Hi everyone. We found Sheldon, a baby Desert Tortoise, in our garden almost a week ago

[Shortyalex16]

We think he is about 6 to 7 days old. He is 2 inches long. We live in Victorville, California. I have never owned any turtles or tortoises in my life. Any helpful advice on what to feed him would be appreciated. I keep him in a rubber maid storage bin in my room with mulch, basking rocks, a shelter, a heat lamp and a uvb lamp. Every morning I let him into the garden to eat. There are clovers, weeds, grass and dahlia flowers there but he mostly prefers the clovers. I tried feeding him shredded carrot the other day and he ate a little bit of that. I read up on how to soak him. Here is a pic of him!

 

[T Smart]

So cute, but I think it's a Sulcata hatchling!

Here's a great thread:


For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/For-Those-Who-Have-a-Young-Sulcata....76744/

There's many more threads to read. Just go to the "African Tortoises" then "Sulcata" section of the forum.

 

[wellington]

He is a sulcata not a Desert Tort.
Please read the caresheet and closed chamber threads.

 

[Tom]

Definitely not a desert tortoise.

Here is the care info for sulcatas:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

They can hatch in the ground here in SoCal. I hatched out some that way this year too. During the next soak, use a soft tooth brush to get the dirt off of the carapace and you'll see how pretty it is underneath.

 

[EllieMay]

Definately a Sulcata!! I have three hope your ready for a giant!! What a prize find!! Start a growth log and keep us updated in his progress please!

 

[Shortyalex16]

Oh my gosh... I don't know how he ended up in our garden. Our yard is gated. I guess I will have to redirect my research. I just figured since we lived in the Mojave desert that he would be a desert tortoise. It's kind of crazy tof think that a giant tortoise laid an egg in our garden haha. Thanks guys for letting me know what he really is.

 

[Shortyalex16]

Definately a Sulcata!! I have three hope your ready for a giant!! What a prize find!! Start a growth log and keep us updated in his progress please!

Thank you! I will

 

[Yvonne G]

birds pick them up and carry them off, dropping them on a hard surface, hoping to crack them open.

 

[Shortyalex16]

birds pick them up and carry them off, dropping them on a hard surface, hoping to crack them open.

Hi, Yvonne. We found pieces of his shell in the garden. Could it be possible that a bird dropped his egg in our garden?

 

[Shortyalex16]

His egg shell, to specify. Found some under our mulch too

 

[wellington]

Hi, Yvonne. We found pieces of his shell in the garden. Could it be possible that a bird dropped his egg in our garden?

Possibly but Not likely as they are buried about 12 inches or so into the ground.

 

[Shortyalex16]

His egg shell, to specify. Found some under our mulch too

 

[Shortyalex16]

Possibly but Not likely as they are buried about 12 inches or so into the ground.

Thank you

 

[Tom]

His egg shell, to specify. Found some under our mulch too

Have you lived in that house less than a year? If not, then it wandered in from somewhere else. Do your neighbors have tortoises? Maybe even a few houses down?

When the females lay eggs the nests are around 12-18" deep. They don't bring their egg shells up with them, so it would be very unusual for you to be seeing tortoise egg shells above ground. Did you get a pic of the shell?

 

[Shortyalex16]

Have you lived in that house less than a year? If not, then it wandered in from somewhere else. Do your neighbors have tortoises? Maybe even a few houses down?

When the females lay eggs the nests are around 12-18" deep. They don't bring their egg shells up with them, so it would be very unusual for you to be seeing tortoise egg shells above ground. Did you get a pic of the shell?

Hi, Tom. We have been living in our house since March sof less than a year. Our garden has soil and mulch at the top. We found some of the egg she'll on top of the mulch and some under the layer of mulch. Here is a pic of some of the egg she'll that was on top of the mulch. Other small crumbles of it were found when we swept the mulch away to look.

 

[Tom]

Hi, Tom. We have been living in our house since March sof less than a year. Our garden has soil and mulch at the top. We found some of the egg she'll on top of the mulch and some under the layer of mulch. Here is a pic of some of the egg she'll that was on top of the mulch. Other small crumbles of it were found when we swept the mulch away to look.

I'll bet the previous tenant had tortoises back there.

Something must have dig up that egg. Do you have a dog? Raccoons in the area?

 

[Shortyalex16]

I'll bet the previous tenant had tortoises back there.

Something must have dig up that egg. Do you have a dog? Raccoons in the area?

We haven't seen a tortoise since moving here. We have feral cats but haven't seen any raccoons. Our backyard has a chain link fence and our dogs are inside maltese dogs that only go in the front yard supervised. The garden is in the back. We haven't seen any holes yet but we haven't pulled a lot of the mulch back to look. If he was born in the garden, how likely are there others?

 

[Tom]

If he was born in the garden, how likely are there others?

Very likely, but with dogs running around, they may already be gone. Dogs use tortoises for chew toys.

 

[Shortyalex16]

Very likely, but with dogs running around, they may already be gone. Dogs use tortoises for chew toys.

Our dogs are small and do not go to the back yard. They are inside dogs

 

[Tom]

Our dogs are small and do not go to the back yard. They are inside dogs

Well in that case, I'd get out there tomorrow and get down on hands and knees and start checking under all the low brush and clumps of grass. Babies hide and they are very good at it. Sulcatas typically lay 20-30 eggs. If it was a first year mom, the clutch may have been smaller. My climate is similar to yours, and my ground hatch rates are usually only about 40-50%. I usually find 10-15 babies from any given clutch when they incubate and hatch "naturally' in the ground. When I incubate them and hatch them myself, hatch rates are 90-100%.