What are your plans for when a little one passes?

[smarch]

i got to say this is a weird but interesting thread. but do people really keep the shells of their dead tortoises? not quite sure how i feel about that. i can understand having them if u found one of a wild tort or came across one. but one that was once your loved pet mmmm not sure about that 1.

I read it in another thread in the debatable section about the shells, i'll dig it up later to post here if you wanted to read it and no one beats me to it. Honestl I think if I found a shell in the wild i'd bury it since I knew the turtles fate. Just a personal thing to me

 

[tortadise]

i got to say this is a weird but interesting thread. but do people really keep the shells of their dead tortoises? not quite sure how i feel about that. i can understand having them if u found one of a wild tort or came across one. but one that was once your loved pet mmmm not sure about that 1.

Yep I keep them. I have given lots of ones that don't make it to science departments, and learning centers. Children are fascinated with hands on learning. You can use them a tool for education. Death to me is a part of nature. Circle of life. It does suck when it's an early death. But sometimes that can't be reversed.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I tried to preserve the shells of Leopard hatchlings. It didn't work...

 

[ditzyangeluk]

My sister has a garden full of buried animals!! She says she can never move home!
Personally, I am dead and want nothing - no formal arrangements, funeral, or service. I'm dead. Unfortunately, they can't just incinerate you and be done. And, even leaving a body to science isn't that easy, boy are they fussy!! (Believe me, I have asked!)
When we had to have our dog put to sleep, we left her at the vets. She was just a body, the spirit and memories of her stayed with us. THAT is all that is important.
Bodies are just vessels to carry who we are (and no, I am not a bit spiritual or religious, just how I see it)

 

[Star-of-India]

I have had several box turtle and tortoise shells since I was a child. They were pets and when they died they were allowed to be cleaned out in the garden by 'natural' forces and then brought in. I find the shells beautiful, but I realize others don't necessarily see it that way.

I have one tortoise shell which I turned into a rattle as a Cub Scout project I guess about 50 years ago. A drowned Sulcata was given to the zoology dept of a local university 20 years ago. My dog was cremated and I put up a stone in the yard for him. I've moved twice since and brought the stone with me even though there's no body associated with it.

I plan to be cremated. If I'm lucky some loved one will scatter my ashes somewhere beautiful that I was known to like. But once you're dead, you don't have much more input!

 

[smarch]

I have had several box turtle and tortoise shells since I was a child. They were pets and when they died they were allowed to be cleaned out in the garden by 'natural' forces and then brought in. I find the shells beautiful, but I realize others don't necessarily see it that way.

I have one tortoise shell which I turned into a rattle as a Cub Scout project I guess about 50 years ago. A drowned Sulcata was given to the zoology dept of a local university 20 years ago. My dog was cremated and I put up a stone in the yard for him. I've moved twice since and brought the stone with me even though there's no body associated with it.

I plan to be cremated. If I'm lucky some loved one will scatter my ashes somewhere beautiful that I was known to like. But once you're dead, you don't have much more input!

Actually a lot of cultures use turtle shells for rattles, we talked all about it in a cultural art class I took last semester, I am completely ok with it as long as the "previous resident" wasn't killed for his shell and died naturally.

I figure the only thing I care about after my death is that I be cremated so i'm not left to rot decay and breakdown and all that ick. After they may bury me, scatter me, or unprefferably keep me on the mantle, I don't care as long as I'm not left to "melt" in the ground

 

[funmumlu]

Can,t believe how devastated we are about our recent loss - George the 2 year old moroccan spur-thighed tortoise. I fear he was treated for pneumonia but not for the worms he had. It is so sad.

Such a beautiful shell, does anyone keep or preserve shells or is it too gross a procedure? He,s probably having a little funeral when daughter gets back tomorrow. But if anyone knows a way to keep the shell we would perhaps consider this.

 

[smarch]

Can,t believe how devastated we are about our recent loss - George the 2 year old moroccan spur-thighed tortoise. I fear he was treated for pneumonia but not for the worms he had. It is so sad.

Such a beautiful shell, does anyone keep or preserve shells or is it too gross a procedure? He,s probably having a little funeral when daughter gets back tomorrow. But if anyone knows a way to keep the shell we would perhaps consider this.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...ir-tort-or-turtle-after-it-passes-away.56160/
heres the link to the thread I had read that gave me the idea to post this thread. I know there was a video posted with it, I didn't watch it since I didn't know if i'd be able to handle it, but it would show you if the procedure would be possible for you to consider. And other people talk of other ways they do it. So that threads probably the place to go for deciding.
I'm sorry for that loss, young ones are the hardest to say goodbye to.

 

[annastortoise]

If my tort dies before me, like someone else says, I will probably keep his ashes and have them buried next to me. <3


I <3 Russians

 

[Aunt Caffy]

If my tort dies before me, like someone else says, I will probably keep his ashes and have them buried next to me. <3


I <3 Russians

We were told by a funeral home that it is illegal to bury an animal's remains with a human's. However, the funeral home guy also said that things get placed in the casket during the viewing/visitation and that the funeral home doesn't check that before the casket is sealed and placed in the ground. So, you can always have someone slip your tort's remains in with you during the viewing.

 

[Aunt Caffy]

I lost my 5 year old golden retriever Scarlett to a rare cancer last year. We had her cremated. Her ashes are in a little locked cedar box on our mantel along with the last collar she wore. We also have a paw impression that I put in a little shadow box next to my husband's computer. I plan on getting all the pets cremated.

 

[JohnnyB65]

Hi I’m new here and don’t know any of you so I hope I’m not budding in.
As for my desert tortoise I suspect that he will outlive me for sure and I don’t know if I can trust my kids to take over so I can only hope they do the right thing.
I struggled with this for many years as to what I want for myself and finally decided to be cremated although it’s not sitting well with my family. I buried two dogs and had 5 cremated when they passed and I think I feel better about them not being underground.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

I don't like the idea of having my babies buried! (but I mean, my oldest animals is a turtle and he's 16.. I have a while ) I'll probably have them cremated and buried in a nice, grassy place because then I could 'visit; them... to some degree, though, I hope all my torts and turtles live longer than (though I know that is rather unlikely) because I just don' know what I do without them!!

 

[Jesse Hummel]

It's confusing to live in a world where we have a disposable diaper that gets buried into the ground and living things that get burned into the atmosphere. I understand some people request to be cremated, but when it comes to animals I think it's best to follow through with a more natural cycle.

With Chelonian, there is a strong desire to keep the shell. I saw someone made a video with plenty of warnings on it's graphic content. I didn't watch it because the tools required where completely unnecessary. Call it lazy but I'm all for other's doing the work for me.

If you have a desire to retrieve the shell it's a simple matter of finding a container preferably non plastic that can withstand the pressure created when organic matter decomposes and gasses are created. You'll also need a hole deep enough to cover the container at least with at least a foot of soil and about a billion ants. Don't worry your yard most likely has this last piece already.

Place your animal into the container and close the opening with holes big enough for small insects to pass through. Bury the container with the opening downward at a 45 or 60 degree angle to prevent water from the surface from entering.

After several months the bones and shell will be cleaned, the components of life spread across the ecosystem. As long as it doesn't get flooded with water these remains can be retrieved in near perfect condition.

 

[pip]

I bury my pets. I'm a firm believer in returning things back to nature. Then they will become beautiful soil to allow the rest of the ecosystem to live on.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Since my body is falling apart like a CHINESE motorcycle, I fully expect ALL of my tortoises and for that matter, my dog and my wife to all out live me.
That said. There is a small corner of the yard that is a pet cemetary. There are two prairie dogs, a chinchilla and a few birds buried there.

 

[GeorgeUK]

We have lost 5 pets in the past 12 months, including 3 very old ponies & two elderly dogs. All, very loved family pets. My Nan decided to get them all cremated at the local pet cemetery as she wanted them to all be together in the afterlife she believes in.
Personally I couldn't care less what happens to my body - but out of respect if I was to loose a beloved pet of my own - I'm friends with a carpenter who I have no doubt would hand craft a small coffin.
Sad subject, but important none the less. My grandfather sadly passed away during an operation last Summer which was a shock to us all, even more shocking though was the extent to which he had planned what would happen after his death (finances, funeral, etc...) which made things easier for my Nan to manage. So, however depressing it is, I am all for pre-planning

 

[MPRC]

My parent's have an extensive "pet cemetery" on their property from my childhood pets. I realized a couple of years ago you can see the rock mound over my dad's favorite hunting dog on Google earth.
It might seem a little morbid, but my beloved 15 year old bearded dragon passed a couple months ago and he has been waiting in the garage freezer for us to close on a house of our own so that I don't have to bury him here and leave him at this rental that I hate.
We joked about getting him taxidermied, but that might be too much for me to have to see him hanging around.
I plan on having to leave to tortoises to someone in my will.
As far as my remains go - I don't care. I don't need a service or burial or anything, but at that point it isn't about me so much as how my loved ones need to do things for their own closure. I do think it is pretty spiffy that a friend of mine had his remains split up and shared with his best friends who have left little parts of him on. 5 continents in about 20 countries in the two years since he passed of brain cancer at the age of 21.

 

[spud's_mum]

For all the pets I have lost, I have buried.
Just after the burial of my cats, flowers started to grow.
I don't visit the graves very often. I hate to think that their lifeless bodies lie there. However, if I have a tough day, I sometimes just sit there and talk to myself.
When the flowers start to open on plants, I usually pick some and place them there.
I prefer to remember them as the happy little creatures that didn't have a care in the world.

 

[Lyn W]

I hope one of my many nephews or nieces will look after Lola when I'm not around - a large financial incentive should help find volunteers - mercenary lot that they are!!!
If anything should happen to Lola (God forbid), she will be buried in my garden, under the bushes she likes to make a dash for when outside.
For myself, there is a new technique being developed in Wales (maybe other places too) for body disposal where they freeze remains then shake them so that the body shatters into tiny bits which can be buried - or used as fertiliser perhaps. Being a very eco friendly person I quite like the idea of that!