Alice, My Very Special Pet

[waretrop]

So I painted her condo so I could prepare it for winter. Until this year she only used it in summer. We will have heat and lights working and she may stay in there day times. I am sure she will still go into the greenhouse to her bed at night. If she doesn't I will have to move her in for safety. There is a door so no one will attack her but I just don't want her outside at night in our winters.

She really loves going up and spending time up there and coming down. Notice that it has linoleum on the floor up there.

So it took about a month for me to get the ramp primed and painted. It takes 2 of us to move that thing off the condo and on sawhorses. When we put it back Little Alice decided she really didn't want it there. Now she didn't realize she would not get up top if it weren't there. Within an hour I found this.

Now remember it takes 2 of us to move this ramp. Just look at what she did to it. She actually broke the top metal bracket. Sometimes you have to make them listen to you rather than the other way around.

We screwed the top in and but block under the ramp and staked it in so she couldn't dig into the wood or move it anymore...

She is allot of hard work but a joy to have. We love her so much.

 

[Mini Horses]

WOW -- what a powerhouse! What does she weigh? Looks like she is maybe 14X14, shell size? She obviously has a nice life!!! You have gone "beyond" to make her a happy home.

What size will that type mature?

 

[baymule]

Alice is one lucky girl to have a mommy and daddy like ya'll!

 

[waretrop]

Alice is about 20 inches long I think and over 50 pounds. Sulcatas get from 100 to 200 pounds. They all grow as different speeds. Alice had a friend living with her over 7 years ago and they had to be separated because Alice grew faster than the other. When Alice was 17 inches the other was 4 or 5 inches. The way I look at it Alice cold get to be 150 pounds from the way she is growing now. They are packed full of muscle. They are solitaire animals. When I think of how I keep her I feel mean but it is exactly what she is happy with. We have a small amount of interaction and that makes us both happy. We are always improving her situation...

 

[Mini Horses]

Alice is one lucky gal! Kudos to research & care you give her.

 

[waretrop]

Thank you all...she has allot of drawbacks, which I wont talk about here but she is nice because I can go all day long without worrying about her. She comes and goes a will happily roaming....with a smile...LOL

I have a screen in the outside doorway that is not connected at the bottom so Alice can push it out like a curtain and go outside so all the bugs mostly stay out there....

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Very cool pet!
Friends of ours in Arizona had a giant desert tortoise for years (and maybe that's not the right name?) Theirs was about the same size as Alice and had a big yard, it's own pool, shade, etc.

 

[waretrop]

LOL yes, there are allot of them out there. Alice has her own pool and shade tree..The only problem with her shade tree is that it is a pear tree... It donates pears to her once in a while and she loves them...BUT, they give her diarrhea...due to their slow digestion rate, she has it for 2 weeks from 1 pear. I troll her area a few times a day for that reason...LOL

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Yeah, 2 weeks for one pear is a bit excessive!
We had a dog once who LOVED plums, and would eat them pit and all as fast as they could fall. Then he'd be in the corner of the yard crying in pain from the diarrhea AND pit removal...
Never stopped him from eating them but he finally got smart and started spitting out the pits at least.

 

[sumi]

Good to see Alice again and that is a lovely set-up you have for her! I can't believe how strong she is though Or is that determination?