Zander Ruedas
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2016
- Messages
- 2
desert tortoise
length-26 inches
weight-approximately 40 pounds
length-26 inches
weight-approximately 40 pounds
possibly largest desert tortoise
- Thread starter Zander Ruedas
- Start date
Sorry, Zander...your "desert" tortoise is actually a sulcata tortoise from Africa. And he's just a youngster. He's on his way to being about 125lbs or so.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2012
- Messages
- 13,457
Sure is one beautiful sulcata .
I was going to say the same thing, it's a sulcata. Nice looking one too
Isn't that funny... One moment you think you have a giant DT, the next you're learning you have a young, and still small, Sulcata! 
Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your first dinosaur. How are you feeding the beast?
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Maggie Cummings
Guest
5 yr old Sulcata......lord almighty, that means he was raised as a Gopherus. Did you try and hibernate him? Looks like the top of his carapace has been burned.....
Sulcatas are still technically a "desert" tortoise so you aren't wrong in my opinion. He's just from a different desert... lol
He's just from a different desert... lol
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Maggie Cummings
Guest
Sulcata mostly come from a Savannah... they don't hibernate, or brumate. They need to be kept warm all winter....So many things are different in their care. Just goes to show you how tough Sulcata are.....
Sulcatas are still technically a "desert" tortoise so you aren't wrong in my opinion.
No they are not. This is an old incorrect myth. Its persistence leads to the death and disfigurement of uncountable numbers of sulcatas every year. They are a GRASSLAND, FORREST EDGE species. It takes a lot of annual rainfall to sustain forests and grass lands. Don't get that in a desert. They have an annual 3-4 month rainy season that is very damp and humid. Decidedly UN-desertlike. This annual monsoon season is when the babies hatch every year.
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He's beautiful! Yeah, I'd like to know how he received that damage on the top of his carapace. It also looks like he lives in his burrow most of the time. Is that right?
I'm sorry I so deeply offended you. I understand you are very passionate about sulcatas, but you're wasting your time (and mine) by attacking me like that. Please calm down and don't use caps at me. I joined this forum for information and fun. Having people attack me online is decidedly UN-fun for all parties involved. I appreciate the information but I just feel bullied at this point.
I looked it up and you know the southern edge of the Sahara desert where it's grassland and humid actually looks really pretty and reminds me of something I recently read. That doesn't mean I don't think your wording was highly uncalled for and disrespectful though. I get that you're an expert on captive sulcatas, but please don't treat me like an idiot because I'm not.
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- Joined
- Nov 7, 2012
- Messages
- 5,173
- Location (City and/or State)
- South of Southern California, but not Mexico
Well then again we have the 'new' CDT from Mexico that lives in a tropical-ally forest like area. So even Desert Tortoises don't fully fit the full desert description.
Sub Sahara does fit the description of desert, but then so does Antarctica, so as true as it is Sulcatas live with somewhat regular rainfall area, the actual range being determined by such, our own desert tortoises live in a much more diverse climatic range from areas where the carrying capacity is determined by fossilized burrows to scrub season rain-forest. Mojave desert and Sonora desert are very different deserts, and both have tortoises that at one time were considered one species.
Desert is not always sand blown endless seas of more sand.
Still thinking about Antarctica aren't you?
Sub Sahara does fit the description of desert, but then so does Antarctica, so as true as it is Sulcatas live with somewhat regular rainfall area, the actual range being determined by such, our own desert tortoises live in a much more diverse climatic range from areas where the carrying capacity is determined by fossilized burrows to scrub season rain-forest. Mojave desert and Sonora desert are very different deserts, and both have tortoises that at one time were considered one species.
Desert is not always sand blown endless seas of more sand.
Still thinking about Antarctica aren't you?
Ellen, I hope you can feel comfortable posting here at the forum cause no one thinks of you as an idiot, truly. Your beautiful tortoise was raised well despite the the fact that he wasn't a desert tort. You obviously did a great great job! Some of us here are extremely passionate about sulcatas, I guess, bc so many people have bad information about this species. As a result, many sulcatas suffer the consequences. Having said that, your sulcata did amazingly well which can only be accredited to your knowledgeable care of your tort!
Tom meant no disrespect, really. I've known him here at the forum for about 3 1/2 years, and he is often misunderstood by new members cause when we use technology like postings, you can't see the person, body language, tone, and intentions. I know that when people use caps, it often means raised voice or emphatic, but Tom's not like that really. Yes, he's passionate. Heck, a lot of us are here, but it's because for years, Tom has seen the effects of misinformation on sulcatas. This misinformation has resulted in the needless death of this species and the sufferings they have undergone are so, so sad.
Your loving care, however, is an exception! Just looking at the tort's pic proves that. So, please don't take anything here as harsh, disrespectful, demeaning, or rude cause that was not his (our) intentions.
Tom meant no disrespect, really. I've known him here at the forum for about 3 1/2 years, and he is often misunderstood by new members cause when we use technology like postings, you can't see the person, body language, tone, and intentions. I know that when people use caps, it often means raised voice or emphatic, but Tom's not like that really. Yes, he's passionate. Heck, a lot of us are here, but it's because for years, Tom has seen the effects of misinformation on sulcatas. This misinformation has resulted in the needless death of this species and the sufferings they have undergone are so, so sad.
Your loving care, however, is an exception! Just looking at the tort's pic proves that. So, please don't take anything here as harsh, disrespectful, demeaning, or rude cause that was not his (our) intentions.
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Ha Ha Ha. It wasn't Ellen's tortoise.
So what? That's funny to you? Ellen was upset, and the comment now refers to the OP and to Ellen. So there! It doesn't change what I expressed about Ellen, Tom, or the tortoise.
I was not offended by your post in the least, and you were not attacked in any way. I was calm when I typed that response for you and I'm calm now.
I use caps to emphasize words or phrases in the same way I emphasize words and phrases when I talk. How would you suggest we "spice" up the typed word to show emphasis? I can use italics in the future if you would find that less insulting.
This is a forum for sharing tortoise info. You had the wrong idea about this species and I shared the right idea with you and everyone reading so that we can hopefully prevent more sulcatas from suffering the same fates as the ones that came before them. I can't help your feelings. That is how you decided to take simple words with no malice.
I didn't find anything disrespectful in my explanation to you and I certainly intended no disrespect. I don't have any way of knowing whether you are an idiot or not, so there is no reason why I would assume that you were. I see nothing in your posts here to indicate any sort of idiocy. You, like so many others, have been misinformed about what sulcatas need and what conditions are like where they come from, and my intention was only to make sure you and everyone reading got the right info. I apologize for any misunderstanding and for offense taken where none was intended.
