California Desert Tortoise, Need Care Tips

[cosmichedgehog]

Panda Bear Posted: Dec 13 2003, 04:27 AM
A couple of monthes ago I was doing gardening in our back yard and I found a little tortoise hiding in the weeds. I asked all the neighbors, but nobody was missing a turtle. So I guess I now own a turtle.

I know very little about their needs and care. I know basically what they eat, and that they hibernate from October until April. I live in southern California, so it is warm and mild here most of the winter. "Clover" (his favorite food) didn't start hibernating until two weeks ago. He keeps waking up every few days, however, and taking a stroll around the pen I built for him. It's about 6' square, and he is very little (5" long), so that is plenty of room. It takes him all day to walk around it.

Do tortoises need any special food besides what is growning under his feet? I gave him some clover that was growing in another part of the garden, and he glommed it down, so I give him clover regularly. I tried lettuce, but he ignored it.

It does get a wee bit cold at night now, and I worry that he might get too cold outside, even though I built a shelter, and he digs into the ground a little to sleep. But when I try to keep him inside he gets very active and tries to climb out of his box, and refuses to eat.

Any advice besides what I am already doing? I know how to raise cats and dogs, but this is my first turtle LOL

By the way, all tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises. Huh? LOL

This post has been edited by Panda Bear on Dec 13 2003, 04:27 AM

superlion Posted: Dec 13 2003, 11:07 AM
Well, make sure he has plenty of food - more than he can eat - and sunny and shady places because turtles are coldblooded and need to be able to heat and cool themselves by moving into different places... but you probably should not be keeping a desert tortoise. They're endangered... you should let him wander around and find a mate and so on to perpetuate the desert tortoise population

phantom Posted: Dec 13 2003, 11:36 AM
The best thing to do is find a reptile specialist in your area and have them come over and look at the tortoise or take the tortoise to them. Superlion does bring up a point. It could be endangered and it would be best to let it go and try to find a mate and so on. But do contact a specialist so you know exactly what you're dealing with.

superlion Posted: Dec 13 2003, 12:21 PM
There are two species of tortoise in the US. The desert tortoise of the Southwest and the gopher tortoise of the Southeast. (looking at my wildlife class notes)... the desert tortoise was declared threatened in the Endangered Species Act in 1990, and was in a recovery plan very quickly. The main cause for its decline is intentional shooting... though habitat destruction by off-road vehicles, mortality of young tortoises by an increasing raven population, competition with livestock, accidental killing (eg roadkill), and respiratory disease from pet turtles that had been released into the wild. It is still under protection of the Endangered Species act and is considered threatened with endangerment. There are currently somewhere from 10,000 to 100,000 desert tortoises. Population viability analysis is telling us that the most important strategy to halt the decline of the desert tortoise is to educate people not to just go out and shoot them. Developers also must take the desert tortoise into consideration if they are building something on the desert tortoise's range...


Invader Necro Posted: Dec 13 2003, 02:24 PM
I have two desert tortoises and I live in southern California. By far, Phantom has the best advice, find a reptile specialist. Unfortunately for my tortoises, they lived with us for over 5 years so releasing them would do more harm then help.


Panda Bear Posted: Dec 13 2003, 07:15 PM
http://www.tortoise.org/cttc/adoption.html

Thanks everyone. I did some more searching on my own, and found this site. It's a society for protection of the California Desert Tortoise, and they are located here in southern California. They have an adoption program. They strongly advise against releasing animals into the wild. They are nearly extinct in the wild, but overbred in captivity at this point. They have special "turtle people" who adopt and keep tortoise, and they also educate owners on care. I am considering giving it to someone who knows more about them than I do. I don't really have the best backyard for keeping a little turtle. There are too many ways it can get out of the yard, and we live too close to the street. I'd be terrified it would get out and get run over, if I just let it roam free in our yard.

LOL I guess I'll stick to what I know -- cats and dogs. I'll leave the turtles and tortoises to the "turtle people".

robbieb Posted: Dec 15 2003, 05:42 PM
QUOTE (Panda Bear @ Dec 13 2003, 08:15 PM)
They strongly advise against releasing animals into the wild. They are nearly extinct in the wild, but overbred in captivity at this point.


actualy its more for if u buy a tortoise and cant take care of it then u shouldnt release it into the wild because of diseases and stuff like that but if u find a tortoise in the wild it would be safe to release into the wild also if im not mistaken i think its illeagle to take one from the wild but aslong as u dont have and negibors who dont like u u should be fine i have a red foot a yellow foot a leopard and a african spur tortoise (3rd largest spicies woot) and there great pets they eat from my hand and grownin quickly


sand_dolphin Posted: Dec 15 2003, 10:40 PM
I can't even count how many box turtles I found in the middle of the road and kept as pets...I let them all loose because they would go crazy in the tank. One I named 'Sammy' got loose outside and was missing for days...I thought he was in the house but some of our neighbors found him all the way up the street at a stop light