IT'S BEEN A BUSY SUMMER SO FOR FOR ED!

Lots of activity on the home front has caused some stress in Ed's life. Getting a new back yard lawn caused Ed to be contained - not a happy camper. Now the new lawn is in and Ed's back to his old self.

Ed in the April Rain

I've relaxed a bit with letting Ed out in the rain. He seems to prefer to be outside in the rain that locked up waiting for a sunny day. I took a trip last year to the Wild Life Safari in Roseburg, Oregon. It was in March, rather wet and cold here in Oregon. I noticed that they had their Sulcata out in it's yard with just access to the basking light. Ever since then I've relied on Ed to know when he wants to be warm and when he wants to be out. He loves grazing in the yard grass and smashing my bushes.

ED'S ENJOYING THE SUN!

We are finally enjoying 60 degree days. I let Ed out in the yard when it's nice and not too wet. He grazes, tramples the flower beds and pushes the lawn furniture around. He's always right on anything that has changed since his last outing, he rushes over to climb on it, whatever it is. When he has had his fill he returns to his house and his basking light.

I used to think that I could only let him out when it was very warm but then I visited Roseburg Wild Life park where they had a Sulcata. It was a cool day but they had their Sulcata outside with a ready basking light. Now I let Ed out. The ultraviolet rays are very good for him.

INSIDE ED'S HOUSE

More pics of Ed's house.

 This is Ed's room. The front of the room has a place for hay bales and food supplies. Ed likes to push furniture around like plastic tables and chairs.

I'd love to hear and see pics of other Sulcata caves in the Northwest. We can all learn from each other on how to care for these wonderful pets. They can't tell us what they need and we all know that in the Northwest it can be challenging. I want to keep Ed happy for a very long time.

A HOUSE FOR ED

In 2010 it became clear that the small shed Ed had been using as a cave (complete with warming and UV lights) was not going to be his forever home, he was growing too fast. I took stock of his needs and found myself a contractor that didn't look at me like I was crazy and we began to build Ed's Chateau.

 Inside Ed's Chateau he has special UV lights to compensate for the lack of Oregon sunshine. He has basking lights, a ceiling fan, French doors so that when he gets truly giant he'll fit through the doors and a wall heater for an ambient temperature of 75-80 degrees.

Day 1

Meet Ed, a 5 year Sulcata Tortoise living in Portland, Oregon. Ed is the apple of his human mom's eye, is currently about 65 lbs., 25 inches long and 18 inches wide. At the time of this picture he was experiencing doming in his shell. Too much rich food was the verdict. We have recently moved him to a reduced vegetable diet and more hay and the doming has receded somewhat. Ed lives in a habitat constructed just for his special needs while living in the sometimes dreary Oregon climate. My goal for this blog is to reach out to other Sulcata owners in the Northwest so that we may share ideas, tips, concerns etc. on how to care for these wonderful creatures so that they live well beyond our human years.