Need help identifying "Aggy"

Adioshmeal

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Joined
Dec 6, 2017
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3
Location (City and/or State)
California
Hi everyone!
I live in littlerock CALIFORNIA and saved this little one from becoming my dogs new chew toy. He found her in my backyard and I'm not sure how old or what type she might be. After reading a few other identifying post I am fairly certain she is a young sulcata. But I would like to be sure because of the area I live in a few people I know said she was a desert tort. She was very shy and very frightened at first but now comes out and recognizes my voice when I call her. I have been taking her out on warm days to graze in my front yard, which is Grassy and has a few weeds for her to eat (To say she is a picky eater is to say the least) but as it's been getting colder she has been eating less she sleeps most of the day and I've noticed her eyes are a bit "puffy." Please help...I would like to be able to provide her with the best care I could possibly give. She is currently living in a storage box with organic top soil and a heat lamp. I plan on making a outdoor habitat for her as the weather get better. I appreciate any information or tips I can get please educate me!!:D12247.jpeg 15126762139601924391588.jpg 1512676243200895130185.jpg
 

Bambam1989

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Bambam1989

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By the way I would start giving her warm soaks for 20-30minutes daily to help with hydration.. start today. Pour warm water(90-98f) into a plastic tub deep enough to cover her butt. She might not like it and may try to climb out but leave her there, it's good for her. She may potty in the water, just change it as it cools or gets dirty.
 

Tim Carlisle

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Wow... what a find! My wife and I watched a large scorpion run across our yard once. Most exotic thing I've ever seen on our property.
 

Adioshmeal

New Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
California
By the way I would start giving her warm soaks for 20-30minutes daily to help with hydration.. start today. Pour warm water(90-98f) into a plastic tub deep enough to cover her butt. She might not like it and may try to climb out but leave her there, it's good for her. She may potty in the water, just change it as it cools or gets dirty.
Thank you very much for the reading material. I will continue to soak her as well!
 

Adioshmeal

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Joined
Dec 6, 2017
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Location (City and/or State)
California
Wow... what a find! My wife and I watched a large scorpion run across our yard once. Most exotic thing I've ever seen on our property.
Haha that's funny. Right? I've had a few offers from people trying to take her off our hands. Shes not going anywhere tho...she's part of the family.:<3:

Kinda makes me wonder where she came from, and how in the world she ended up in my backyard!
 

Yvonne G

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Clovis, CA
Hi, and welcome!

When tortoises hatch out of a natural nest in the ground, if the tortoise-keeper doesn't find them right away, birds carry them off. Ravens/crows are especially good at this. The bird carries the tortoise until he finds a boulder or a sidewalk, etc. then he drops the tortoise on that hard object to break it open. Lucky for your baby the dog found it before the bird could reclaim the prize.

Because there is pyramiding already established with his shell, it's a good guess that the original tortoise-keepers either kept the babies outside in an uncovered, unprotected pen, or the eggs hatched without human intervention and lived outside on their own for a while.

Baby sulcatas have evolved to grow more smoothly when kept in monsoon-like conditions, so read those links shown above.
 

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