Tortoise Gardens

[EllieMay]

[MENTION=15310]helsonwheels[/MENTION]

Here’s some quick pics of my tortoise Gardens. I have 3 Sulcatas. 1 will be 4 years old next month and weighs 29lbs now. The other two are clutch mates and just turned 2 on the 10th. They weigh 13 & 7lbs... These yards were nothing but dried clay and dead leaves before I made Tortoise gardens:-)
I still add things as I learn.

 

[Cbrugs]

This is awesome! I’m a little jealous!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Manydogs]

I love this-I love tortoise!

 

[helsonwheels]

Wow! Very nice!! Is your 29 pounder still going to get bigger or not in captivity?

 

[EllieMay]

Oh yes... He’s going to get much bigger! As you can see, he’s got plenty of room.. I still have to cut the grass because he can’t eat it all.. my son will pass his first pet down to his kids one day;-))

 

[EllieMay]

I take my son to the zoo pretty often and we see these kind there.. one day we were fishing and the snapping turtles were all swimming around in the shallows.. My son said he wanted a pet turtle.... but he didn’t want one like that.. when I asked what kind he wanted, he told me “ like the ones at the zoo”.. I immediately replied “ ask your daddy”. I knew my husband would say no because he gripes about all the other animals I already have.. so we were on the phone with his dad while he was at work and son tells him that he wants a pet tortoise..... so my husband didn’t even ask what kind... he just tells him to tell me to go get him one.. I snatched the phone and asked if he realized what kind of tortoise he meant... so he tells me that it doesn’t matter... if I can find all the critters I like, then surely I can find him a tortoise... SO HERE WE ARE! I bought the first two and they were the size of a .50 cent piece. then I adopted the 3rd one.. Lol.. I got thoroughly obsessed with the research and care and Son is very involved too.. I bet hubby doesn’t make the same mistake twice

 

[helsonwheels]

You can find one..... Teach him to go with you next time lolll

 

[ddnene]

Oh MY goodness... I love this!!! My daughter went thru a turtle phase, but unfortunately we got the ones in Florida and they were aquarium turtles. We spent a mild fortune on equipment & it took forever to clean out the tanks. We finally had to release them when they became TOO big for our 2nd tanks!!!

 

[EllieMay]

Oh MY goodness... I love this!!! My daughter went thru a turtle phase, but unfortunately we got the ones in Florida and they were aquarium turtles. We spent a mild fortune on equipment & it took forever to clean out the tanks. We finally had to release them when they became TOO big for our 2nd tanks!!!

RIGHT! That old saying that something grows as big as it’s container is a total myth... it’s directly proportional to the proper care received... and nothing about that is cheap!!! We used to pick up box turtles as kids and bring them home to play.. later we would release... Now I have found out that a tortoise will spend its whole life trying to get back to a 2 mile radius area considered home...

I FELT LIKE AN AXE MURDERER WHEN I READ THAT!

 

[2BullyMama]

I love it!!! thank you for sharing

 

[Dollys Owner]

[MENTION=19271]EllieMay[/MENTION] Thanks for sharing your photos ! I used to be really into tortoise rearing too, but got very saddened when my beloved pancake tortoise died after I had it for about 5 years, when it should have lived much longer. I used to go to Herpetological Society meetings in Toronto and there were guys there breeding all sorts of tortoises including Galapagos island tortoises which grow to be about 900 pounds.

Be very careful about predators. I had a friend who came over to live in Toronto from Hong Kong, and one of his tortoises had been missing in Hong Kong for about a year, but then showed up on the day he was leaving, so he packed him in his suitcase. After having them for a few years in Toronto, and leaving them out to play during the day in his back yard fenced in area, he forgot one night to bring them in, and a raccoon ate them all up the same night.

 

[thett]

I take my son to the zoo pretty often and we see these kind there.. one day we were fishing and the snapping turtles were all swimming around in the shallows.. My son said he wanted a pet turtle.... but he didn’t want one like that.. when I asked what kind he wanted, he told me “ like the ones at the zoo”.. I immediately replied “ ask your daddy”. I knew my husband would say no because he gripes about all the other animals I already have.. so we were on the phone with his dad while he was at work and son tells him that he wants a pet tortoise..... so my husband didn’t even ask what kind... he just tells him to tell me to go get him one.. I snatched the phone and asked if he realized what kind of tortoise he meant... so he tells me that it doesn’t matter... if I can find all the critters I like, then surely I can find him a tortoise... SO HERE WE ARE! I bought the first two and they were the size of a .50 cent piece. then I adopted the 3rd one.. Lol.. I got thoroughly obsessed with the research and care and Son is very involved too.. I bet hubby doesn’t make the same mistake twice

This is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cefe13]

[MENTION=19271]EllieMay[/MENTION] Oh interesting - I had missed this thread! And how do turtles feel about bulldogs?

 

[tigertanktoo]

Those are some weird looking bulldogs. You might want to check with the folks you got them from. At least you won't have to worry about too much drooling.