Nearly five years ago, in 2015 I received a message from a Facebook friend of mine that I had went to junior high with. Her friends son was going away to college and had a pet tortoise he could not take with him. They were trying to find her a home that would look after her and know how to care for her. I was curious and definitely wanted her, but also had concerns because truthfully I didn't know anything about tortoises other than they lived an outrageously long time. I expressed my concerns about my lack of knowledge, but my friend seemed to have all the confidence in me that I lacked and felt I could give Sushi a good home. Once I knew her name and met her in person I was in love! There was no going back at that point. I devoted a lot of time learning about their species so I could give her the best possible care I was able to give.
She was living in a twenty gallon aquarium, which was another reason they were anxious to find her a home before a large investment had to be made for adequate housing as she was a growing tortoise. I brought her home and she lived outside in an old chicken coop we had that gave her a lot of room to roam and she was safe from predators who might take an interest in her. She adjusted quickly and began eating shortly after we brought her home. When winter arrived she lived in a large kiddie pool in our basement. She had plenty of room to roam and none of the constrictive qualities of an aquarium. Each spring season we moved her back outside and watched as she became more and more personable and friendly.
In 2018 another tortoise, a red-footed tortoise, came to live with us, his name was Horace. We introduced him to Sushi and they lived together for well over a year very peacefully. In fact they seemed to really like each other. Then one day I noticed Horace was oozing stuff from his nose and my suspicions were confirmed when the Vet said he had a severe upper respiratory infection. After a round of antibiotics, he worsened and we lost him. I was devastated and to this day feel guilty for not catching his infection sooner or recognizing that he needed medical care. I will forever blame myself for his loss and it is still a deep wound I carry. I don't know if tortoises are capable of feeling loss, but Sushi seemed affected by his absence as well. She refused to eat and I immediately thought she might have caught what Horace had, as those types of infections are highly contagious. We treated her to be proactive in case she had something harboring in her that could make her ill as well. She was fine, but I wonder if she was missing her friend?
I regret not weighing Sushi when we brought her home so we could monitor her weight gain and growth. I began doing so a little over a year ago when additional tortoises began living with us. I now keep thorough records on them all. I do know Sushi has grown a lot based on past photos.
Left is a picture of my niece, Brynlee holding Sushi the following spring after we brought her home. This would have been in 2016. The picture on the right is Brnylee holding Sushi a couple of weeks ago. Both of these cute girls are growing like crazy!
In October we weighed Sushi before putting her inside for the winter. She weighed 6.5 pounds. We weighed her last week and she weighs 8.5 pounds. She has put on a full 2 pounds in 3 1/2 months! She must be going through a growth spurt and will most likely take off now packing on the pounds and growing. Sulcatta tortoises can grow at different rates. Some individuals will grow very rapidly and get quite large at a young age, others take their time and grow at a more moderate rate. Sushi seems to be a one of the slower individuals. I am anxious to see what the next couple of years hold for her growth wise.
Taking on a tortoise that may live 75 to 100 years is a huge commitment and I didn't take that lightly. I spoke to my daughter about it and she has agreed to be her caretaker when I am long gone. We currently have numerous tortoises living here at the farm and I will be sharing their stories here in future posts. Thankfully I have a family that is supportive and helpful when it comes to this crazy mission of mine. Rescuing unwanted and neglected tortoises and box turtles.
I regret not weighing Sushi when we brought her home so we could monitor her weight gain and growth. I began doing so a little over a year ago when additional tortoises began living with us. I now keep thorough records on them all. I do know Sushi has grown a lot based on past photos.
