On January 3, 2010 The Creature Teacher received an email from a Terrell woman asking if we were interested in adopting her Russian Tortoise which was estimated to weigh about 45 lbs with a shell measuring 20 inches long. I wasn't really looking for another animal but if the tortoise was as big as she said it was, I was curious and wanted to take a look.  I was pretty sure it wasn't a Russian Tortoise because as to my knowledge Russian Tortoises do not grow as large as the one she was describing. The woman said she bought the reptile in 2000 when it was just 6 weeks old and needed to find a good home for it as they were moving in 10 days and their new place did not have an enclosed back yard. She said if I was interested she would donate it to me but with moving and small children, if I wanted to buy it, she would greatly appreciate it. After talking with Tiny's owner for about 45 minutes I offered her $150 for a Sulcata (African Spurred) Tortoise.

I brought Tiny home, weighed her in at whooping 32 pounds and let her roam the house while I logged on the internet to see what kind of enclosure I would need to build for my new friend. As a reptile native to Africa, Sulcata Tortoises do not hibernate and should be fed a diet high in fiber like grass and hay. I hurried to purchase a large bale of Grass Hay to slowly wean Tiny off of her current diet of lettuce, cantalope and watermelon only to discover she HATES any kind of hay. She also hates worms of any kind, which she should love and even hates peaches, oranges, carrots and red bell pepper. She won't touch any of it. Tiny currently eats a half a head of lettuce a day while The Creature Teacher is still trying to figure out how to make grass hay appetizing and tasty to a stubborn and determined tortoise that has never eaten hay before.

Tiny has free roam of 3 rooms in the house (the rest are blocked off) when she is not on the road. She gets along with the cat, is surprisely tidy and doesn't seem to bother much around the house. She is very strong, amazingly quiet and the most determined animal I've ever met. She has moved a rocking chair from one side of the living room to another, is a pro at sneaking up on my husband and myself without any warning what so ever and goes pretty much where she sees fit. If you are in her way....MOVE!! She is extremely smart as she as will come strolling in the animal room as soon as she hears the refrigerator door open and will stand by the front door and look up when she wants out to roam the screened-in patio.

As the weather this year has been rainy, snowy, wet and downright cold, us humans have not been able to go outside long enough to build Tiny a proper enclosure. We will bring you photos of our endeavor (as this is a Behind the Scenes page) as we have recruited a few neighbors to help us build. The large "log cabin"  dog house has been purchased and the boarding, stakes and bricks will be purchased next month. We'll give you a "before" look at the revamped carport (which is not used for anything now) and also tell you how smoothly things went or what snags we hit along the way. Stay tuned...as Tiny will be our first critter to live outdoors and have a custom made home just for her.

How do transport a 32 lb tortoise from show to show? We put her in a large plastic tub and then put the tub on a collapsible hand truck to move her from point to point.

Construction on Tiny's outdoor enclosure is slated to begin March 10. Stay tuned.....

We started construction on March 13th as it rained March 8-10 and the ground to wet and soggy to do any work. Our volunteer helpers went out of town on the 12th so Ron is left to fend for himself. Tiny's outdoor enclosure needs to be built of solid material not fence as she will damange her legs and feet if she gets caught in wiring and if she can see out she will spend all day trying to get to the other side. In order for Tiny not to dig or break out, our material consists of 12 feet long boards, 2 inches thick and 12 feet across. We stacked them 3 feet high so Tiny won't be able to climb over but we humans can. The boards are screwed into the carport and then 24 inch long rebars are attached to the back and shoved in the ground. The rebars are spaced no more than 12 inches apart as Tiny measures 13 inches across. So even if she digs a hole underneath she will not fit in between the rebars and escape.

Everything went up pretty quickly without many snags. When we finished, we realized two to the long boards were warped so we took them down and exchanged them for two more that looked a little better. We needed more rebars as we initially bought 15 but need more than that. Construction complete in about 2 full days.

APRIL 4, 2010  was Tiny's first day to spend a full night in her new outdoor enclosure. We've added plants, a turtle house with lighting and a small portable wading pool for the occasional bath. Tiny is enjoying the sunshine, fresh air and LOVES to eat fresh grass!

July 22, 2010. It has become extremely obvious to us that Tiny is growing at such an alarming rate that I soon will not longer be able to lift her. I found a Sulcata Tortoise Breeder in Portal Arizona that would love to have Tiny as part of his breeding herd and is willing to exchange her for a smaller tortoise. So we took Tiny to our local veterinarian as she needs a health certificate in order to cross state lines. Tiny weighed in at a whooping 46 pounds and was deemed "free of external ticks and parasites". $85 later, Tiny is ready for transport to her new home. 

July 23, 2010. A sad day indeed as I must permanently say goodbye to Tiny. My work load in summer is tremendous and I have no spare time to take a long trip so Ron volunteered to make the trip alone. We loaded Tinys house in the back of the van in the wee hours of the morning and after packing a few snacks and a change of clothes Ron took of for Arizona around 5:45 AM. I called twice to check on husband and tortoise and both we fine and safely arrived at the meeting point in New Mexico around 9 PM. Jeff & Kim Gee, the owners of Captive Bred Wildlife Foundation met Ron at a small motel around 10 PM for the exchange. After spending a very short night, Ron took off for home the next day around 4 AM.

July 24, 2010. Arriving back home with our  smaller new found friend somewhere around 7 PM, Ron made 2-13 hour trips within 26.30 hours and drove 1760 miles all total to make the tortoise exchange. Tiny's smaller replacement weighs in a 13 pounds and has been named Scooter. She is still shy but seems to be adjusting quite well to her new home. For photos of Scooter, please click here.