CRAZY CRAIGSLIST STORY Indotestudo forstenii

[Anthony P]

Hey guys,

Here is the craigslist find of the century. She is a 2317 gram, 9.5 inch female Indotestudo forstenii that has lived in CT for over 15 years, since being imported in the late 90s. She was presumed to be a male until now. She was kept by a woman for over 10 years who thought she was a Russian Agrionemys horsfiledii. She was then sold to a man who knew "he" wasn't a Russian, but couldn't quite figure out what she was.

This new owner posted "him" for rehoming on craigslist and someone on another forum saw the ad and reposted it. At that time, someone who really knows their forstenii ;-) sent me a text and told me to act fast. I called the man that morning and made it happen When I got there, he puled her out from her hide, that was on the cool side for this species, and she could barley open her eyes yet, but she was eating from his finger.

I have her now, set up in a large tub and she seems to be doing well. She is eating and drinking, and feels nice and heavy. She will be moved to a Dr in June, at which point she will go through a rigorous quarantine period, and given various tests, before being moved to one of the most important breeding groups for the species.

She is a huge girl. In addition to her impressive size, she also has a nuchal scute, which is almost always present on smaller specimens. She is a special animal on many levels, and a special story. As much as hate craigslist 95% of the time I look there, this experience has got me wanting to look there more.

I'll be making a youtube video about her story in the coming weeks.

Thanks for looking!

 

[tortadise]

That is so awesome. Good thing she is in the right hands. Shes a beaut. Will ben be putting her (after quarantine of course) in the breeding group?

 

[MasterOogway]

Beautiful tort!

 

[Pokeymeg]

Lol I thought it was really weird that everyone was being super mysterious about the type of tortoise when I posted that craigslist ad in the 'reposted' section!!

 

[Yurusumaji]

What a beautiful gal! CL has inadvertently made some crazy-amazing stories take place.

 

[theTurtleRoom]

That is so awesome. Good thing she is in the right hands. Shes a beaut. Will ben be putting her (after quarantine of course) in the breeding group?

That's the plan. And, being that she (almost certainly) isn't represented anywhere genetically yet, there is potential for her to have a great impact in the conservation effort.

 

[Anthony P]

Lol I thought it was really weird that everyone was being super mysterious about the type of tortoise when I posted that craigslist ad in the 'reposted' section!!

Poor planning on my part, but I wanted to thank you personally for reposting that ad. I should have obviously done so before posting this thread, but I looked down at my desk top this morning and saw the photos of her, so I decided to just throw them up without thinking.

You really helped this tortoise a lot, and I can't thank you enough for that. I think everyone's quiet approach was our wanting to keep it quiet and give us less competition in trying to get her.

Thanks so much again,

Anthony

 

[Pokeymeg]

You're welcome, Ill waive the finder's fee THIS time! Lol

I am happy to see her go to a proper home and conservation effort - way cool!

 

[parrotlady]

Lucky that you found her! I bet you will be checking craigslist more often.

 

[mike taylor]

Thats an awesome story . But that is one mean looking tort.LoL

 

[sibi]

I'm not familiar with this species. I gather from this thread that her kind is endangered. How rare is this species, and what is the breeding difficulties, if any? Where is their natural habitat, and are there any restrictions with ownership?

 

[Benjamin]

That is so awesome. Good thing she is in the right hands. Shes a beaut. Will ben be putting her (after quarantine of course) in the breeding group?

That's the plan. And, being that she (almost certainly) isn't represented anywhere genetically yet, there is potential for her to have a great impact in the conservation effort.

Thanks again for getting her. I am looking forward to seeing her in person, then handing her off for quarentine Does June 28 work for you? I may be a little crazy after spending several days driving to get there, that is your fair warning!

 

[Anthony P]

That sounds great Ben.. I don't have any plans for that date yet, and I'm sure you won't be too bad. And I'll understand if you are. No one gets crankier than me after a long drive or if I'm too hungry for that matter. :-(

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

That is so awesome. Good thing she is in the right hands. Shes a beaut. Will ben be putting her (after quarantine of course) in the breeding group?

That's the plan. And, being that she (almost certainly) isn't represented anywhere genetically yet, there is potential for her to have a great impact in the conservation effort.

That's amazing! Great story.

 

[theTurtleRoom]

I'm not familiar with this species. I gather from this thread that her kind is endangered. How rare is this species, and what is the breeding difficulties, if any? Where is their natural habitat, and are there any restrictions with ownership?

Indotestudo forstenii is one of the most endangered tortoises in the world. They are native to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Ben would be able to tell more about the care issues and their native habitat.

They are listed CITES II, so international trade requires paperwork, but once in the country, there are no US restrictions. They are rare in the hobby, too.

 

[Anthony P]

I've seen a few imports available in the last few weeks. That surprised me, but someone must have jumped through hoops to get them.

As Steve mentioned, Ben is the expert though.

 

[theTurtleRoom]

I've seen a few imports available in the last few weeks. That surprised me, but someone must have jumped through hoops to get them.

As Steve mentioned, Ben is the expert though.

Yeah, the number I heard was a dozen of them.

 

[kjr153]

Awesome! Glad she is with someone who will take care of her.

 

[sibi]

Yes, I read up on this species. It's amazing how some people don't know what they have. The original owner in Connecticut obviously took good care of this specie especially since it's natural habitat is from rain forests of Indonesia. Connecticut had lots of trees and in the right area, they can thrive really well.

If she lays eggs and they live, will they be kept for conservation purposes, or will some be sold?

 

[theTurtleRoom]

Yes, I read up on this species. It's amazing how some people don't know what they have. The original owner in Connecticut obviously took good care of this specie especially since it's natural habitat is from rain forests of Indonesia. Connecticut had lots of trees and in the right area, they can thrive really well.

If she lays eggs and they live, will they be kept for conservation purposes, or will some be sold?

Typically, babies go for both purposes. To put it as simply as possible, for conservation, the genetics of one animal should not be over-represented in the population, so not all babies are saved for that.