Route recommendations - Austin to Seattle

Oh I don't know - I had a tortoise in London (the original one, in England) for years and she was fine. Outdoors in summer, indoors in winter plus a couple of months in the garage for hibernation. She's still going strong by all accounts though the ex kept her, though I retain visitation rights :-)

Eric

Maybe they know where to get good gas in Grand Junction?

Leon

This one does not hibernate and they come from an arid climate. This is a Sulcata. (African Spurred Tortoise). Transporting her is also a problem, she is 7 pounds and growing rapidly.

Also, I will be here another 57 years or so, assuming that I am lucky and that there are no major medical advances advancing our lifespan to further overpopulate the planet.

With proper care, she could still be here in the year 2150. That creates a potential problem, though not my problem. She would also weigh at least 150 pounds at that point, the males can hit 45 pounds in just 15 years and can grow as large as 240 pounds. :-)

Pat

There ya go, dissing my poodle mug. This is a very rare and coveted item, you won't find two in one place. The prize was also for the free shipping only, I would never let this thing go for free.

There is one person watching it, out of horror more than anything else, I imagine. It is one of the more hideous things I have ever listed.

Still, an old coffee mug with the logo from a company that I worked at in the early 1990's got almost $27.00 last night, so ya never know. I'll take a tankful of gas over an old coffee mug any day.

Pat

You may just have a point there. I also wonder about my friend's stock Audi turbo. How about that Mazdaspeed Miata going through the mountains?

Are these people just screwed when they hit high altitudes? I am doubting it. Still, I will see what I can find out.

Pat

"Grace Under Pressure" was a fantastic tour. Favorite band for 28 years now, heard them at age 9 and never looked back. I did not know that they had a new one coming out.

It is funny, a lot of people don't even know who they are, but they were tied with KISS for the #3 spot on gold record sales, behind The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. With one release and another coming up since then, I imagine that they have or will take the #3 spot.

Pat

Ours is a Spur-Thighed Tortoise (Testudo graeca graeca), and she too will live longer than us. She's in my ex's will as a result. The Graecas don't, however, get as large as yours - 240 pounds, wow!

So what are you going to do with yours - sell it?

Eric

Thank you. I'll sleep better tonight knowing that.

Which brings up a good question. What does the owner's manual of the Mazdaspeed say about using less than 93 octane? Mazdaspeed owners?

There are vast regions in the US where you are lucky to find 89 octane. I know there are vast regions where you simply do not get above 87 octane, if that. How do the owners of those cars deal with it? Or do they simply not sell those cars in that region?

Leon

Lower octane fuel is no problem to most fuel injected cars and Mazda is probably not an exception. The knock sensor should detect knock and retard the timing. Performance and fuel economy should take a BIG hit but it shouldn't damage the engine.

Heh, that is necessary. A lot of people think that a zoo will take them, that is not the case. The two breeds look very similar overall.

They are the 3rd largest tortoise behind the Galapagos and an African one that I can't remember the name of. Once they reach a certain size, an enclosure must be built for them as they will easily knock down any normal wood or chain link fence.

No, but I will charge an "adoption fee" to make sure she isn't going into the cook pot, maybe $50.00 or so. They sell for more than double that as babies. I also want the person to know how to care for her. The first owners did not feed her properly and she suffered some shell pyramiding as a result. That has improved greatly in the last couple of years, and she has gone from 2.5 pounds to 7.5 pounds in that time. Here is a video of her munching down when she was little, (before I knew her proper diet), if you feel like checking it out, it's only about 30 seconds long and not that exciting.

And if you are not completely bored by now, here is a picture that I took a few days ago. You can see that the cones on the shell are still prominent, but much less so.

Pat

Aldabra. They live in the Seychelles, not the African mainland.

The Glapagos can weigh up to 785 lbs, the Aldabra only hits maybe 670 lbs or so.

The African Spurred is the 3rd largest but is much smaller, weighing only 200 lbs at maximum.

Ahhh yes, that was it. I forgot that you have experience at the zoo. The African Spurred is the largest mainland tortoise. Those island tortoises get really big.

I have heard weights of 180 to 240 pounds for the African Spurred males,

200 sounds right.

Maybe 140 to 150 pounds max. for the females?

Pat

I don't know, but that sounds about right?

Well, I was (am?) what I thought was a pretty big Rush fan but I don't know anything about that album. I guess I wandered about that time but, 2112 is an all-time classic of mine amongst several others. Definitely three of the best musicians to get together of all time.

If ya gotta steal Pat, I guess steal from the best, eh?

Chris

99BBB

"ANOUNCEMENT* We may have more turtle (oops, tortoise) knowledge here than Miata knowledge!

Just kidding, just kidding! It is funny though, to see so much interest about such an obscure subject in this relatively small group.

Good luck with finding the adoptive parents Pat!

Chris

99BBB

"Obscure" may not be the right word for a 200 lb pet?

Houston! Oh man, I thought she was an Austinite! My bad. You just never know about those Miata flatlander women ;-) And hey, don't EVER call Austin flatland again, what would that make Houston?

Chris

99BBB

Yeah, and you would think I could get the albums right after claiming them as my favorite band for 28 years.

"The Analog Kid" is from the album "Signals", not "Grace Under Pressure". "Signals" was released in 1982, a year that I do not remember so well.....

Pat