You may have to take him to a licensed wildlife rehab center. I know that here in PA vets are not allowed to treat wild animals unless they have a license to do so. The Fish and Game Commission may know of one, or may be able to take it in themselves. It is also illegal to have a native species...
That sounds like a very interesting experiment. I often wondered how much of their behavior was instinct and how much was learned. Do different species have different capacities for learning? Have there been other studies done on the cognitive development of tortoises?
I crate trained my Dobie from the first day I brought him home. He has never seen it as a punishment, and I found that it helped to make him feel secure in a new environment without his litter mates. I had to stop putting soft blankets in with him when he was about 4 months old because he would...