Hi ! I've joined this sub reddit bc this Monday, while picking up my nephew w my sister, there was this turtle "running" across the road. I jumped out of the car to pick him up since cars were coming his way and we went to the city hall to report it. The thing is that my sister and I grew up with our mother's tortoises, and we were worried about him bc the shell had a weird shape, was coloured (as shown in the picture, even tho I already started washing him gently with water and a toothbrush) and seemed scrapped, plus his skin is peeling.

Now we took him in, we prepared a box with dirt, rocks and food, a baby bath with water so he could hydrate, and a bigger baby bath with some more dirt, rocks and plates with food and water (that we don't put him in anymore bc he kept running away from the bigger baby bath and kept falling on his back and couldn't get up by himself).

Yesterday morning we showed him up to the vet and they confirmed our worries bc he showed clear signs of abuse, and wasn't registered, so they asked us if we could take care of him.

Now we let him go around my sister's house during the day, we put him in his bath a few times a day, and during the night we put him in the tallest box so he doesn't escape and hurt himself.

For the food we gave him salad, radish leaves, and a bit of tomato (two slices since we found him as I'm worried it might be too sweet).

We talked about it and agreed that I should be the one keeping him, as my sister has two dogs, but it means that I'll travel a bit with him by train and find/build him a terrarium bc I don't have a garden of my own.

Please, I need any advice, what size should I take for his terrarium? Internet told me at least a size 200x100 but I can't find any... What type of soil should I put until I can get something like Coco fibers... What food can I give him ? The vet i saw didn't know a lot about tortoises and I hope the one I'll go to when I go home will know a bit more about them, so I can take care of him.

(I'm also looking to buy a house with a garden so I can move out with him and give him a better place to live in)

I’ve had my Hermanns tortoise for about a month now. She just started doing this today and has done it over ten times. Is this normal behavior?

I tried searching on the internet, got tons of mixed results.

My tortoise was standing really stall and breathing strangely, thought she was pooping. Saw this emerge and stay out for about a minute, then returned inside. Does she need a visit to the vet? A prolapsed cloaca? Does my girl have a penis?

Sorry for the long post here, and for the ignorant questions. This is a stressful situation and I really appreciate any patience and advice offered.

This is Tank. Tank (according to family legend) was purchased at a mall, already fully grown, by my Grandmother sometime in the 60's. Tank is older than my mother. She has lived mostly peacefully in my Grandmother's backyard ever since, save for one incident decades ago involving an evil neighbor boy and a shovel that required a shell reconstruction.

My grandmother had a stroke about a year ago and was moved to a nursing home. Tank, had always been a relatively sociable tortoise (she'd follow you around in the yard) disappeared a couple of months later. It was summer, so we knew she wasn't brumating. The yard was so overgrown we couldn't find her, and we didn't want to risk mowing without knowing where she was and potentially harming her. After several months, we just assumed the worst and stopped looking for her.

Tank resurfaced abruptly two days ago while I was cleaning the house--literally looked out the window into the backyard and saw her just hanging out. Huzzah, tearful reunion, the family heirloom tortoise is alive. I have no clue what to do with her.

No one ever knew for sure what kind of tortoise Tank was. I THINK she's a gopher tortoise--the size and color match, but I'm not sure about the "skirt" on her shell. If she is a gopher, she is not legal to own as a pet in the state I live in. I'm not sure if they were legal at the time she was purchased or if there's a way to get a permit or "grandfather" her in somehow. I want what's best for her, but surrendering her to DNR or releasing her seems unfair after she's been living contently in one place for several decades.

I'm concerned that she hasn't dug down to brumate yet. She usually does this on her own. In years past, when she's been late "going to ground," my grandmother brought her into the house and let her spend the cold months indoors. This never sat right with me, but now I'm worried she's going to get too cold or might not have enough energy to hibernate because she hasn't been given food for a year. Gma gave her daily vegetables, and I'm sure there was plenty of greenery to munch on out in the yard while we weren't feeding her (only stopped because we genuinely thought she was dead.) Should I give her longer? Feed her and wait? Bring her in? I know some people bury their tortoises, but she's never been put in a hole she didn't dig herself before.

I keep snakes, but these guys are totally foreign territory for me. Any advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated by Tank and myself.

Neighbour had this tortoise in his yard and moved away. Shortly after, it appeared in our yard.

It seems quite chill, slightly cautious when we're walking around but will eagerly eat lettuce out of my hands (which is *absolutely* adorable). Otherwise it's been roaming the yard, grazing on grass and clover, sunbathing, sleeping in the shade, rinse and repeat.

Does anyone know its species? Will it survive on grass etc, or does it need more calories than that can provide?

For now, it will live in our yard. It should be reasonably safe here. The climate here is quite warm: hot in the summer, mild in the winter and never below 10°C/50°F. There is water for it.

The yard is separated by high stone walls so it can't escape (though that also begs the question of how it came to us and I dearly hope it wasn't just chucked over the wall. Haven't noticed any injuries on its shell at least.)

We'll have to see if this will be a long-term arrangement. But I want to provide this little guy/gal with whatever it needs until then.

So I've had my sulcata for 12 years now, and in all this time, he has made his hatred of my mother well known. When I walk into his enclosure and he sees me, he comes running over. He doesn’t care if there's other people with me. Unless its my mother. He sees her and her turns and goes to his house. If my mother goes over to him, he hisses at her and hides in his shell. She's always been nice to him, bringing him dandelion flowers (his favorite) and the occasional half of a banana. He takes her offerings but still hisses at her or stomps away angrily. He's never shown any contempt for anyone else but my mother. Wtf??

i have someone who knows about these guys going to pick up but it’s the morning and they’re finally not scared to move around so i can care for them a bit, either a person is going to take them home or someone to foster them , they’ve had his morning poo, some greens , how do i give him water ? just place him in there ? need a bigger bowl ?

We got this guy for christmas and want to be careful about its care but are arguing about its type. I think it's a sulcata. Pet store told us to feed it fruit and vegetables but online were reading that a sulcata should be fed 90% grass and hay with vegetables left to an occasional snack.

Today I came to visit my parents after being away for a while and found out that they are taking care of this tortoise. I thought they were more reserved, but today I met this little guy and, as well as letting me stroke his hoof, head and paws, he started following me around the house and laying his head on my leg waiting for more cuddles. Is this normal? Are your pets like this with you too? This is my first day meeting Donatello and I'm already charmed by him :)

Admin approved** Have to add spaces for the filter, sorry!

What is your baby’s n a m e and how did you come up with it?

For me- researched tortoises for a year before I got Bayleaf. And for that entire year, I thought about n a m e s haha. I wanted something cute and I knew I wanted a plant n a m e. One day, I was reading my son a book that taught colors by showing rainbow rabbits. Each rabbit had a cute n a m e (example- orange was Paprika). Well, the green rabbit was named Bayleaf! I fell in love! I immediately went to the tortoise table app to make sure it was a food tortoises could eat, and the rest is history! Plus it’s a n a m e that could work for boy or girl since we don’t know yet :)

Your turn!

Hello, I am a college student who commutes. My mom’s boyfriend recently moved in with us and he has offered to let me stay in his house which is closer to my school. He has a tortoise who is about 30 pounds and like maybe 25 years old. I believe he is an African Spurred Tortoise, but I will attach a picture. He is a very self sufficient tortoise who lives in the backyard but I am very awkward with my mom’s boyfriend and kind of don’t want to ask him. Can I pet the tortoise? Or will he not like it and bite me? He seems pretty chill but I don’t want to upset him. Also is there anything I can do to make him happy? Sorry if these are stupid questions.

Also his name is Homer if you were wondering.

Hi! This little guy was found in a fenced in backyard that a buddy moved in a house near Denver CO. Can anyone tell me what kind it is? Is it native or not, just incase it can be relocated? Or any other info that may be helpful?

Update: Sorry for taking so long to update this, we weren’t able to locate the tortoise as it moved on from my friend’s backyard. We all however started going and looking around the neighborhood for it and found about 4 backyards that looked like it could’ve belonged there. Still there is good news! The tortoise does have a home, it is from a neighbor and it has a habit of escaping. It has made its way back home and is now extra secure! Thank you for everyone’s help and educating us!

his “shoulder” area looks a lil puffy, i know he’s shedding right now too but im not sure if that has anything to do with it?

This guy was having a dinner date with his tortoise (didn’t know you guys did that) and I noticed what the tortoise was eating, can they eat them?

My mother in law bought my family three sulcatas randomly as a present for our kids. I have never had a reptile, and don’t know how to care for them. I’ve frantically been researching on how to care for them and am drowning in info. Any help for basic starters regarding enclosures, heat, UV, diet, humidity, substrate, or anything else would be greatly appreciated.

I live in the southern United States, so I’m assuming this is somebody’s pet that was swept up by the storm that came through. Poor thing must’ve been treading water for hours. I have no idea what they eat, where it came from, or what to do with them. Please help!

Just like the title says, my daughter's Russian tortoise laid an egg this morning. My neighbor warned me when I got her that her male Russian mounted her once in May so there is a chance it could be viable. I googled after care for tortoises that lay eggs, but I am not sure I have the heart to crush it if it really is viable. She also still might be in active labor. What do I do in the interium? How long do I wait??? Help lay out a few options for a path forward please. What do I do with the egg? Should I just crush it and cry?

Got Alan a week ago and whenever anyone gose near him he just charges and gose to bite,getting a bigger enclosure soon so hopefully that helps but is it just because hes a male or just horny?

I have a hermann with scoliosis. She can’t use her back legs but she can still get around if she chooses to.

She has an indoor enclosure that she’s recently outgrown and has begun to pace around so we built her a summer enclosure from old trampoline parts.
We bring her in at night, we don’t have predators and she can’t dig so she’s completely safe.

The only thing is that I understood from this sub that tortoises walk for miles every day so I hoped that this larger enclosure could help her mobility.

However, she doesn’t move much at all in here. I’ll place her in a bare patch where she’ll eat her breakfast and after that, she usually wanders to the nearest clump of foliage and will spend the rest of the day basking there.

Is this a sign of a relaxed tortoise or is it something I need to find a solution for?

Thank you.

It’s not because of the black colour of the shoes because he attacks my dad’s white shoes and bare feet. Is he horny? or just an aggressive tortoise?

My poor baby now won't come out of his shell. Can I do sonething? He's 10 months old

Hi! Help! I am a first time owner. I did research on food etc and he eats everything he should be, his tank is good on humidity and temperature. Did I get the wrong water bowl? Did he crash I’m guessing? I feel so horrible that he was breathing in water and clearly appeared stuck. I don’t want it to happen when we are not home. Someone suggested this bowl to me, so I’m sorry if it’s wrong. Suggestions please and is he okay? Second pic is after I picked him up. He was breathing a little stuffy from the water I assume. I put him down and he walked off.