I took in two female sulcata tortoises that will be 6 years old in 08/13. The fellow took a dozen sulcata eggs from a friend and dug a hole in his back yard and buried them. Appx. 3 months later 8 of them hatched. He gave them away except for two, which he kept and did a darned good job of raising them.
This fellow is a docent at our zoo, so he knows a bit about animals. He kept the tortoise outside, and allowed them to dig their own burrow. They went into the burrow in November and didn't come out until April, every year since he had them. This is telling me that sulcatas aren't as cold sensitive as we are led to believe. They didn't really brumate because on warm days they would come out and sit in the sun.
These two tortoises are almost perfect. There is a tiny bit of pyramiding that looks like it happened during their first year. Just tiny bumps. One of them is about a foot long and the other is almost twice as big (a good example of mental bullying, where the less dominant tortoise doesn't grow as fast as the dominant tortoise).
If you live in the area of California from Visalia to Madera, these are available to be adopted. It is a no fee adoption, but I have to come over and do a yard inspection so I can be sure they will be going to a safe and secure yard.
This fellow is a docent at our zoo, so he knows a bit about animals. He kept the tortoise outside, and allowed them to dig their own burrow. They went into the burrow in November and didn't come out until April, every year since he had them. This is telling me that sulcatas aren't as cold sensitive as we are led to believe. They didn't really brumate because on warm days they would come out and sit in the sun.
These two tortoises are almost perfect. There is a tiny bit of pyramiding that looks like it happened during their first year. Just tiny bumps. One of them is about a foot long and the other is almost twice as big (a good example of mental bullying, where the less dominant tortoise doesn't grow as fast as the dominant tortoise).
If you live in the area of California from Visalia to Madera, these are available to be adopted. It is a no fee adoption, but I have to come over and do a yard inspection so I can be sure they will be going to a safe and secure yard.