Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Don't know how many Timmy the tort fans there are out there...

Click on the link for the news article which ran today on the BBC site.

Pamela

Timmy the tortoise dies aged 160

Uou can see Timothy when he was alive in part three of the PBS Series called, "The Reptiles". Part three is about turtles and tortoises and Timothy has roughly a 5 minute section. Having had a eastern box turtle in our family for 70 years before she died I can appreciate an old chelonian.

I would really like to hear the whole story on about how your 70yr old box turtle found a home with your family for so many years. That is wonderful. Like who was the relative who first adopted it? How many homes did it pass through? What was it's name? Where did it live? Outside? Inside? Sounds like a possible book to me.

Hardly worth a book. My father found in their yard in Hamden, Connecticut in 1942 when hs was 13. According to him it she was not a young boxie and had numerous worn spots on her shell. she was active. alert and eat like a horse her entire life. For the last 3-4 years she slowed down quite a bit and wasn't as active. We had a vet check her out in the mid '70's (who was a turlte keeper himself) and estimated her age than in the mid 60's based on her shell and other factors. We had her until 1988 when she finally expired shortly after hibernation (much like Timothy)

ok i guess this is a dumb?? but i was told spur thighs or sulcatas dont hibernate so why was timothy in hibernation anyway?
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Erica
my zoo includes:
1 ball python "chloe"
1 sucata tort "tinkerbell"
1 x mas corn "penny"
1 cat "olivia"
1.1 ferret "Daisy"and "meeko"
4 monster kids Matt,Amber,Zach,Jake
1 on way

In the world of the control freaks I can imagine some folks pulling their hair as they read your question.
Spur Thigh Tortoises ARE NOT Spurred Tortoises... they are 2 TOTALLY DIFFERENT animals...
Some believe that common names should be standardized. Some actually believe that they are standardized. I think it's BS. That's why we have scientific nomenclature (which is tough enough to standardize, let alone common names which would be a nightmare)
The Spurred is usually considered Geochelone(or whatever, today) Sulcata and the Spur Thighed is usually the Testudo greaca group.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

i guess what i was asking was should i be putting my SULCATA into hibernation ive been told no. i was just curious excuse me for not being a expert like you seem to think you are
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Erica
my zoo includes:
1 ball python "chloe"
1 sucata tort "tinkerbell"
1 x mas corn "penny"
1 cat "olivia"
1.1 ferret "Daisy"and "meeko"
4 monster kids Matt,Amber,Zach,Jake
1 on way

G. sulcata does not hibernate although the do slow down during cooler periods.
I don't think I've ever claimed to be an expert and still don't think I am. I just like to talk tortoise... sorry if you found my explaination offensive but over time I'm sure you'll realize what it's about.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Toughen up, CBluefairy. It was an answer to your question, not an attack.

Sometimes I wonder what will be the state of affairs in 50 to 75 years for the tortoises being kept by folks on this forum & around the world. They're going to outlive us all, that's for sure.

sorry hormonal moment im pg .bad day thanks for the reply
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Erica
my zoo includes:
1 ball python "chloe"
1 sucata tort "tinkerbell"
1 x mas corn "penny"
1 cat "olivia"
1.1 ferret "Daisy"and "meeko"
4 monster kids Matt,Amber,Zach,Jake
1 on way

.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Well the important thing is NOT to hibernate your sulcata. It is confusing with all these common names and can really lead to a bad end for an individual who might read this article about the Timmy and not have the good sense to ask the question like you did.

Oh and congrats and good luck with the baby!!!

Steve

Centrochelys?

This depends on if you follow that this is a subgenus of Testudo or its own full genus. The majority of current taxanomic nomenclature follows that it is it's own genus.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Timothy was a Testudo Graeca (not sure whether Ibera or Graeca), not Geochelone Sulcatta.