Gopherus aggassizii captive husbandry

Henry and tortoises

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I may be receiving a captive bred Gopherus aggassizii from a friend out west. I am in Florida and doubt I could do an outdoor enclosure because of the humidity. If you could, leave any tips you might have for me if I do receive this tortoise.
 

Yvonne G

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Tell your friend it's illegal to remove Gopherus tortoises from their native state, and if they're caught the fine could be as much as $10,000. Doesn't matter it's captive bred(which was against the law too). These tortoises belong to the state. And now that YOU know too, the fine would also be yours as the person accepting the tortoise.
 

Toddrickfl1

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I may be receiving a captive bred Gopherus aggassizii from a friend out west. I am in Florida and doubt I could do an outdoor enclosure because of the humidity. If you could, leave any tips you might have for me if I do receive this tortoise.
It would be illegal for your friend to do that. As far as I'm aware desert tortoises cannot be removed from the state they reside in.
 

Tom

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I may be receiving a captive bred Gopherus aggassizii from a friend out west. I am in Florida and doubt I could do an outdoor enclosure because of the humidity. If you could, leave any tips you might have for me if I do receive this tortoise.
I agree with the other posters. Also, G. aggassizii does not do well in humid climates in my experience. I've never kept one in FL, but when people here try to keep them near the coast, they usually get sick. I used to rehab them by simply moving them inland to drier hotter terrain.

Moving the tortoise out of its native state would be both illegal and unethical, but I want to leave this here for anyone legally keeping a DT in the right climate:
 

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