I feel so bad for thier shells, especially the one with the missing scutes. They probably don't mind much though. My bigger one has some pyramiding from his previous home, but gets along just fine. Can you ship? I have room for another enclosure.
These guys are so cool. I stayed watching them for at least an hour. One finally came over and let me(not pictured) and my son(pictured) and friend(pictured) scratch his head and neck. It was an awesome experience. I couldn't help but feel bad for the them though. My sulcata has a larger space...
At 9" I can't say for sure, but the tail is still real stubby, and the plastron is flat. I'm calling it a "she" for now, but I have her listed as a juvie in my sig until she gets a bit bigger.
I adopted this little gal a couple weeks ago. She has such a light colored shell compared to my larger guy. She is 9 inches and loving it in her outdoor enclosure.
Came across this today. Not sure if it's been posted before. I never imagined a giant tortoise swimming.
http://www.arkive.org/aldabra-giant-tortoise/geochelone-gigantea/video-06b.html?offset=0px[hr]
It appears they like the beach too...
RE: Arnold's Giant Tortoise
Found this following Madkin's link. Pretty cool, according to this they were reintroduced into the wild in 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold's_Giant_Tortoise
OK, I'll get it started. I know for a fact there are some much bigger guys out there. This is my 7 year old sulcata who I adopted about 5 months ago, and my 6 year old son.
The soil here has a lot of limestone(calcium)in it. I have seen my male munch on tiny bits that he digs up while excavating his burrow. I would venture that eating calcium rich soil/rocks is a natural behavior in the wild, and a cuttlebone is a great way to simulate this in a captive environment.
Who has the biggest sulcata? Let's get some pics of your big guys, preferably with someone next to them for scale. The guy I adopted my male from also had a 150 pounder that had to be at least 2-1/2 feet long. I wish I had taken a pic. He looked like some of the smaller galaps and aldabrans I...
My male constructed his own burrow. Since it only gets too cold at night here 1 or 2 nights a year, I let him keep it. It is so cool to observe his behavior/habits that he would display in a non-captive environment. He definitely poops in the burrow, cause if you put your head near the entrance...