One for the books!

bioteach

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We dote on our adopted Desert Tortoise, a 20+ year old female. Usually, she comes out to graze early in the day and loves her flowers and tasty leaves. She comes right over when we enter her enclosure. We hadn't seen her in a couple of days although the weather was warm and ideal for her. We began to get worried, and decided to investigate her burrow. When we did, we found out that she had a smaller companion on top of her - presumably a male.

We live in urban Scottsdale on a busy city street. There is no way that she could escape; but somehow this brave guy either climbed a six foot concrete wall or burrowed under the two foot stem wall underground. We checked the outside of the wall which is completely covered in thick Cats Claw vines and found a small hole. Later in the day he had vanished. I guess that life finds a way! We will have her vet checked to ensure that she is OK.
 

KarenSoCal

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Boy, you must have been astonished! That IS one for the books!

How long have you had your girl? Is there any chance he's been living there in the vines?
 

Yvonne G

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For some reason, "Russian" popped into my mind when I read the sentence, ". . . we found out that she had a smaller companion on top of her - presumably a male. "

I hope you've since fixed that hole? I'd really hate to see your tortoise enlarge it and escape.
 

Tom

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How fortunate! Since our moronic government has made it illegal to breed this fantastic endangered species and make more of them, it pleases me to no end that "life found a way". I hope you get many babies in a few months!

If you do, soak them daily, keep them on damp coco coir indoors, and offer them a humid hide. This will help them all survive, contrary to the usual care sheets that turn them into beef jerky. Or would that be tortoise jerky...
 

bioteach

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Boy, you must have been astonished! That IS one for the books!

How long have you had your girl? Is there any chance he's been living there in the vines?
Hello,
It's possible that he could have been there - we would never have known. About a year ago someone had posted "missing tortoise" posters in the vicinity. That could be our "Romeo", and I posted the information on the neighborhood app. We have had Sunshine for many years and when she is vet checked prior to hibernation no eggs were ever found. This year, who knows?
 

bioteach

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For some reason, "Russian" popped into my mind when I read the sentence, ". . . we found out that she had a smaller companion on top of her - presumably a male. "

I hope you've since fixed that hole? I'd really hate to see your tortoise enlarge it and escape.
The perp is about half of her size (brave little guy). But, yes, we did shore up her side of the stem wall just in case.
 

Yvonne G

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Now I'm more sure than ever that it was a Russian tortoise.
 

Yvonne G

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Because a breeding size desert tortoise is the same size as the female. A juvenile male, just coming into breeding condition is still almost as big as that female. A male tortoise that's half the size of the female, is probably not a desert tortoise.
 

wellington

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And to enhance on Yvonnes thought. I watched my own russian climb straight up a tree about 3 feet. They are great climbers and diggers.
 
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