Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have come to a conclusion that i can not care for a turtle the way i should, and i am forced to give my shelly to a preserve ( after i spent 100's of dollars setting her up ). i am very sad she was my first herp and now because of my little shelly since i grew to love herps, i have just bought a sulcata. now with the hatchling sulcata i won't have enough time, money or energy to take care of shelly.
i am very sad, every time i sign on to this forum i will see her name as my id.

why on earth did you buy a sulcata!?
you do under stand that that tortoise is going to get huge, it's going to NEED an area to roam I dont think you know what you've gotten yourself into with this one, you complain about 100's of dollars being spent on a tiny little box turtle so you get rid of the turtle and buy a cute little hatchling tortoise, you couldn't just go and buy a little hermanns or a russian(like you had and who knows what happened to it) but you bought the 3rd largest species of tortoise in the world!? oh well..
you better get reading up on them

http://www.mydog8it.com/tortoise_care.htm

http://www.sdturtle.org/AFRICAN%20SPURRED%20TORTOISE%20CARE%20SHEET.htm

http://www.turtlehomes.org/usa/beautiful.shtml

if you want more care sheets just ask I can find tons of them
also go to the kingsnake tortoise forum archives for more info..

I am sorry, but I am disgusted!
Its because of people like you that people refer to box turtles as "throw away" pets. Your priorities should have been with
Shelly and you shouldn't aquire a pet unless you are willing to commit for life of the animal. This may be harder with box turtles since they can outlive humans, but you certainly shouldn't aquire any pet if you are not willing to make a long term commitment. How long have you had her, a few months???? How did you aquire her? Was she wild or did you purchase her somewhere? A "preserve" may not be the best place for her. Personally I don't know why you can't have a box turtle and a sulcata. My daughter and I just visted a nature center run by a local naturalist and they had one sulcata tortoise and 4 box turtles in a 6 X 12 pen. I don't think the tortoise was full grown, but this guy has plenty of land to build him a larger pen when needed.
Please gain a little more maturity and do your homework before you aquire any more pets. I'm sorry but you don't "have" to get rid of shelly, You are bored with her and you are irresponsible. Whats going to happen in a few months when you're bored with the tortoise???
This is so terribly unfair to animals.

They type of housing it will require. Somehow, I don't think you'll have him that long......
Sulcata housing

one thing.. boxies and sulcatas cannot be kept together the sulcata will be far to big and could harm the turtle and they have different needs, (diet, habitat ect.)
just thought I'd add that so the kid doesn't give it a shot..

Mom and/ or dad should have supervised the purchase of any and all animals to be under the care of their children. So many parents lack the backbone to put their foot down when their kids demand stuff. Is mom or dad equipped to handle this tort let alone the child? Probably not.

Unfortunately, I think that your right in this case. If you look through Shelly78's postings, starting about July 1, you might get the same impression I did: parent isn't saying NO until vet care is needed or some problem arises, in which case, animal must go.

Thats a big part of the problem, there are so many parents out there that view pets as disposable items, who have irresponsible attitutes towards pets and then they pass these lack of values on to their kids. I grew up in a family where we committed to the life of the pet. I now have kids, as well as a zoo (3 dogs, 1 cat, 2 rabbits, 1 cockatiel, 1 snake, 1 skink and several turtles) and I frequently have other parents that try to pawn off their unwanted animals on me and it really makes me sad and I'm thinking "I can commit to my animals for their lifespan, why can't you?"
So often its just their tired of taking care of it, or they expected the child to accept full responsibility for it, and the child doesn't so the parents want to get rid of it.
We ask our kids to help with the pets, but ultimately it is ours (the adults) responsibility). I would never make committing to a pet conditional on how much the child is willing to take care of it. My daughter is good about feeding the dogs most of the time, but sometimes I nag, and it doesn't get done, so I feed them. She still does alot of other things for them, she bathes them, grooms them and walks them. So I see it as a shared responsibility of a family.

I agree with you in the long run, but I would think it could work short term(while the tortoise is still small), based on what I saw at our nature center.
On the other hand, what is someone who can't even commit to a box turtle for a year even doing with a sulcata. I mean, I didn't even realize how big they ultimately get (the one at the nature center is definately not full grown). Does "Shelly" even comprehend that she won't be able to lift this tortoise in a few years? I wonder how much food per week these guys eat when they are full grown?

I believe an adult sulcata can put away 2 heads of romaine without any trouble, and they also need to graze, plus they need hay and depending on where you get it, it can be pricey
housing a boxie and a sulcata together wouldn't be possible boxies need humidity and sulcatas dont, sulcatas can get ill from humidity, it might work for a month or so but any long and you could have a hefty vet bill

Possibly the smarter thing for you to do would be to give the sulcata back to whomever you got it from, and then wait a few years until you have a decent job, own your own home, own your own car, and are generally responsible enough to truly take care of a pet, and its needs as well as your own before you even think of having another pet of any kind.
If you had really cared for Shelly, I doubt you'd be parting with her.
Just my opinion.

i really do love shelly it's just i can't get her to eat anything anymore.

>>i really do love shelly it's just i can't get her to eat anything anymore.

Is that the main reason why you feel like you can't care of Shelly anymore? This is a problem that can easily be fixed if you are willing to makes some changes in her enviroment and food. It will take patience on your part, but we are talking about a sweet little life here, and you say you love her.
Please go to my online box turtle care book at: www.boxturtlesite.org/bxbook.html
and read the diet and health chapters. You'll find some hints on how to get your turtle eating again. Good luck.
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

alright after reading carfully and hard thinking i realized i can't live without shelly. i'm gonna try my hardest to help her.