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Almost Self-Reliant
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- Sep 25, 2014
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Little Alice
I would like to tell you about Little Alice, our pet. She is a Geochelone sulcata or Spur Thigh Tortoise. They are native to Africa though she was hatched in the usa. We got her handed down from a very old friend. She had Alice for 5 years, now we have had her for almost 2 years. She is almost 50 pounds and could reach 100 to 200 pounds.
She is a wonderful little friend. We have learned to communicate in very special ways over these last few years. She knows “breakfast is here”, “wanna go outside”, “go nite nite”, “come play with the ball”.
So she has a little area in my kitchen, the hot tub room, a fenced in area at the back of our house and a special condo to play in. In the kitchen area there is a metal cabinet on wheels with special heat for her to sleep in. The floor is covered with wee wee pads and even has an extra layer of linoleum.
We have many animals outside and a few indoor pets but Little Alice is a very special pet. She marches to her own tune and does her own thing most of the time…. Once in a while she does what I would like her to do.
The first summer we had her we worried we were doing something wrong but we learned and followed her lead and all worked out. Winter came and we kept her in the small kitchen area. As Spring came she was beginning to scrap at our wall and want to go outside but we were afraid she would get sick. After it got warm enough she was allowed to be back out in the hot tub room and in her fenced in area outside. So as I learned I decided to keep her body conditioned to the natural temperatures, and even though she is a desert animal, she went out every day as fall came and right into winter. So now she loves to go out in the snow. She spends about 1 hour out there and then comes in to warm up in her little box in the kitchen.
She eats orchard grass that is in a dried bale that I blanch and cool for a second. I mix it with dandelion leaves, mustard greens and kale. For a treat she gets cactus pads and prickly pear fruit along with hibiscus flowers, rose of Sharon, and roses. She also gets a very large pellet and horse pellets that are made of orchid grass.
Now she has learned to really realy love snow..
Now wasn't that fun???? Hope you enjoyed the story about Little Alice...She is a joy to have as a pet and friend.
I would like to tell you about Little Alice, our pet. She is a Geochelone sulcata or Spur Thigh Tortoise. They are native to Africa though she was hatched in the usa. We got her handed down from a very old friend. She had Alice for 5 years, now we have had her for almost 2 years. She is almost 50 pounds and could reach 100 to 200 pounds.
She is a wonderful little friend. We have learned to communicate in very special ways over these last few years. She knows “breakfast is here”, “wanna go outside”, “go nite nite”, “come play with the ball”.
So she has a little area in my kitchen, the hot tub room, a fenced in area at the back of our house and a special condo to play in. In the kitchen area there is a metal cabinet on wheels with special heat for her to sleep in. The floor is covered with wee wee pads and even has an extra layer of linoleum.
We have many animals outside and a few indoor pets but Little Alice is a very special pet. She marches to her own tune and does her own thing most of the time…. Once in a while she does what I would like her to do.
The first summer we had her we worried we were doing something wrong but we learned and followed her lead and all worked out. Winter came and we kept her in the small kitchen area. As Spring came she was beginning to scrap at our wall and want to go outside but we were afraid she would get sick. After it got warm enough she was allowed to be back out in the hot tub room and in her fenced in area outside. So as I learned I decided to keep her body conditioned to the natural temperatures, and even though she is a desert animal, she went out every day as fall came and right into winter. So now she loves to go out in the snow. She spends about 1 hour out there and then comes in to warm up in her little box in the kitchen.
She eats orchard grass that is in a dried bale that I blanch and cool for a second. I mix it with dandelion leaves, mustard greens and kale. For a treat she gets cactus pads and prickly pear fruit along with hibiscus flowers, rose of Sharon, and roses. She also gets a very large pellet and horse pellets that are made of orchid grass.
Now she has learned to really realy love snow..
Now wasn't that fun???? Hope you enjoyed the story about Little Alice...She is a joy to have as a pet and friend.
Thank you for sharing this! I used to see loads of tortoises in South Africa, but none here and I miss them… They are such great animals.
