More on our Sulcata tortoise, Pokey

This comic in today's paper struck a chord with me.  I have to admit that when Alex wanted to get a tortoise years ago, I thought it would be a boring pet.  But we went ahead and got him one for his 9th birthday in 2001.  Here's Alex, holding the newest addition to the family, and friend Joel.

 Pokey grew quickly, and before long had graduated from the terrarium in Alex's bedroom to the front yard.  I fully admit she's been more fun than expected.   Although she's got plenty of grass to eat, we also treat her to veggies and fruit (she really likes strawberries and watermelon, as well as broccoli and cauliflower.)  After a couple of years she got big enough to scale the low wall in the front yard (and of course we only discovered that after she escaped from the yard!  Luckily someone saw her cruising down the next street and rescued her, taking her to their home for safekeeping until our 'LOST' flier went up.)  For awhile she was content to stay at home (it really is a wonderful yard for her - not sure why she feels the need to 'escape'), but 2 summers ago, while we were gone, she escaped again.  This time she headed in the opposite direction, and a different neighbor found her.  Realizing it was someone's pet, but not knowing what to do, Sandy took Pokey up to the Reptile Refuge in Scottsdale.  When she finally saw our 'LOST' flier several days later (by which time we'd pretty much given up on having Pokey returned) she called and let us know where Pokey was.

 We immediately called the refuge to claim Pokey, and $75 and an hour later, Pokey was back home, safe and sound.  (They knew which one she was because they marked her shell 'L' and the date 7/26 when she was turned in.  Marking is visible in one of the pix below.)  HOWEVER she had been partying with the 'herd' (the classic collective term is a "bale", or sometimes a "creep") of other sulcatas and came home pregnant.  Sort of a classic story for runaways.  (Did you know that the male's sperm can stay viable for up to 5 years?  Me, neither!)  To make a long story short, about every 3 months since then she's dug a nest and laid a couple of dozen eggs.

(We've even got video of her in the process, where you can hear her grunting as each eggs drops.).  Since our yard gets flooded by irrigation the only way they'd hatch is if we'd incubate them.  Which we did when we finally 'caught' her in the process of laying them and didn't have to to dig up already buried ones. The eggs are about the size of a ping pong ball.  Here's Alex holding one that was cracked so we didn't bother to put it in the incubator.

 It was extremely exciting when the first one hatched. (The Blessed Event happened on a Wednesday - I know because it made me late to quilting that day!)  After a few days it seemed like that was going to be it, so we named the baby Solo.  However, five days later Duo hatched.  Have to say the babies were SO CUTE!

None of the rest of the 2 dozen eggs in the incubator hatched, but come to find out even though they're all laid within an hour or so, they hatch out over a month's period.  That way, if there's a predator or unfavorable weather conditions when they dig their way to the surface they won't all perish.  Helps ensure the survival of the species, which is native to Equatorial Africa, a harsh environment.  (We incubated the next batch - but none of them hatched.)
Here's the proud Mama, only 8 years old at the time so you can see how fast she grew, with one of the babies outside for just a few minutes for the photo op):

  I remember when Pokey was that little (didn't last long, however - refer to picture above) which is why we found Solo and Duo  a new home.  A friend of Alex's took both of them, and I understand they're doing well.