzer.
I for one would be very happy to see plenty more pictures of your splendid tortoise.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Man, I wish I could grow grass like that!

 

[wellington]

That's so sad what your tortoise went thru. Thank you for caring enough to rescue him.
Many people don't understand the love for a reptile. That's okay, it's their loss. We that do get it have this forum to share our experiences and love for our shelled family members.
Btw, there are no ugly animals, only ugly humans. Not their appearance but their ugly insides.

 

[Katti]

This is him right after we got him home (this is our big babies travel pen) we picked him up in Georgia and drove 5 hours back home and he has taken up with his outdoor pen so good but now that winter time is coming around his daddy is building him a big indoor pen I hope he likes it just as good

 

[Katti]

Man, I wish I could grow grass like that!

It takes a lot of maintenance to keep it that way naturally without any yucky chemicals that would hurt my tiny ones

 

[TechnoCheese]

It takes a lot of maintenance to keep it that way naturally without any yucky chemicals that would hurt my tiny ones

I bet!

 

[wellington]

If you build him a good sized insulated and heated shed, he could still be able to go outside during winter time. Many sullies will walk out into the snow. As long as they have a warm place to go back into when they want, they can still enjoy outdoor time even in winter.

 

[Katti]

If you build him a good sized insulated and heated shed, he could still be able to go outside during winter time. Many sullies will walk out into the snow. As long as they have a warm place to go back into when they want, they can still enjoy outdoor time even in winter.

We were talking about that the other day he has a shed already that is insulated with PhaseChange my husband makes the product it’s definitely worth looking into we’re testing it right now and keeping a constant watch on the temp to see how it’s going to do during the colder months here... so far it’s good results but I’m not putting my baby anywhere without being for sure that it will keep him cozy right now it stays about 78-90 in there while the outside temp is in the 30s he’s got a basking light on one side and it gets up to about 95-100 on that side

 

[wellington]

You can also within that shed, make him a heated hide. That way even if it's hard to keep the whole shed temp warm enough, you know he will have a hide that is warm.
Search on the forum for Toms night box threads. Something like that inside the shed.

 

[Tom]

...he’s got a basking light on one side and it gets up to about 95-100 on that side

Be very careful with basking lamps for large tortoises. I don't recommend them as an effective heating source because the top tends to get too hot and slow burn, while they heat lamp doesn't warm the middle and bottom enough due to the tortoise's mass.