Captive Gophers

samkerns1

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2018
Messages
55
Location (City and/or State)
Southwest Georgia
I take care of 1.1.1 Gopher Tortoises at work. (yes, legally)
Attached is a photo of Lolita, a real beauty with lots of yellow coloring. Photo credit: Edi Arangies.
I have tried feeding them native leaves and grasses since this is their homerange, but the adults rarely touch it. We still offer it regularly. Their captive diet is mostly collards, Repashy grassland grazer, soaked alfalfa pellets, ~10% veggies/fruits.
The juvenile readily eats clover and some other native plants.
We allow them to overwinter in the burrows that they dig in their enclosure (not the juv).
The 0.0.1 was brought to us as a hatchling four years ago. At what size do you think it will be sexable?

I have always had trouble finding resources about husbandry for Gophers, which makes sense since few can legally hold them.FB_IMG_1534200254586.jpeg
 

orv

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2014
Messages
383
Location (City and/or State)
Aguanga, CA
I take care of 1.1.1 Gopher Tortoises at work. (yes, legally)
Attached is a photo of Lolita, a real beauty with lots of yellow coloring. Photo credit: Edi Arangies.
I have tried feeding them native leaves and grasses since this is their homerange, but the adults rarely touch it. We still offer it regularly. Their captive diet is mostly collards, Repashy grassland grazer, soaked alfalfa pellets, ~10% veggies/fruits.
The juvenile readily eats clover and some other native plants.
We allow them to overwinter in the burrows that they dig in their enclosure (not the juv).
The 0.0.1 was brought to us as a hatchling four years ago. At what size do you think it will be sexable?

I have always had trouble finding resources about husbandry for Gophers, which makes sense since few can legally hold them.View attachment 249278
Your Gophers are closely related to our California Desert Tortises. You may well search these forums in the species specific area and discover husbandry imformation there. I would suggest that you limit the feeding of fruit to the very occasional treat as their digestive systems just aren't evolved for the handling of those sugars and carbs. I love the picture of your beautiful female. Thank you for caring for these severely threatened tortoises.
 

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