Not sure what tortoise I have...

[Rmin17]

Hi Everyone!
I recently received four little tortoises from a friend that had 17 hatchlings on her hands from her breeding tortoises. I'm not entirely sure what type of tortoises they are, and I'm worried that I'm not feeding them correctly for the type they are. I currently feed them hibiscus, dandelion, grass(bermuda), alfalfa and timothy hay, romaine lettuce, geranium, and occasionally tomatoes and strawberries. I also use tortoise multivitamins and calcium supplement. I water them about once a week in a shallow dish. I would love to know what type of tortoises they are. Anyone know? Thank you! (The picture is filtered so they may look a little darker than they are)

 

[Yvonne G]

Those are desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and are a protected species. It is illegal to buy or sell them, but it is quite ok to adopt them for free as long as they weren't taken from the wild.

The diet is ok, however they should not get that much fruit.

Soak your babies daily for about 15 minutes each time.

 

[Tom]

Hard to tell for certain in your one pic, but those look like one of the Gopherus species. What state are you in? CA, NV or AZ?

I would stop feeding the fruit and tomatoes, and dry hay is good for older, larger tortoises, but its too coarse and stiff for babies, unless you are blending it up and using is as a topper.

It also looks like you have them on soil with perlite in it. This can literally be fatal. Perlite breaks down and lines their intestinal tract and they eventually die from it. I would remove them from it immediately and replace it with something else.

I wrote this care sheet for russian tortoises, but I have raised dozens of CA Desert Tortoises and the care is identical.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

This one will help too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

I wrote this one for sulcatas, but if you just skip the text and scroll down a little, you will find a list of good foods to feed to your babies.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Rmin17]

Those are desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and are a protected species. It is illegal to buy or sell them, but it is quite ok to adopt them for free as long as they weren't taken from the wild.

The diet is ok, however they should not get that much fruit.

Soak your babies daily for about 15 minutes each time.

Thank you for the advice! We were told that both they and their parents were not taken from the wild, and that my friend somehow aquired the parents legally.

 

[Rmin17]

Hard to tell for certain in your one pic, but those look like one of the Gopherus species. What state are you in? CA, NV or AZ?

I would stop feeding the fruit and tomatoes, and dry hay is good for older, larger tortoises, but its too coarse and stiff for babies, unless you are blending it up and using is as a topper.

It also looks like you have them on soil with perlite in it. This can literally be fatal. Perlite breaks down and lines their intestinal tract and they eventually die from it. I would remove them from it immediately and replace it with something else.

I wrote this care sheet for russian tortoises, but I have raised dozens of CA Desert Tortoises and the care is identical.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

This one will help too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

I wrote this one for sulcatas, but if you just skip the text and scroll down a little, you will find a list of good foods to feed to your babies.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Hard to tell for certain in your one pic, but those look like one of the Gopherus species. What state are you in? CA, NV or AZ?

I would stop feeding the fruit and tomatoes, and dry hay is good for older, larger tortoises, but its too coarse and stiff for babies, unless you are blending it up and using is as a topper.

It also looks like you have them on soil with perlite in it. This can literally be fatal. Perlite breaks down and lines their intestinal tract and they eventually die from it. I would remove them from it immediately and replace it with something else.

I wrote this care sheet for russian tortoises, but I have raised dozens of CA Desert Tortoises and the care is identical.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

This one will help too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

I wrote this one for sulcatas, but if you just skip the text and scroll down a little, you will find a list of good foods to feed to your babies.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

I am from California (the tortoises were aquired legally). They were moved from the soil a few months back(I just found this forum today) to a grass/dirt enclosure. That happened to be the last picture I took of them on my phone. They are about two years old; would it still be a good idea to hold off on the hay? Also, do you happen to know of any reptile specialists in the Los Angeles area? Our vet isn't specialized for tortoises and reptiles and I'm not sure if one specialist may be better than another. Thank you so much for your advice and for the links to your care sheets!

 

[cmacusa3]

Question I have is why didn't your friend know what type of tortoise they gave you? Seems odd they they've had the parents for a while and got them legally but don't know what they are giving away.

 

[Rmin17]

Question I have is why didn't your friend know what type of tortoise they gave you?

I was told that they were desert tortoises but not which type and if that made a big difference in diet and care.

 

[Rmin17]

Question I have is why didn't your friend know what type of tortoise they gave you? Seems odd they they've had the parents for a while and got them legally but don't know what they are giving away.

It seemed slightly odd to me as well, but I think that they may have assumed I would know the type of desert tortoise they were by looking at them, which, evidently, I could not figure out. They said that the tortoises were illegal when taken from the wild and that theirs were legal, but not much else. I even used Google; I am either terrible at searches or equally bad at recognizing my tortoises in photos.

 

[Tom]

I am from California (the tortoises were aquired legally). They were moved from the soil a few months back(I just found this forum today) to a grass/dirt enclosure. That happened to be the last picture I took of them on my phone. They are about two years old; would it still be a good idea to hold off on the hay? Also, do you happen to know of any reptile specialists in the Los Angeles area? Our vet isn't specialized for tortoises and reptiles and I'm not sure if one specialist may be better than another. Thank you so much for your advice and for the links to your care sheets!

We are fortunate to have quite a few good vets around here. I know one in the Calabasas area and another up here in Santa Clarita. Those would be my first choices, but there is always Dr. Greek, and I can't remember if Dr. Mader is still around here or not…

What general area are you in? You don't have to be specific but Southern CA is a big area...

 

[Rmin17]

We are fortunate to have quite a few good vets around here. I know one in the Calabasas area and another up here in Santa Clarita. Those would be my first choices, but there is always Dr. Greek, and I can't remember if Dr. Mader is still around here or not…

What general area are you in? You don't have to be specific but Southern CA is a big area...

I am actually around the Santa Clarita area! I live about 20-30 minutes away, depending on traffic.