Update on Jaxx

[sulcatamommy]

Hello everyone. It has been a while! Haven’t posted in a bit (just been lurking lol).

I recently lost my Russian tort CamCam. It’s been a tough journey and the first pet loss I’ve had to experience. The vet said he did not have any underlying issues and died of old age. Guessing he was pushing 40 years old, but have no idea because he was a rescue. i personally had him roughly 15 years (since I was 10!!!) I am doing ok and focusing my efforts more towards my sulcata Jaxx!

So, I wanted to give you all an update on Jaxx my now 6 Year old sulcata. He still lives in our backyard 90% of the time, when he’s not getting into mischief. He did recently learn a new trick that my dogs taught him. Unfortunately I cannot post videos on here but I’m sure you can picture Jaxx climbing through the doggie door to come hangout inside. (Dogs only have supervised time with Jaxx) I used to get frustrated he’d come inside and make a mess, but after losing CamCam I am grateful Jaxx wants to spend time with me. He just follows me around helping with chores. LOL. No idea his weight currently but he’s HEAVY. Feel like he’s pretty large for his age?

Anyway, I will try to be more consistent in my appearance on here.

 

[Yvonne G]

You have a beautiful family!

 

[wellington]

Cute that he learned to use the doggie door but not good at all to let him roam the floors of your home. Too many eat something they shouldn't or get a head squished in a door. Best to not let him use the door.
Also, Russians live a lot longer than 40. If the vet didn't do any tests or X-rays, he really has no clue what happened. Sorry for the loss, they are never easy.

 

[sulcatamommy]

Cute that he learned to use the doggie door but not good at all to let him roam the floors of your home. Too many eat something they shouldn't or get a head squished in a door. Best to not let him use the door.
Also, Russians live a lot longer than 40. If the vet didn't do any tests or X-rays, he really has no clue what happened. Sorry for the loss, they are never easy.

When he comes inside, he is being supervised 24/7, and typically lured back out relatively fast. Luckily for my OCD I keep a clean house all the time, so the only danger to him is one door which remains closed when he traverses his way in. Thank you for the concern though. It was more of a funny thing that rarely happens that I wanted to share that did not necessarily need to be criticized.

As for my Russian, he was a rescue so no idea an age at all. All I knew from research and this forum was that he was a full-grown adult by the time I got him. Then I cared for him for roughly 15 years. Followed all of the recommendations for a great tortoise life, thanks to tortoiseforum!!!

 

[Tom]

When he comes inside, he is being supervised 24/7, and typically lured back out relatively fast. Luckily for my OCD I keep a clean house all the time, so the only danger to him is one door which remains closed when he traverses his way in. Thank you for the concern though. It was more of a funny thing that rarely happens that I wanted to share that did not necessarily need to be criticized.

As for my Russian, he was a rescue so no idea an age at all. All I knew from research and this forum was that he was a full-grown adult by the time I got him. Then I cared for him for roughly 15 years. Followed all of the recommendations for a great tortoise life, thanks to tortoiseforum!!!

Sorry to hear about Cam Cam.

While her bedside manner is not ideal, I’d don’t think Barb was intending to criticize. She was attempting, in her own way, to warn you about the danger of free roaming, so you don’t have to experience another loss. I understand your intent in posting, but if you saw something problematic in a picture that I posted, wouldn’t you try to help me an avoid a known catastrophe? We see it here all the time. I can tell you are a little upset about the unsolicited advice, but it comes from a good place of nothing but good intention. We don’t want to see anymore tortoises die from this. You think it is safe and your house is clean, but think about it… Everyone who does this thinks is it safe and supervised, or they wouldn’t do it. Every single one of them found out a day too late that it can’t be made safe. Barb was trying to help you learn this lesson a day before it’s too late. Please don’t be offended by someone trying to help you and your beautiful beloved tortoise.

On that note, how are you heating this big boy? He’s showing the typical damage from overhead CHEs or heat lamps over a larger tortoise. I’m guessing no heat at all in Tucson right now, but when the cold nights of winter roll back around, I want you to know ahead of time that heat lamps and CHEs aren’t good for larger torts.

If we didn’t care about the well being of tortoises, we’d just shrug our shoulders and not worry about what other tortoise keepers are doing. As you can see, we do care, and we mean you no insult.

 

[sulcatamommy]

Sorry to hear about Cam Cam.

While her bedside manner is not ideal, I’d don’t think Barb was intending to criticize. She was attempting, in her own way, to warn you about the danger of free roaming, so you don’t have to experience another loss. I understand your intent in posting, but if you saw something problematic in a picture that I posted, wouldn’t you try to help me an avoid a known catastrophe? We see it here all the time. I can tell you are a little upset about the unsolicited advice, but it comes from a good place of nothing but good intention. We don’t want to see anymore tortoises die from this. You think it is safe and your house is clean, but think about it… Everyone who does this thinks is it safe and supervised, or they wouldn’t do it. Every single one of them found out a day too late that it can’t be made safe. Barb was trying to help you learn this lesson a day before it’s too late. Please don’t be offended by someone trying to help you and your beautiful beloved tortoise.

On that note, how are you heating this big boy? He’s showing the typical damage from overhead CHEs or heat lamps over a larger tortoise. I’m guessing no heat at all in Tucson right now, but when the cold nights of winter roll back around, I want you to know ahead of time that heat lamps and CHEs aren’t good for larger torts.

If we didn’t care about the well being of tortoises, we’d just shrug our shoulders and not worry about what other tortoise keepers are doing. As you can see, we do care, and we mean you no insult.

Yup, no heat because Tucson is hot enough already. He has a Kane heating mat and the Vivarium Radiant Head Panel in his night box we use for winter. It didn’t say anything about it being a CHE. Maybe the wattage is too high or to close to him. Did you have something else that would be better? The Kane mat is great for him to warm up when he needs to but doesn’t provide a high enough ambient temp in his box during winters.

​

 

[sulcatamommy]

Sorry to hear about Cam Cam.

While her bedside manner is not ideal, I’d don’t think Barb was intending to criticize. She was attempting, in her own way, to warn you about the danger of free roaming, so you don’t have to experience another loss. I understand your intent in posting, but if you saw something problematic in a picture that I posted, wouldn’t you try to help me an avoid a known catastrophe? We see it here all the time. I can tell you are a little upset about the unsolicited advice, but it comes from a good place of nothing but good intention. We don’t want to see anymore tortoises die from this. You think it is safe and your house is clean, but think about it… Everyone who does this thinks is it safe and supervised, or they wouldn’t do it. Every single one of them found out a day too late that it can’t be made safe. Barb was trying to help you learn this lesson a day before it’s too late. Please don’t be offended by someone trying to help you and your beautiful beloved tortoise.

On that note, how are you heating this big boy? He’s showing the typical damage from overhead CHEs or heat lamps over a larger tortoise. I’m guessing no heat at all in Tucson right now, but when the cold nights of winter roll back around, I want you to know ahead of time that heat lamps and CHEs aren’t good for larger torts.

If we didn’t care about the well being of tortoises, we’d just shrug our shoulders and not worry about what other tortoise keepers are doing. As you can see, we do care, and we mean you no insult

Sorry for the duplicate reply! I just went back through your post including the single tortoise night box and I have exactly the same equipment that you recommended for his box aside from we had a different thermostat to control the temperature! Just wanted to add this before you reply so you had more information, and I was not wasting your time. He has had this box for about 3 years now.