Identify this tortoise, please

[austinl01]

The tortoise is now in a local sanctuary until the owner can be found or someone who wants him. She didn't have a place to keep him happy so he left this morning. My friend said last night he ate a whole bag of Romaine hearts! He is an awesome tortoise...very tame. Here are two more pics before he left. Hopefully, the owner will be found because I feel he was very well taken care of.

 

[tortadise]

Man hes awesome. And theres those big green eyes yvonne. Hopefully he is reunited with the owner, if not Hope he finds a great home, keep us updated on his status. Unfortunatly I dont have my permit for desert torts so My facility wouldnt be able to keep him. If he was a texas tort, id go get him.

 

[austinl01]

Can we get this thread moved to another forum since it turned out not to be a gopher tortoise? Thanks.

 

[GBtortoises]

If the tortoise you have is truly 25lbs. and 20" it is not a Texas tortoise and very likely not a Desert tortoise. Within the Gopherus species only a Bolson's tortoise Gopherus flavomarginata gets close to that large. Even at that weight and length it would be a larger than average Bolson's.
How are you measuring the tortoise? And did you weigh it or is that just an estimate?

 

[austinl01]

If the tortoise you have is truly 25lbs. and 20" it is not a Texas tortoise and very likely not a Desert tortoise. Within the Gopherus species only a Bolson's tortoise Gopherus flavomarginata gets close to that large. Even at that weight and length it would be a larger than average Bolson's.
How are you measuring the tortoise? And did you weigh it or is that just an estimate?

That was just an estimation. It may not be quite that large. We can't measure it now since it is no longer at my friend's house. It's at the sanctuary.

 

[GBtortoises]

If the tortoise you have is truly 25lbs. and 20" it is not a Texas tortoise and very likely not a Desert tortoise. Within the Gopherus species only a Bolson's tortoise Gopherus flavomarginata gets close to that large. Even at that weight and length it would be a larger than average Bolson's.
How are you measuring the tortoise? And did you weigh it or is that just an estimate?

That was just an estimation. It may not be quite that large. We can't measure it now since it is no longer at my friend's house. It's at the sanctuary.

That being the case it was most likely a Desert tortoise. No offense but most people usually tend to estimate larger when doing so by sight!

 

[Jacqui]

The give-away for me was the eyes. Desert tortoises have those neat, green eyes.

I thought that about the eyes, but then I could not find anything to verify only the DTs of the three having them.

 

[austinl01]

If the tortoise you have is truly 25lbs. and 20" it is not a Texas tortoise and very likely not a Desert tortoise. Within the Gopherus species only a Bolson's tortoise Gopherus flavomarginata gets close to that large. Even at that weight and length it would be a larger than average Bolson's.
How are you measuring the tortoise? And did you weigh it or is that just an estimate?

That was just an estimation. It may not be quite that large. We can't measure it now since it is no longer at my friend's house. It's at the sanctuary.

That being the case it was most likely a Desert tortoise. No offense but most people usually tend to estimate larger when doing so by sight!

No problem. You are right. I didn't even think about measuring and weighing him while I was there. I figured the ID would be easy.

 

[GBtortoises]

Well the good news for the tortoise is that a tortoise person found him and knew what to do with him!

 

[Yvonne G]

Can we get this thread moved to another forum since it turned out not to be a gopher tortoise? Thanks.

Gopher tortoises and desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) are both North American tortoises, and in the same forum. So its ok where it is.

 

[Mgridgaway]

Well, I, for one, am happy that I learned something new today. Thanks for sharing the pictures and information; I hope that torts owner finds him!

 

[austinl01]

Great news! The owner has been found. It turns out he has had the tortoise since he was 6 years old so it must be at least 50 years old! Here is a video from the local news:

http://www.katv.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7589843#.UCKf7Pj5kuY.link

 

[Yvonne G]

I had a hard time understanding the words on the video. Where was Tom lost? and where was he found?

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

wow, since october!?

 

[austinl01]

He was lost in Cabot, Arkansas and found in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is about 25 miles away. The tortoise went missing October 2011 and was just found this month!

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

Kind of sad that the guy took him from the wild in California, but I assume there weren't laws back then and he's obviously provided him with very good care. I'm just amazed that he lived half a year without help. I am willing to bet he was probably moved around a lot by different people before ending up with your friend.

 

[austinl01]

I just don't think the tortoise traveled 25 miles from his home. We had a mild winter (18 degrees). I'm not sure if he could have survived that either. I'm thinking someone helped him. What do you think?

 

[Laura]

Im sure he had 'help', and how did he prove it was his?

 

[azkeyrealtor]

looks like a desert tortoise to me... My adult MALE has those under his chin too and looks very similar... CHeck out his picture so you can see this is for sure a SONORAN Desert Tortoise and he's between 40 and 50 years.

 

[austinl01]

There was a little bit of misinformation in the previous news story.

The tortoise lived in a home in Sherwood and was found in a neighboring city, North Little Rock. The cities are connected, but the tortoise is estimated to be found at least 8 miles away.

The tortoise was picked up in Cabot where it was taken to the sanctuary.

The owner had pictures of the tortoise to identify that it was actually hers.

Another news station picked up the story. You can watch it here:

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/221321/2/Tom-the-Tortoise-comes-home