New Desert Tortoise owner

[Krisowen]

Hi all,
A few months ago I was given a female Desert tortoise. She is about 15 to 18 years old we think. We live just outside of Phoenix Arizona. I made a wonderful den outside for her. We have a large fenced in yard. I could not do it though. I just could not let her be outside in the cold. She has been sleeping in my closet. She was coming out every now and then while it was in the 80's during the day. I would put her in the back yard to eat on the grass. I would add flowers for her to munch on, hibiscus, roses, petunias and geraniums. She would eat for an hour straight. I then would pick her back up and put her back in my closet and she would find her place to sleep hidden in the way back under my hanging clothes. Now it is cold so she is staying put. The lady before me said she feel in the pool once and she rescued her. She now is afraid of water so I don't see her drink much. She won't go near the pool! She gives it the evil eye... LOL. She is so sweet. She loves to follow me around, sit by my feet. She bobs her head when I move my toes. I never would of guessed she would be this interactive. I am excited to learn how to care for her here on this forum.
Kris

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome! I think it is sometimes hard for a non tortoise person to really understand how we can feel what we do for our animals. Sounds like you yourself have found out why we do.

 

[kathyth]

Welcome!
This is great!
I have a desert tortoise and she follows me in the yard.
She is currently sleeping for the winter.
Do not wear toe nail polish or your tort may think your toes are a flower.
Be sure to read on their digging out and the need to make sure that this is not possible in the spring.
This forum is loaded with continuous information.
Enjoy!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Kris and welcome to the Forum!

I'll give you a little info for you to file away in the back of your head:

When a tortoise senses the days getting shorter and the nights cooler she will stop eating in order to clean out her digestive tract. This way there is no residual food in the intestines to turn bad and cause upset.

I think you did a good thing putting the tortoise in the closet. Unless you actually live in the same area where desert tortoises live in nature, then you probably get too much rainfall for your pet tortoise to hibernate outside. Being rained on, sleeping in a wet burrow are not good for tortoises and she may wake up sick or even dead.

Incidentally, in tortoises, hibernation is actually called brumation.

Again, glad to have another desert tortoise person here on the forum with us. I'm sure we're going to enjoy getting to know you and hearing about your tortoise's antics.

 

[Krisowen]

Thanks for making me feel so welcome. I actually do live where they are in the wild. People keep them outside here. I just like to have her close. I am glad to hear the closet is a OK place for her. Will she burn through more calories though because she is not in a deep sleep like she would be outside? How can I compensate for this or do I need to? She has been pooping around where she sleeps from time to time as she moves around to get comfortable in a new position. It is like a long dark cave where she is at under my hanging clothes.

She bobs her head for my husband's feet too, not just mine. It is like she has a foot fetish. She seems so happy when she does it. She goes from person to person doing it. I swear she is smiling. I take her out front when we are all sitting outside in the driveway and let her play around us. She likes to hang out by our feet or investigate our garage where my husband sits. It is my husband's man room. We have a TV in our garage so we sit out front alot. If she strays too far, I tell her 'No, come back. Turn around.' and she will actually listen and turn around. I had no idea they were that smart! Sometimes she waits until I just start to get up to come after her before she turns around like she was saying 'I was just about to!' Just like a kid. LOL I take her on a walk to my neighbors yard since she follows me around. We are a site walking down the sidewalk!

 

[Krisowen]

Here is a picture of my baby!

 

[Yvonne G]

She's beautiful. One of my favorite tortoises.

 

[ascott]

Welcome to the Forum and very lovely tort I think the closet will be just fine as long as that room does not get to a toasty temp all winter.. (I have three of the four guys here in the closet in their own tubs for the winter now...the fourth one manhandled the earth around his natural dug burrow after I covered it about a month ago to keep him out and easy for me to retrieve for the winter...well, so now he is down deep in his burrow for the winter..)

 

[kathyth]

She is a beauty!
I love Deserts!

 

[Laura]

Id give her a good drink.. make sure she hasnt eaten for a few weeks and box her up in the garage where it will be cooler then a closet...

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome..goodlooking tort you got there...

 

[Patr1ck]

Hello and welcome. I'm a new/old (I had him as a kid) Desert Tortoise companion as well.

 

[pam]

Welcome