WHAT’S UP with our class pet?

Sheldon, our 7 year old Sulcata Tortorise has come out of her semi hibernation to a world full of clover. She lives in her indoor habitat in a heated house and sand pit in the winter.  During the summer she is moved outside to her grassy fenced enclosure.

Here are some questions for your students to research

1. What is a Sulcata Tortorise?  What other name are they  known by?
2.  What habitat do Sulcata’s live in?
3.  How big can Sulcata’s get? How long can they live?
4.  What do Sulcata’s eat?
5.  How fast can a tortoise travel?

I will tell you a funny story about Sheldon.  Two years ago we had sheldon in her summer enclosure.  Her owner, Daniel (our son) checked on her and she was gone.  Panic ensued with much calling (tortoise  don’t answer to calls but we tried anyway) and a thorough search was performed.  After 45 minutes we could not find her.  We feared she was gone.  I told Daniel, think like a tortoise, where you go?  To the greenhouse he answered!  We believe this is what happened.

Our greenhouse is down a steep hill about 150 yards away from Sheldon’s enclosure.  We figured she got out and started going for a walk when the smell of kale was in the air.  Tortoise have great sense of smell and kale is one sheldon’s favorite foods but she is not suppose to eat too much.  We assume she followed the smell of the kale and got going down the hill and probably could not stop!  The mental picture of this is funny.  We found her sitting next to the kale bed inside the greenhouse 150 yards away from her enclosure!!

Enjoy this video of Sheldon emerging for a day of doing what tortoises do!

https://youtu.be/jKVNQ7RZ1pU