TEMPORARY REHOME NEEDED

[MangotheCherryHeadRedFoot]

I need help! I got my cherry head red foot tortoise (named Mango) when I was 9 (I am now 22) and I am bonded for life with him. He has a unique life because I grew up in Alaska, and he currently lives there with my parents. My parents have watched him for the last 4 years while I was in college, but they are getting older, and it is harder for them to care for him. I worry that Mango does not have a great quality of life, especially being in Alaska and having the majority of his life inside, and in very dry conditions. I currently live in Colorado and I want to bring him down here, but I fear that he will have just as boring of an existence, until I can buy a house and properly provide him space. My other concern is that I am about to go to air force officer training school and I will have no one to watch him for about three months. I love him so much and I want the best for him, but I also refuse to rehome him forever because I quite literally grew up with him and I have always dreamed of my future kids growing up with him to. I am hoping that someone will know of someone or an association that may be able to temporarily watch him for a few years (3 years maximum) until I can properly provide for him. I can sponsor him, and support him financially, if someone is able to watch him, he is also insured through my pet insurance. I think he would enjoy being around other tortoises, he is really social and is great with kids. Recently he has been really restless, and seems to be really bored, which is another reason for my concern and which makes me think he needs a change of scenery. I will transport him, pay for him the entire time, even visit him if I can, etc., as long as I know I can get him back, he is apart of our family and I just want the best for him!! Please if anyone knows of anyone or any type of facility let me know I am getting desperate!

 

[zovick]

I need help! I got my cherry head red foot tortoise (named Mango) when I was 9 (I am now 22) and I am bonded for life with him. He has a unique life because I grew up in Alaska, and he currently lives there with my parents. My parents have watched him for the last 4 years while I was in college, but they are getting older, and it is harder for them to care for him. I worry that Mango does not have a great quality of life, especially being in Alaska and having the majority of his life inside, and in very dry conditions. I currently live in Colorado and I want to bring him down here, but I fear that he will have just as boring of an existence, until I can buy a house and properly provide him space. My other concern is that I am about to go to air force officer training school and I will have no one to watch him for about three months. I love him so much and I want the best for him, but I also refuse to rehome him forever because I quite literally grew up with him and I have always dreamed of my future kids growing up with him to. I am hoping that someone will know of someone or an association that may be able to temporarily watch him for a few years (3 years maximum) until I can properly provide for him. I can sponsor him, and support him financially, if someone is able to watch him, he is also insured through my pet insurance. I think he would enjoy being around other tortoises, he is really social and is great with kids. Recently he has been really restless, and seems to be really bored, which is another reason for my concern and which makes me think he needs a change of scenery. I will transport him, pay for him the entire time, even visit him if I can, etc., as long as I know I can get him back, he is apart of our family and I just want the best for him!! Please if anyone knows of anyone or any type of facility let me know I am getting desperate!

In this situation, I believe the best option is to leave him with your parents for the three months, then move him to CO or wherever you get stationed. That will allow the tortoise to remain in familiar surroundings until you get him back and will be less stress and change for the tortoise to endure.

No one takes care of your tortoise(s) the way you do it yourself. You might be sorry if you change his surroundings twice in three months when he could just stay with your parents. Three more months isn't that long a time and he is already accustomed to where he is now.

 

[MangotheCherryHeadRedFoot]

In this situation, I believe the best option is to leave him with your parents for the three months, then move him to CO or wherever you get stationed. That will allow the tortoise to remain in familiar surroundings until you get him back and will be less stress and change for the tortoise to endure.

No one takes care of your tortoise(s) the way you do it yourself. You might be sorry if you change his surroundings twice in three months when he could just stay with your parents. Three more months isn't that long a time and he is already accustomed to where he is now.

In this situation, I believe the best option is to leave him with your parents for the three months, then move him to CO or wherever you get stationed. That will allow the tortoise to remain in familiar surroundings until you get him back and will be less stress and change for the tortoise to endure.

No one takes care of your tortoise(s) the way you do it yourself. You might be sorry if you change his surroundings twice in three months when he could just stay with your parents. Three more months isn't that long a time and he is already accustomed to where he is now.

wish we could do that, but I need someone to watch him for at least a year, my parents need to rehome him asap, and I'm in a tiny apartment in the city, he'd be worse off here. I can't serve my time in the reserves until next fall (I'm doing masters school through the reserves). At the very least I'd need someone for a year, I said 3 years maximum. I need to be able to provide him with a better life, he's not thriving in Alaska anymore and I can't do much better until I can get a bigger living space

 

[zovick]

In this situation, I believe the best option is to leave him with your parents for the three months, then move him to CO or wherever you get stationed. That will allow the tortoise to remain in familiar surroundings until you get him back and will be less stress and change for the tortoise to endure.

No one takes care of your tortoise(s) the way you do it yourself. You might be sorry if you change his surroundings twice in three months when he could just stay with your parents. Three more months isn't that long a time and he is already accustomed to where he is now.

I must admit, I missed the part where you mentioned rehoming your turtle for three YEARS on my first red-through. I only noted the part about the three MONTHS you would be at OCS. That three year time frame is going to be a tough nut to crack! Anyone who cares for a tortoise for three years is quite probably going to be reluctant to give it back to you at the end of the period (if it hasn't died in their hands in the meantime).. I keep mentioning this possibility because it has happened to me not once, but TWICE, with two specimens of the rarest tortoise in the world, Asterochelys yniphora.

If there is any way to do it, I would still say it is best to simply leave it with your parents until you can properly care for it yourself.

 

[MangotheCherryHeadRedFoot]

I must admit, I missed the part where you mentioned rehoming your turtle for three YEARS on my first red-through. I only noted the part about the three MONTHS you would be at OCS. That three year time frame is going to be a tough nut to crack! Anyone who cares for a tortoise for three years is quite probably going to be reluctant to give it back to you at the end of the period (if it hasn't died in their hands in the meantime).. I keep mentioning this possibility because it has happened to me not once, but TWICE, with two specimens of the rarest tortoise in the world, Asterochelys yniphora.

If there is any way to do it, I would still say it is best to simply leave it with your parents until you can properly care for it yourself.

Haha no worries. I wish I could do this, but they're unable to, I appreciate the advice though. I do want to be really careful of that, I'd be heartbroken if I couldn't get him back.

 

[zovick]

Haha no worries. I wish I could do this, but they're unable to, I appreciate the advice though. I do want to be really careful of that, I'd be heartbroken if I couldn't get him back.

Or if he died while in someone else's care like my two did.

 

[bonbonsai]

I’m sorry to hear that

 

[Megatron's Mom]

I would find someone back in Alaska to help your parents take care of him until you can do so. Changing things so much will be rough on him. Find a teenager or some type of pet sitter who can come in even just for 30 mins a day. Your parents might be able to handle the rest if you have another person making sure he has everything.

There is a thread on here where someone for one reason or another put her paid for a rescue organization to care for her torte temperately. She was a paying them like you would to board a cat or dog. They told her it was stolen. I highly doubt it and I speculate they sold it on her.

I tell you this because you do have good intentions and want what is best for your tort. But others can grow tired of caring for it and just get rid of it.

Good luck, I do hope you can find someone trustworthy.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

One to three years is a giant responsibility for anyone to take on.
I limit my fostering to 6 months maximum. And I have about a 50/50 result with people just dumping their poor tortoise on me. Almost always needing urgent medical care.
This is a tropical environment. Perfect for Redfoot. But it's still a royal pain in the rear to be totally responsible for someone else's (usually sick) tortoise. And it's usually equally upsetting to then hand the animal back over at the end of the agreed upon time. Knowing full well that the tortoise is probably going right back into horrible care again.
I'm fostering three RF at this moment.
It's a big deal.
Thinking that it isn't is a large red flag to me. And I suggest that you re think how much you care about this tortoise and what is truly best for him or her.
I don't want to sound harsh. But I DO want to help your Redfoot. It sounds like he has had a miserable life so far.

 

[MangotheCherryHeadRedFoot]

One to three years is a giant responsibility for anyone to take on.
I limit my fostering to 6 months maximum. And I have about a 50/50 result with people just dumping their poor tortoise on me. Almost always needing urgent medical care.
This is a tropical environment. Perfect for Redfoot. But it's still a royal pain in the rear to be totally responsible for someone else's (usually sick) tortoise. And it's usually equally upsetting to then hand the animal back over at the end of the agreed upon time. Knowing full well that the tortoise is probably going right back into horrible care again.
I'm fostering three RF at this moment.
It's a big deal.
Thinking that it isn't is a large red flag to me. And I suggest that you re think how much you care about this tortoise and what is truly best for him or her.
I don't want to sound harsh. But I DO want to help your Redfoot. It sounds like he has had a miserable life so far.

Literally none of that helped in any way, this is supposed to be a forum where we help each other. He has had a very love filled and happy life, but considering that my parents can't care for him much longer and I love him and know that he can have an even better life, I'm trying to find a better option. He's perfectly healthy and although it's dry in Alaska and he's inside a lot he's fine, no one said it wasn't a big deal? Not sure why being judgemental was the fist response, if you can't contribute anything helpful then don't

 

[William Lee Kohler]

Is there any way you can post pics of him on here for all to see? Also how big is he?

 

[Melaleuca]

You say that redfoot would be worse off living in a tiny apartment with you, but would it really? It doesn't sound like it's going to get the right care with your parents, and while it's with you in CO you can still look for a foster carer. I expect you'll have better luck finding a carer if the tort's already with you in CO too. Some vets have boarding services that could be an option for you while you're away for the 3 months.
I looked after a friend's sulcata (very undersized) for about 6 months through the cold months in northern New England while my friend couldn't care for it. It involved fencing off a room in the apartment for the tort and making the room totally tort safe, providing hides, heat, humidity, food, water, UVB, etc. The sulcata THRIVED compared to how it had been kept previously (for example, with me it began to vigorously and frequently display that it was in fact male when it was previously thought to be female, and also gained a lot of weight). This was obviously still not the ideal setup for the sulcata, but it was better than before and the best I (or my friend) could do at the time. I'm sharing this to demonstrate that at least temporarily you don't need a perfect setup, you just need to be doing your best and meeting the torts needs.