Tortimer Sully Wade Brag Post and a Question

OliveW

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TortimerSWade.JPG

Tortimer has been a member of our family 3 weeks today. He's not a beautiful little baby star, he's a very bumpy rough looking big dude, but we couldn't love him any more than we do! He is perfect for us!

Anyway, he has gained exactly half a pound in this short time. I was so shocked that I weighed him three times. He was 5.2 lbs when we got him, he is 5.7 lbs now. His shell is still exactly 10". Same scale, and I waited until after he pooped to weigh him today. He usually poops during his walks or in his soak. Today, it was on his walk because he found a bunch of our little pea sized grapes that blew down in a storm, and was gobbling them up before I could move him. He's quite smart, he knew I would move him from that area quickly. He got so excited that he pooped.

Tortimer spends a LOT of time walking. My husband is an early riser, and he is usually out of his burrow walking around his enclosure, so he takes him out and follows him around the property for an hour or so. I do the same every evening. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I'll video tape it one day - Tortimer comes out of his burrow for me. I call him like I do the cats, with "Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty." and he comes out. 😂

My question is, can I wash his shell in any way? He is a mega burrow digger, and always looks rough and dirty. I'm going to use a gentle nail brush on it today, while he's in his soak, with just water. If there is more I can do to help his shell, please let me know.
 

OliveW

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Wash, sure. Soak, yes daily if you can. In this heat I hose off our Sully a few times a day, some good hard sprays on the carapace, nice spray on head & legs…. They love water.

I soak him daily for 30 minutes. And we keep a fresh shallow dish of water in his enclosure, and hose him off a lot. Right now, he has a 14" ceramic pot base, buried to be flush with the ground. He fits in it, but just fits, not big enough really. I want to get him something larger, but can't find anything to use that is not slippery. I want him to be able to get out of it easily. Any suggestions on that would be appreciated.

BTW, I'm Silver Spring, MD born and raised. Howdy, Homie!
 

LeoTheWaywardTortoise

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He’s sweet! I’m a little envious that he comes to you when you call him. I keep hoping that Leo will start coming to me, but aside from last Saturday when it was getting ready to storm all day, Leo usually just freezes when I come outside. He has been with us for almost a year, and I hope one day he warms up to us a little more. He will allow me to scratch his head and neck, but is otherwise pretty skittish.
 

OliveW

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He’s sweet! I’m a little envious that he comes to you when you call him. I keep hoping that Leo will start coming to me, but aside from last Saturday when it was getting ready to storm all day, Leo usually just freezes when I come outside. He has been with us for almost a year, and I hope one day he warms up to us a little more. He will allow me to scratch his head and neck, but is otherwise pretty skittish.

I can't take credit for his awesome personality. He came to us like that. 🥰

Even though he is a pyramided drop-off, I'm positive that his previous family showed him lots of love and attention. I'm sure that it was just ignorance of proper care rather than uncaring. I also suspect that he was rehomed and the new home was responsible for the drop-off.

Of course these are just stories in my head. But he's so genuinely friendly and sweet, enjoys people and even accepts dogs and cats, that he had to have been very socialized. I suppose there is also the possibility that he was just born with this personality, but I like to believe he was very loved.

At first, Toritmer wouldn't come out of his burrow once he was in for the night, even when I called him. That was just a daytime thing. Now, he will come out after bedtime, too. It takes him about 15 or 20 minutes, then he comes to the entrance and sits there looking at me, as if to say, "What did you wake me up for?" But he does come out every single time he's called.

I feel very blessed to have such a friendly guy. It made bonding with him extremely easy.
 

LeoTheWaywardTortoise

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I can't take credit for his awesome personality. He came to us like that. 🥰

Even though he is a pyramided drop-off, I'm positive that his previous family showed him lots of love and attention. I'm sure that it was just ignorance of proper care rather than uncaring. I also suspect that he was rehomed and the new home was responsible for the drop-off.

Of course these are just stories in my head. But he's so genuinely friendly and sweet, enjoys people and even accepts dogs and cats, that he had to have been very socialized. I suppose there is also the possibility that he was just born with this personality, but I like to believe he was very loved.

At first, Toritmer wouldn't come out of his burrow once he was in for the night, even when I called him. That was just a daytime thing. Now, he will come out after bedtime, too. It takes him about 15 or 20 minutes, then he comes to the entrance and sits there looking at me, as if to say, "What did you wake me up for?" But he does come out every single time he's called.

I feel very blessed to have such a friendly guy. It made bonding with him extremely easy.
That's so amazing! I love your theories, too. My guy showed up on our front porch almost exactly a year ago. He, too, arrived pyramided, but I don't know if he just escaped someone's yard or if he was "set free" to fend for himself. He was only about five or six inches long, and we were unsuccessful in finding his owner. I guess I've made some progress because he hardly ever pees anymore when I pick him up, LOL... but he has such a funny personality. I hope one day he'll become one of those friendly, sociable Sulcatas that I've read about, but if not, that's okay, too. :)
 

OliveW

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That's so amazing! I love your theories, too. My guy showed up on our front porch almost exactly a year ago. He, too, arrived pyramided, but I don't know if he just escaped someone's yard or if he was "set free" to fend for himself. He was only about five or six inches long, and we were unsuccessful in finding his owner. I guess I've made some progress because he hardly ever pees anymore when I pick him up, LOL... but he has such a funny personality. I hope one day he'll become one of those friendly, sociable Sulcatas that I've read about, but if not, that's okay, too. :)

He probably will get friendlier. That's a fairly tiny guy to find on your door step! Ours is much bigger, and I suspect much older than his size reflects.

From everything I've read here, it seems to take a few years for them to really develop a personality. 🥰

We tried to find ours' owner for a couple weeks, but it's a small town and it was clear nobody was claiming him. After that first couple of weeks, not only was I no longer looking, but if someone would have posted looking for him, I would have paid a lot of money to keep him. LOL
 

OliveW

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This is today. Hubby taking Tortimer outside for the afternoon. He looks so dry, but he is plenty hydrated. I just soaked him yesterday evening. He gets soaked about 5 times a week, down from everyday for the first few months. He's getting to be such a big boy!



honeytort.JPG
 

nicoleann2214

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I soak him daily for 30 minutes. And we keep a fresh shallow dish of water in his enclosure, and hose him off a lot. Right now, he has a 14" ceramic pot base, buried to be flush with the ground. He fits in it, but just fits, not big enough really. I want to get him something larger, but can't find anything to use that is not slippery. I want him to be able to get out of it easily. Any suggestions on that would be appreciated.

BTW, I'm Silver Spring, MD born and raised. Howdy, Homie!
I stick coconut oil on my guys shell keeps it hydrated not sure if this will help!
 

LeoTheWaywardTortoise

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He has gotten less fearful of us, especially toward the end of spring - probably due to us interacting with him every morning and evening (we kept him inside at night until it got warm enough for him to stay outside 24/7). Then summer arrived and he decided to find suitable outdoor accommodations - deep underneath our rosemary plant. I could not see him or get to him, but the lows were getting into the high 70s when that started, and only went up from there. During the summer, I would only see him on weekends - I'd sit on my back porch until he decided to emerge from the rosemary and I'd scoop him up to give him a long soak. But during weekdays, I'd come home to find that he ate all his food but was nowhere to be found.

To my great relief, now that the lows are dropping into the 60s, he has returned to more accessible locations when I get home from work... so I've been able to bring him inside to his "cozy" enclosure. It's much too small for him, but it's really just an indoor heated humid hide... at least that's how I'm looking at it. I ordered a larger one from Animal Plastics in early August, so when that arrives it'll give him a little more room to move around when the weather is too chilly outside. Thankfully, those days are few and far between where we live. But I think he's remembering the routine from last fall/winter/spring when he'd come inside at night, and I hope this helps him become more comfortable with us.
 

LeoTheWaywardTortoise

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I stick coconut oil on my guys shell keeps it hydrated not sure if this will help!
I do the same thing, but only once a month. My guy isn't terribly fond of this spa treatment, LOL, but I've found that applying it after a soak, letting it sit for about 15 minutes, and then rubbing it off with a clean cloth really makes his shell look more hydrated.
 

zolasmum

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This is today. Hubby taking Tortimer outside for the afternoon. He looks so dry, but he is plenty hydrated. I just soaked him yesterday evening. He gets soaked about 5 times a week, down from everyday for the first few months. He's getting to be such a big boy!



View attachment 351000
What a lovely expression Tortimer has, and apart from the pyramiding, he looks very well and handsome and happy. How lucky he was to have found you !
Angie
 

OliveW

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I have used coconut oil on his shell, but I wasn't smart enough to give it some time and then wipe down. I allow him to go play right away, and he throws dirt all over his shell. The coconut oil just helps the dirt stick better. 😂

Tortimer is a very rough and tumble guy. I try to get him clean every time he soaks. It's really impossible to get the dirt out from the grooves in his growth lines. He's a rowdy little digger who loves his burrow, so I think keeping him pretty is a losing battle.

As long as he gets proper soaks (he's now graduated to a kiddie pool) then I don't worry about him looking dry. He enjoys me rubbing his shell with my hand or a washcloth, but absolutely hates a toothbrush, so I don't force him to look good. LOL
 

OliveW

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On 11/13/22 Tortimer weighed 8 lb 13 oz. Seems like a small gain for a month.

I'm going to weigh him again tomorrow. I thought the tare seemed off when the cardboard box was almost 1.5lbs. Could be correct, we'll see.
 

OliveW

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It's a BOY!

Tortimer has confirmed his male status by showing off what is clearly a tort penis, pretty much daily for the past five days or so. Thankfully, I was familiar with what it looks like from other posts here, otherwise I would have thought he was losing some of his insides.

He has started to develop a very slight concave shape on the back half of his belly shell. At first glance, he looks very flat. You have hold him level and look close or feel.

He is still quite small to be showing gender. I didn't expect it for a couple more years. I suppose he may be older than I realized and have stunted growth.
 

zolasmum

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It's a BOY!

Tortimer has confirmed his male status by showing off what is clearly a tort penis, pretty much daily for the past five days or so. Thankfully, I was familiar with what it looks like from other posts here, otherwise I would have thought he was losing some of his insides.

He has started to develop a very slight concave shape on the back half of his belly shell. At first glance, he looks very flat. You have hold him level and look close or feel.

He is still quite small to be showing gender. I didn't expect it for a couple more years. I suppose he may be older than I realized and have stunted growth.
Congratulations !!!
( I am not being sexist here - just that it's good to know one way or the other.)
Angie
 

OliveW

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Congratulations !!!
( I am not being sexist here - just that it's good to know one way or the other.)
Angie

Thanks! I agree that it's good to know for sure. I'm happy he's a boy since we've thought of him as a boy since early on.

@Tom called it right - somehow - when we first got him and were assuming he as a girl. Just based on his looks and personality description at that time. It's extremely interesting to me that he was able to guess that without ever meeting him in person.

At first I didn't know how to measure his shell correctly and thought he was 10" - I'm not sure how much he has grown this year, since I was doing it wrong early on, but he is between 14" - 15" now. Definitely not the 16" plus that I thought he'd have to be before gender reveal.

His weight is somewhere around 10 lbs, I think. We have been insanely busy here so haven't weighed him in a couple weeks, and I think the last time there was a scale/tare malfunction or human error. Most likely human error. LOL

Winter came early to Florida (although it's gone for the time being,) so building his night box that will be large enough to accommodate him for life, became top priority as far as Tortimer care. He spent some nights in a heated bathroom, but it certainly isn't his favorite place to be. He much prefers to be outdoors.
 

ryan57

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Happy for you Olive. Hmm. Good ole Tortimer is going to be HUGE then!! Stump is 6 1/4" and 2lb today 908grams @ 9 months. Should be 4-5lb @ 1 year. Going to Florida for 3 weeks in January. Stump's going to love the sunshine! I'm hoping for a female at this point for a more reasonable size but... Stump seems to be on the state pumpkin path which probably is a male too.
 
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