in fact . . .

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Posted by Esther on April 19, 2002 at 12:02:10:

In Reply to: Re: Question for Niki,Terry and Wendy...regarding Sulcata's posted by Esther on April 19, 2002 at 07:22:29:

My move from NYC apartment to Va was largely for the tortoises to be in a warmer climate and have a large yard. The expense of buying a house with this large yard (over 1/2 acre) was tremendous. We are now adding on to the house so that they will have their own room during the winter (because sulcatas don't hibernate, you WILL be cleaning up enormous poops INSIDE your house since they need a VERY heated area during winter), and access to a bathroom that they can be washed in. The cost of this addition is also WAY up there, and we have to figure out how to trim the walls in something other than sheetrock and molding since they will climb the molding and gouge the sheet rock. Tile won't work, because poop on their claws gets caked into the grout, as well as being scratched down the sides of the wall. We lost the $3200 security deposit from the NYC apartent because of the gouging. Whatever room they are kept in during winter will have thier own smell....I'm not trying to talk you out of buying one; I love mine more than anything with the exception of my son Thomas. BUT - unless you live in Florida and have plenty of outside space and $$ to spend on making that area safe - you may want to consider a smaller species, like a Greek. They are also adorable as babies, and will stay small (in comparison to Sulcatas).

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: My move from NYC apartment to Va was largely for the tortoises to be in a warmer climate and have a large yard. The expense of buying a house with this large yard (over 1/2 acre) was tremendous. We are now adding on to the house so that they will have their own room during the winter (because sulcatas don't hibernate, you WILL be cleaning up enormous poops INSIDE your house since they need a VERY heated area during winter), and access to a bathroom that they can be washed in. The cost of this addition is also WAY up there, and we have to figure out how to trim the walls in something other than sheetrock and molding since they will climb the molding and gouge the sheet rock. Tile won't work, because poop on their claws gets caked into the grout, as well as being scratched down the sides of the wall. We lost the $3200 security deposit from the NYC apartent because of the gouging. Whatever room they are kept in during winter will have thier own smell....I'm not trying to talk you out of buying one; I love mine more than anything with the exception of my son Thomas. BUT - unless you live in Florida and have plenty of outside space and $$ to spend on making that area safe - you may want to consider a smaller species, like a Greek. They are also adorable as babies, and will stay small (in comparison to Sulcatas).

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