Sulcata on the go

[Worriedjojo2456]

Hello, I have a sulcata Named Bloppy who i have been caring for for a while now, she is about 8 inches long. I love this tortoise to death and i want to do anything in my power to keep her. I want to pass her down to my kids and all That being said, i got a job where i make good money but im on the road 9/12 months. I was thinking about giving up my rental in the meantime until i can move into a more stationary position in about a year.

Does anyone have any ideas that could let me bring this tortoise with me. I will custom outfit a horse trailer to be an enclosure if i need to. Money is no issue so spitball all the ideas you can please.

And if anyone does long term boarding for sulcatas let me know!

 

[Worriedjojo2456]

Shameless bump

 

[Megatron's Mom]

Yikes, I don't know. I know when my sulcata hit the 8inch mark she grow fast real fast. I'm not sure yours would like the constant moving around. How much moving around will there be. Like once every 6 months or more like weekly if not daily?

 

[Worriedjojo2456]

Yikes, I don't know. I know when my sulcata hit the 8inch mark she grow fast real fast. I'm not sure yours would like the constant moving around. How much moving around will there be. Like once every 6 months or more like weekly if not daily?

It would be more close to every 6 months, that why I kinda wondered if there was a way I could make a trailer for her

 

[Anastasia 22]

Hello, I have a sulcata Named Bloppy who i have been caring for for a while now, she is about 8 inches long. I love this tortoise to death and i want to do anything in my power to keep her. I want to pass her down to my kids and all That being said, i got a job where i make good money but im on the road 9/12 months. I was thinking about giving up my rental in the meantime until i can move into a more stationary position in about a year.

Does anyone have any ideas that could let me bring this tortoise with me. I will custom outfit a horse trailer to be an enclosure if i need to. Money is no issue so spitball all the ideas you can please.

And if anyone does long term boarding for sulcatas let me know!

Hello!
Where are you located? Or are you going to relocate?

 

[COmtnLady]

The best answer is no... don't...

Tortoises are not like a dog or cat; they have a heck of a time adjusting to changes. It would be like trying to take a small child into a "fun house" where scary creepy things continually jump out at them. It wouldn't take long before they are so emotionally scarred that they would be messed up for life. Same with dragging a tortoise around the country. Noises, smells, the water available, foods, everything necessary for a tortoise to thrive, would be hinky. If - big IF - you were rich and famous, could refit a $90K-$200K motorhome so that the entire interior was tortoise world, the constant rumbling, the swaying and bouncing, the fumes that humans don't even notice, would be unhealthy and stressful for the tortoise, but you might get away with torturing it like that for a year or two. It will be permanently stunted and unhealthy, but you might get away with it surviving despite what you want to do.

If you really love this tortoise, find it a place to live quietly and safely until you have a lifestyle that won't kill it. Giving it away would be kinder than traveling with it. Tortoises are older than dinosaurs, they move slowly, they don't do well in situations like you are suggesting.

 

[Worriedjojo2456]

Hello!
Where are you located? Or are you going to relocate?

I am in Kentucky, she is in Texas.

The best answer is no... don't...

Tortoises are not like a dog or cat; they have a heck of a time adjusting to changes. It would be like trying to take a small child into a "fun house" where scary creepy things continually jump out at them. It wouldn't take long before they are so emotionally scarred that they would be messed up for life. Same with dragging a tortoise around the country. Noises, smells, the water available, foods, everything necessary for a tortoise to thrive, would be hinky. If - big IF - you were rich and famous, could refit a $90K-$200K motorhome so that the entire interior was tortoise world, the constant rumbling, the swaying and bouncing, the fumes that humans don't even notice, would be unhealthy and stressful for the tortoise, but you might get away with torturing it like that for a year or two. It will be permanently stunted and unhealthy, but you might get away with it surviving despite what you want to do.

If you really love this tortoise, find it a place to live quietly and safely until you have a lifestyle that won't kill it. Giving it away would be kinder than traveling with it. Tortoises are older than dinosaurs, they move slowly, they don't do well in situations like you are suggesting.

I mean she wouldn’t constantly be moving around. With my job I kinda get stationed to one area for a while so I would stay there for about half a year and need to move on to the next place. I understand your sentiments but I feel like you read my post and started immediately overreacting.

 

[COmtnLady]

How old is Bloppy?
How long have you had her/him?

Have someone drive you around for an hour or so in a horse trailer like you are thinking of. Be sure to sit on the floor during the tour. I think you'll find that the suspension on a trailer like that leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Anastasia 22]

I am in Kentucky, she is in Texas.

Texas is a good place for sulcatas. Does it mean that someone else takes care of her now?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I wonder if @EppsDynasty could help here. While Bloppy is not in the need of forever home but a few years of fostering in a good facility sounds better than a trailer.

My concern that besides a trailer you will need a large grazing area for him with edible plants, burrowing opportunities and such.

 

[TammyJ]

I think that you should find a good, suitable place with caring, capable and experienced people to keep your tortoise permanently or until your moving around situation changes.
As it is, any tortoise would suffer from being moved around and then put into a strange location, and then repeat, due to your necessity.
I hope that you can find a good solution.

 

[EppsDynasty]

@Worriedjojo2456 .....
Look up Joshua Tree reptile Haven on YouTube ...... That's us. This will show you that what I am about to say is ONLY coming from Love for every Tort on this planet, including yours.

I love Elephants but that doesn't mean I can keep one in my bathroom. You have to be honest with reality. You have a love for this animal but you are not loving this animal, being honest with reality is what the tort needs. You are trying to imagine a way to keep her in an environment that she just can't live in..... it won't work. There is no 'Long Term Fostering' facilities, this is why ....
You are asking someone to take on a giant financial and time consuming job and then just be willing to give up the tort when you say. Why would someone give this tort what she needs then give it back to you and allow the tort to be put into a situation that is not great? You need to be in a position where you can give the tort what she needs or you can't have a tort in your life, it's that easy. You can't claim to LOVE her and drag her around and force her to live a life without consistency, that is the most important thing in a tots life ... consistency.

 

[zovick]

@Worriedjojo2456 .....
Look up Joshua Tree reptile Haven on YouTube ...... That's us. This will show you that what I am about to say is ONLY coming from Love for every Tort on this planet, including yours.

I love Elephants but that doesn't mean I can keep one in my bathroom. You have to be honest with reality. You have a love for this animal but you are not loving this animal, being honest with reality is what the tort needs. You are trying to imagine a way to keep her in an environment that she just can't live in..... it won't work. There is no 'Long Term Fostering' facilities, this is why ....
You are asking someone to take on a giant financial and time consuming job and then just be willing to give up the tort when you say. Why would someone give this tort what she needs then give it back to you and allow the tort to be put into a situation that is not great? You need to be in a position where you can give the tort what she needs or you can't have a tort in your life, it's that easy. You can't claim to LOVE her and drag her around and force her to live a life without consistency, that is the most important thing in a tots life ... consistency.

Amen to that.

 

[Tom]

I agree with the other posters. Some humans are born to ramble on. Not tortoises.

I read your question, and the answer is that there is not a way to satisfactorily house a tortoise on the road and while frequently moving place to place.

Something else to understand is that while you may genuinely love this tortoise, the tortoise doesn't care one bit about you. As long as it has food to munch on every day, the tortoise doesn't care if you are there or not. The tortoise will not be the least bit upset if you give it to someone else that will care for it properly.

 

[Markw84]

Joseph:

I know I already told you about the same as the replies you are getting here. Let me explain a bit more...

Tortoises have very good spatial memory. The know where things are. They need that to survive in the marginal habitats they live in. They learn certain plants are available certain times of the year in locations within their range. The know where the best hides/burrows are and where to find water in the different seasons, etc, etc. When you move one, it undergoes an extremely stressful process of trying to find where it is. This takes 6 mos to a year to really adjust. I have lots of very rare tortoises and have worked with lots of sulcatas in the past. I recently had to move to a large ranch to accommodate my work with Galapagos tortoises and the room they need. My other tortoises took almost a year to adjust to the move. I lost egg/breeding production. They lost weight or stopped growing for several months. I had to hand carry many into their night boxes in the new location until they learned their new territory. With our Galapagos project, we are extremely reluctant to move adults and young adults from one facility to another as it can throw breeding off for several years or more as they don't adjust well to the change.

Tortoises adjust slowly and do not do well at all to change. Your situation unfortunately, puts a tortoise in the position of having to adjust to a new situation, and just about when it has finally started to adjust, move it again.

I'm sorry, but we are all trying to say this just isn't a situation that a tortoise can do well in at all.