Found Tortoise in the Road and Don't know what kind he is

[Kaitlynn_]

Hey everyone im new here and need help with kind of tortoise I have. My fiancé found him the middle of the road two days ago and we decided we want to keep him. I want to give him the right enclosure and care so I need to know what species he is to do that. I hope you guys can help, any advice is welcome as well. Thank you!!

 

[Maggie3fan]

Hey everyone im new here and need help with kind of tortoise I have. My fiancé found him the middle of the road two days ago and we decided we want to keep him. I want to give him the right enclosure and care so I need to know what species he is to do that. I hope you guys can help, any advice is welcome as well. Thank you!!

That's a Russian tortoise...he is most probably someones escaped pet as they are notorious escape artists. the correct thing to do is post notices around looking for his keeper,

 

[Kaitlynn_]

That's a Russian tortoise...he is most probably someones escaped pet as they are notorious escape artists. the correct thing to do is post notices around looking for his keeper,

He was across the street from a small pet store and they said he was there's but we could keep him when we took him inside, so he is ours now. Thank you for letting us know what he is and how we can keep him safe.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Give these a read-
Russian Tortoise Care Sheet https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/

Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

 

[Tom]

He was across the street from a small pet store and they said he was there's but we could keep him when we took him inside, so he is ours now. Thank you for letting us know what he is and how we can keep him safe.

The pet store told you it was their's but you could go ahead and keep it for free? Why would they do that? Did they give you any idea about why their tortoise was running loose in the street? They didn't know what species their tortoise was?

That is not a Russian. Its either a red foot or a yellow foot. Can you give the tortoise a warm water soak, and a light brushing with a soft tooth brush so we can see it a little better?

@Yvonne G has both of those species and she's not too far from you. She'd be better able to tell which one it is than me.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

That doesn't quite look like a Russian imo, and It's not a Redfoot or Yellowfoot either. @Markw84

 

[vladimir]

I love a good "what species is this" mystery

 

[turtlesteve]

More pictures would help with ID but I’m going to guess it’s a golden Greek.

 

[Relic]

Well, here we go again. I vote for: "Testudo agatha.christi"

 

[jeneliza]

It doesn't look like a yellow/redfoot to me, I would wonder what kinda conditions this pet shop is keeping there animals, if it got out and managed to get across the road, tortoises are very expressive, even for pet stores, which tend to sell them for alot less than breeders, how ever there still pricey, the only way this makes sense is if an owner, tried to give it back and they refused to take it, and the past owner left it in the back of the store, however there not hard to re-home, alot of people will gladly take them, so if this was the pet shops, I am very fearful of the care it was given, yes there good at escaping, but to actually get out then out of the shop, and across the road,would either be complete neglect, or someone actually took it out, by not paying for it, and then changed there mind, I also question why they didn't want it back, being there a huge loss of revenue, for a shop to just give it away, if I found this little dude, and they where willing to just let it go, I would take it to a vet a.s.a.p., because most shops, wouldn't just let it go that easy, unless something is wrong, I would question the shop that said it was there's and wasn't alarmed by this happening, and how it was cared for , either way, it should see a vet a.s.a p, because this shop didn't care about it , and that's never a good thing, it could be very sick,

 

[Maro2Bear]

Well, here we go again. I vote for: "Testudo agatha.christi"

Behind curtain no 2 - Meet Mystery Tortoise Agatha. She’s wild, likes to roam, likes a proper bath. Enjoys a vegetarian diet.

 

[Tom]

That doesn't quite look like a Russian imo, and It's not a Redfoot or Yellowfoot either. @Markw84

Zoom in and look at the color on the head and forelimbs. No other species have that sort of coloring. Its just dirty.

 

[Yvonne G]

Like Turtle Steve, I was leaning towards Greek.

@Kaitlynn_ May we please have more pictures? We need to see the under side including the tail, and a straight down shot of the back of the tortoise.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Zoom in and look at the color on the head and forelimbs. No other species have that sort of coloring. Its just dirty.

Interesting, but I think that's gotta be something on the Tortoise. The Scute pattern on the carapace is a lot different then my Reds.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I love a good "what species is this" mystery

I love a good "what species is this" mystery

I don't...with my tortoise experience...15 to 20 years, and with Y as my sister...I SHOULD be able to correctly ID most species...but I can't...it gets embarrassing some what...I need to stop trying...lol

 

[jeneliza]

Interesting, but I think that's gotta be something on the Tortoise. The Scute pattern on the carapace is a lot different then my Reds.View attachment 291811

This is Also what my redfoot looks like as well, I argee, the pattern is very different,

 

[Tom]

Interesting, but I think that's gotta be something on the Tortoise. The Scute pattern on the carapace is a lot different then my Reds.

I get what you are saying about the carapace, but no greek has head coloration or leg scale coloration like that. Maybe its a species that I have little to no knowledge of, like one of the hinge backs? I would say greek too, if it wasn't for that color.

@Kapidolo Farms
@Markw84

 

[MichaelL]

It looks like a Greek that was wild caught and imported, then was captive for many years. The only thing that doesn't match is the coloration, but some vary like that.

 

[Markw84]

That is definitely a greek tortoise. We would have to go to @HermanniChris for subspecies, but it is certainly a Testudo graeca

Some Greeks certainly get those colored scales. For example look at the T g. cyrenaica pictured in Chris's care sheet details.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Yeah, Testudo, greek, which one is not so easy to sort out. I agree maybe with more photos Chris could possibly sort it out.

Either way, knowing it is a greek brings the range of care down to a much smaller box of variables. Hibernating greeks don't NEED to hibernate, so then the care is simpler yet. I Imagine the pet shop did not hibernate it, so I would guess it is acclimated to year-round activity.

Indoors or outdoors is the things you'll need to sort out on your care. In Bakersfield there is a good climate for year round outdoors with some provision for keeping them dry during the winter - some 'made shelter' and a large predator exclosure - tortoies enclosure with lots of planted weedy things and a sunk in the ground water dish and you'll have a relatively low maintenance tortoise.

If your going indoors all the time, consider no less then a 3 x 6 to 4 x 8 foot print enclosure. There are many great narratives here on TFO for setting up both indoor and outdoor spaces for tortoises.