Unusual carapace

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TortieLuver

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Hello Ken and Welcome! Thanks for your posting! You are just looking for our tortoise community family to come together and help you figure out what happened to the tortoise you rescued. I read a lot of posts and find that people can be quite negative and that is unfortunate. I know there are a lot of tortoise lovers here and want to see the tortoises being treated well and watching for over population, but constructive criticism would be nice if that's the approach to take towards someone. Anyways, I'm not sure about the shell..perhaps in a small surrounding when little and shaped oddly. Good luck and good for you for deciding to rescue this guy!
 
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KenG

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Aloha, all.

Well, the question of adopting tortoises just got answered...by my wife. Following several suggestions, I adopted the newest Sulcata (the one that looked reddish) to a good friend of ours who has a well-fenced 2-acre lot with loads of grasses & weeds in a much-drier part of the island. The tortoise promptly disappeared after a few days. I'm fairly sure that she just tunneled down somewhere, but Linda is furious, to say the least. This may not seem like much to you, but - like me - Linda has a black belt in a martial art called Iaido, which entails swinging extremely sharp Japanese swords (you've probably seen movies where a Samurai draws his sword very fast, cuts his opponent, & quickly resheathes the sword - that's Iaido). This is NOT a woman you want mad at you, even if you swing a sword yourself! You have to sleep sometime...:rolleyes:.

Anyway, in short, I've agreed not to adopt out any more of our tortoises, at least any time soon. We are loaning out our mature female Pardalis to some friends who have a mature male that's already fathered a few dozen keiki (youngsters), but that's as far as we're going.
 

moswen

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haha, i love your description of your wife! well, i hope you stick around on the forum at least! another adult sulcata keeper with experience is definately a (what's the opposite word of liability? like, it's a good thing to have? you're that-- a good thing to have) in the forum!

an asset!! you're definately an asset to the forum in my opinion.
 
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KenG

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Thanks, Rebekah!

Yeah, I'll probably hang around the forum to pick up good ideas from the rest of you.

And you wouldn't believe how respectful a household we have with a husband & wife who both swing swords! The idiots who burglarize & rob other houses in our neighborhood know about us, too. I mean how stupid would you have to be to break into a house where you know there are sword-swingers??!

w8ryoi.jpg
 

Deaf Paul

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Annieski said:
But Ken, that's what I was thinking of for the tortoises. Maybe if the kids[and teachers] could get involved with computer "research" let's say about Sulcatas, and maybe an area around the school could be sectioned off,and maybe a Sulcata or two could be kept there for a period of time[with some supervision], the kids get involved-- computer is used--- teachers have a hands on way to instill learning---and some Sulcatas get more space and grazing area for even a little bit of time to help with the "crowded conditions". Just a thought. And I think a nice way to "repay" you and the volunteers for what you do for the kids.

Me likey. I would LOVE to adopt a larger tort and would be happy to pay the shipping cost (mok airlines will ship torts) to help relieve the problem of too many large torts in not enough of a space. I'm a middle school science teacher at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind on Oahu. I've raised 4 sulcatas so far with my class, but only started about 2 years ago. We all did sulcata research, then acquired a pair. First pair got stolen out of my back yard during summer break. :(

I got another pair, one went to my old aide. This year's science class has been raising it. We have a tortoise habitat table in the classroom (vit light, 3 watering pots, a burrow, etc) and we take our little tortoise outside for sun daily as well. It grazes on grasses/bushes/weeds when outside, and when in the classroom it gets to pick from fresh mixed greens and alfa hay (it won't eat the hay tho).

My biggest problem is that this tort is very small and prone to getting lost or injured while outside. We have a portable enclosure that we use that lets in sunlight, but has a roof built over it to provide shade that we carry around and place on various parts of the campus so the tort can sunbathe and graze during class. After school, students take turns taking it out for walks. Basically it's put out on the lawn and the student follows it around to let it exercise, explore, graze, etc. The student is responsible for making sure nobody steps on it, and that it doesn't get lost.

I originally came on here to ask if there was ANY safe way I could make the little tort easier to keep track of without harming it's shell or ability to grow/absorb water/sunlight. Was thinking of a little silver reflective streamer or a long piece of brightly colored string glued to a small piece of it's back but am worried about how the chemicals in the glue might leech into the shell, or cause a spot where growth gets messed up. I also thought about bright orange paint on the top of it's shell, but again, toxicity and also blocking off sunlight... Not good. But then I saw this thread...

A bigger tort would be much better for us. The current young one can just stick with the indoor table and outdoor portable pen (will make a larger one), and the bigger one would be the one that the students get to take out for walks around campus. The sex does not matter - we do not plan, or desire to breed them. It is my understanding that large males are undesirable for that reason and we would be happy with one.

Let me know! KenG, you have a PM - Can be a tax write-off for you as well.

-Paul
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Paul:

Welcome to the forum! I hope it works out that you get a larger sulcata.
 

Deaf Paul

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emysemys said:
Hi Paul:

Welcome to the forum! I hope it works out that you get a larger sulcata.

KenG and I are in communication regarding this possibility. Looking forward to it...

:cool:

-Paul
 

ReptileBuddies

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I definately wish I was in your class growing up!!! How great is it that a bunch of kids get to learn how to properly take care of torts and have lots of fun doing it!!!
 

Stephanie Logan

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Oh, cool track!

Paul, if you find out a good way to keep track of your tort, let me know. I bought a red, light velcro strap for my 6" Chaco tortoise to make it easier to find her when she gets the exploration impulse in our big back yard. It doesn't stay on though when she crawls through tight places or thick foliage. I put bright nail polish on her last year before I knew that wasn't good for her shell, so I took it off. I might try a piece or yarn or soft cord next--she's significantly pyramided so that might actually help to secure the string in place between her scutes.

Welcome to the forum! How lucky your torts are to have such attentive keepers and ideal micro-climate. :D
 

Yvonne G

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I have this image of a tortoise in the tall grass with one of those long aluminum bike poles sticking up out of the grass and a flag at the tip, waving in the breeze.
 
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