Meet Thing 1 and Thing 2. My new sulcata tortoises.

[luckies4me]

We went to the Unique Animal Expo this last weekend and while there picked up a few new critters. It was a little disappointing, as there weren't very many mammals there. There were no exotic mammals at all for purchase. Only rabbits, mice, guinea pigs and rats. We were hoping there'd be at least a few hedgehogs, gliders and ferrets. Nope. They did have an awesome wild animal section though...but you'll see more of that in another thread.

Anywho, I really wanted to get some more tortoises. As some of you remember, I had Lucy for 13 years. I lost him at a very old age (est 85-90?) from intestinal cancer. I have my red footed tortoise Skar, but wanted some sulcatas. So we picked up Thing 1 and Thing 2 at the expo. They are the cutest little things, and have a ferocious appetite. I love them! We wont be able to tell the sex for a very long time, as they are just babies. Enjoy their photos!

[blue]

Cool. How big are they now and how big will they get?

Edit: I just looked them up, they get big.

[luckies4me]

They get HUGE! Right now they fit in the palm of my hand.

http://www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html

[Karen]

Welcome, welcome Thing 1 and Thing 2!
You have a lot of growing to do
Eat up, little tortoises, eat up and grow strong
You've got a great future, your lives will be long
Eat up, chow down, you've growing to do
Welcome to Pet Talk Thing 1 and Thing 2!

[Freedom]

He hee, you have a lot of years to enjoy these 2! They can grow up together with your wee boy!

I am kind of GLAD they weren't selling exotics at a pet expo. Exotics need careful consideration and should not be a spontaneous purchase. You HAVE experience with these tortoises, but so many people just buy cute babies and then have to rehome them later when they learn how much care is involved. In some states, some of the mammals you mentioned require a state permit to own them, no idea what your state requires. Just one more reason they weren't offered for sale. I think it was wise of the promoters not to have the exotics available for on the spot purchase.

Enjoy Thing 1 and Thing 2, and make sure you keep us up to date on their growth and adventures!

[luckies4me]

Ferrets are domestic animals. Sugar gliders and hedgehogs are always sold there. It has nothing to do with the promoters, but the vendors. There just weren't many vendors there. This has been going on for 36? years now I think, and every year exotics are for sale. Even the bird and reptile section had almost nothing. It's just very odd. And the alligator man didn't even show up. He's there every year. I always look forward to petting that alligator. The skunk lady wasn't there either.

The whole purpose of the show is to sell and trade exotic animals. Everyone who goes there already has exotics (most everyone anyway), that's why they attend. Hmm...not sure what happened this year. Oh come to think of it they did have a few chinchillas.

Also it wasn't a pet expo. It is an exotic animals expo. If it was a regular pet expo I wouldn't have gone. Not to say our regular pets aren't awesome, but I go to see the exotics.

On the whole permit thing... ferrets, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, possums, etc. are sold in almost every pet store here. You do not need a permit. They are considered a regular every day pet. The only animal I see being rehomed constantly are sugar gliders. They are always on craigslist. Always. It's very sad. People just don't understand what they're getting into with these guys. I have two and find them very easy to take care of. I love my little gliders, however I do see how they can become expensive to feed. I buy fresh fruit and vegetables daily for my guys...not to mention the amount of veggies and fruits I buy for my tortoises. It adds up, but to me it's totally worth it. I wish other people shared the same views. However, just like domestic pets they do sometimes need to be rehomed. There's a huge conversation on Craigslist right now about sugar gliders, rehoming, and proper care. I'm glad people in Eugene are taking the time to do something, albeit small, about their constant buying and selling.

Karen, you are too funny!!! We've been on a huge Dr. Seuss roll after Horton Hears A Who came out.

I will most deffinately keep everyone updated on these little guys. They are just too funny. They will eat anything in site. Maybe I will upload a video of them later if I can figure out how to get it off my phone and onto my computer.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

So sweet! We have 3 sulcatas. In my opinion they are the best tortoises ever.

I'd be careful what you feed them though, they're already pyramiding, which is something you don't want. Most store bought greens shouldn't be fed too often, they really shouldn't be anything more than an occasional treat. And fruit is a no-no all together. One of our three has a pyramided shell from being fed a poor diet before we got him.

http://www.sulcata-station.org/ is a really great site for sulcata info. They list some books on there too.

[luckies4me]

KBlaix, I've only had them for 3 days so not much I can do about what they were fed in the past. One vendor had a small container of about 30 tortoises and amongst them a bearded dragon juvenile, and they had about 4 leafs of lettuce in there they were munching on. They were all walking all over eachother attacking the lettuce.

Yep, already know about the fruit and food list. That was what I had around the first day I got them, and the little guys seemed hungry. Already went to Trader Joe's for a huge shopping spree of animal food. We have great organic farms here too. I live in Eugene. Food is good here. lol. I'm lucky as Trader Joe's is right across the street from my house. Plus everytime I go there it gives me an excuse to buy another orchid. hehe.

I help take care of the Sulcatas at the local pet store during the weekend when we have our petting zoo, and my friend has an 11 year old female named Shelby. I've done plenty of research. When I was growing up we had a neighbor who bred them. They were amazing. Do you have photos of yours? I'd love to see them!

It's nice having another tortoise that I can feed fruit too. Red footed tortoises can actually eat fruit. Skar loves apples, melons, and bananas. Grapes too. It's always on hand because of my gliders.

[luckies4me]

Sweet! I just gave them some grasses and they ate them! I was a little worried because of how they were fed before I got them, but they didn't even care. They'll eat anything in site I think.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

KBlaix, I've only had them for 3 days so not much I can do about what they were fed in the past.

Oh, I know. I didn't mean to sound accusatory. I was just worried the guy who was feeding them poorly in the past would start you off on the wrong foot.

Here are a couple pictures of my guys-
Timmy, eating grass in the yard


you can see the pyramiding in this one (also Timmy)


Here are all 3 (Timmy is the largest, Wally is the mid-sized one, and Beaver is the baby)


It'll be fun getting to see their personalities develop. All 3 of mine are very different. Timmy has a puppy-dog personality, Wally is a bossy, pushy little dude, and Beaver is a shy little man. (You can kind of see Beaver's shyness in the picture, he went in his shell when Wally was passing and I think he was just coming back out when I took the picture.) It'll also be fun for your boys to have the tortoises. Nathan loves ours, especially Timmy.

[luckies4me]

Aww, how sweet. How old is your youngest? It looks to be close to the same age as mine? It's funny, my red footed is totally scared of the babies. I took some pics of all three of them together. I'll post them here in a bit.

[cassiesmom]

Do sulcata tortoises require a vegetarian diet? What is their shell made of, that it can grow so abnormally due to an improper diet? How sad that they are so little and already someone has taken less than the optimal care of them. I read the article in luckies4me's post - that they need warm temperatures, they don't always move slowly (was Aesop wrong?) and no, they don't swim, which is contrary to what I thought. A very dumb question, are tortoises and turtles different?

[luckies4me]

LOL my two little guys are doing great!!! They already have their favorite things to eat, and can be a little picky.They will not eat any of their hay unless I spray it first. Yesterday morning I was getting ready for work and one of the little guys made this huge yawn. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Totally made my heart melt.