I've been adopted by a Russian tortoise in N. California.

[greenighs]

"No buses on the other side of the bay" .. Do you live near Newark?

Yes, Fremont here.

 

[Emily Vail]

Im shocked you found the owners. But very cool you get to keep jetta.

 

[MPRC]

How long was he out of the yard for?

 

[greenighs]

How long was he out of the yard for?

I found him, very freshly dug up from hibernation, on February 29th. He's been cruising my yard ever since. I feed him a pile of greens and sometimes flowers every day, and he has plenty of weeds in the yard, and a shallow pan of water which I change daily. He has a few hides behind my cottage, and under a tree in the yard. So far, I've only felt the need to take him inside two nights, because of a storm and low nighttime temperatures. He's going pretty well, I think! He doesn't hide from me anymore, and even comes walking up to me when he sees me!

 

[Emily Vail]

Thats crazy cool.

 

[dmmj]

I am curious as to how escape proof your yard is?

 

[FredTV]

Update! I found Jetta's owner! A neighbor who I had kept missing (we keep different hours) was finally home when I was, and I found out both torts were recent escapees from his collection of NINE torts. He and his wife had seven misc. turtles and tortoises, including two huge Sulcatas with the healthiest shells I've ever seen! Raised from hatchlings, now 15 years old!

The neighbor is really attached to the box turtle, but the Russian is mine to keep as he's ornery and harasses the other torts. I rounded up the box turtle and sent him home, and now Jetta is officially ours! Yay! We found the hole he dug and filled it in, and the wire fencing will be installed hopefully this weekend. Here is Jetta having a celebratory rose for his lunch: http://i.imgur.com/NJf0NIL.jpg

Thanks for all your help and the warm welcome!

This was such a touching adventure to read about! I'm glad it worked out for everyone

 

[greenighs]

I am curious as to how escape proof your yard is?

The only area that he could dig under the fence to get out is the area that borders on my neighbor, the tortoise keeper's, yard, and he'd have to dig pretty deep now that we installed the wire fencing. There's concrete on the other three sides, and the fence goes straight down to the concrete. I stopped up the gaps in the fence by the gate with bricks. He's secure now.

 

[TerraTheRussian]

How cool that ypu figured out the mystery. Congrats on your new pet!