In this fun little series of describing the characters on the farm, we have talked about goats, ducks, and chickens. Today I'd like to talk about something that's a little more unique, something that draws more attention. People love this animal! That animal is the large tortoise. We have two large tortoises, both are male African spur thighed tortoises, otherwise known as the Sulcata.
African Spur Thighed, Sulcata Tortoise
The two shelled characters on the farm are named Coco and Jack Jack. Coco is the larger of the two tortoises. He is approximately 17 years old and a 150 pounds. Jack Jack is the smaller of the two. He is approximately 9 to 10 years old and maybe 70 pounds. We get a lot of questions about in the tortoises, mostly questions like; How old are they? How much do they weigh?
And, What do they eat?; which by the way, they graze like cows, they eat mostly grass.
The Big Question
The big question that I hear a lot that I'd like to address is: What purpose do they serve? Why do you have tortoises on your farm? The truth is they serve no real purpose on the farm. My farm does not need tortoises. The reason I have them, besides the fact that we just like tortoises, is that they are an animal that is largely discarded as pets. I'd like to use these two big guys as a conversation starter to help educate people about responsible pet ownership.
The pet industry has not done these tortoises any favors. A lot of people will get these small cute little tortoises and put them in an aquarium. If they manage to keep them alive they get big. Real big.
The Sulcata tortoise is fairly easily to breed. The pet industry takes advantage of that and over breeds and over sells the tortoise. People buy them because they are cute and it seems like something that would be easy to care for in a kids Room desktop aquarium.
The truth is, however, that this tortoise is not easy to raise to an adult. There's a large number of baby tortoises that die before they even reach one year of age. If a person can manage to keep them alive and get them big, often the tortoises live in abusive cramped spaces and eat foods that are inappropriate for this particular species.
These critters need a lots of room to roam and they eat a lot of grass. It is said that one adult Sulcata needs an acre or more to graze. They also need that space to walk. They love to take long walks just to see the sights.
What do I hope to teach?
I don't care to teach people how to care for the tortoise. There are plenty of great websites that teach how to care for a tortoise. You can learn, easily by doing a search online, what to feed your tortoise, what type of enclosure to use, or what climate is best for them.
What I hope to teach people is really not teaching so much but just raising awareness. The awareness is that just because it's cute in a pet store you don't have to buy it. If you want a tortoise that's OK but do your research, make sure you have enough space for the tortoise. Make sure you live in the right climate for the tortoise. Make sure you have enough of the proper food source for your tortoise.
Perhaps one of the ways you can help the tortoise is to rescue a tortoise. Find a local pet and reptile rescue center and see what's available. Both of the tortoises that I have on my farm came from some sort of a rescue situation. Jack Jack's front leg was damaged so he could not be sold. This breeder decided to get rid of Jack Jack and others. We rescued him so he didn't go to a bad situation. Coco came from a backyard where he was being chewed on by a dog. The owner decided it was better to get rid of the tortoise or the dog. She decided to keep the dog and that's OK.
You can do a lot of good by owning a tortoise if you have the proper environment and proper home for that tortoise. Use that tortoise to help educate your friends and family about the pet industry and how they abusively over breed these animals.
Love your animals!
I'll see you again tomorrow as we continue this exciting series of Characters On The Farm.