Hi, my name is Messenjah. Today, I came across an Australian Snake-Necked tortoise on my way home. I was walking to the train station from a job interview, and he was sitting on the side of the road. I once had a tortoise similar to him when I was younger, but he got away. I've always loved the smelly little things, so I put him in a safe pocket of my bag and took him home. I didn't really want to leave him on the side of the road, he'd probably be dead by now if I had.

I've put him in a tank with some gravel, and I'm picking up some more supplies for him tomorrow (A bigger tank and its associated accoutrements) Now, I have no idea what sex he actually is, but I'm calling it him because he has a mustache. I think it's some form of algae or something around his mouth. I haven't fed him yet; I don't have anything really suitable at home, so I can't see if it's fused his mouth shut. He doesn't seem to be in any distress, though, so I'll just assume he still has the use of his mouth. There's quite a bit of the same sort of stuff on his shell, and his shell is really dirty. Now, should I clean all of it off, and if so how do I go about cleaning off his face without distressing him too much?

I've put him in a smallish tank with some gravel in it. The gravel is banked up on one side to give him a place to get himself out of the water, and the other side is as deep as possible to give him room to swim. He's been rooting around in the gravel for about an hour... is this normal? Is it just him getting comfy or is it a sign that something's wrong? I assume he's pretty stressed right now and he won't be ok until I've gotten him a better home.

If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. I've done some reading, but I've not come across algae on a tortoise's face at all. It looks like he has a huge bristly mustache when he's under water. It's an awesome effect, but it's also a bit disconcerting.

Welcome

Hi there,
Can you post a picture? Curious to see the mustache, plus I am not familiar with that typr of turtle.
Welome, I am new also. Nadine

Well, I can't post a picture at the moment because my camera is on the fritz... but this is what they look like, all cleaned up:

This post was last modified: 10-11-2007 11:16 AM by josh.

Hello! Your the first person I have met that has found a snake neck on the side of the road...lol. Nice how much smaller the computer can make the world. Interesting animals, but I have no personal eperience with them. The moustache does sound kinda cute to see.

I live in Eastern Australia, and they are fairly common... You don't see them very often on the side of the road, though. They're a bit different to most tortoises, as they eat meat almost exclusively. Also, you have to be careful when handling them, because when they get nervous, they release a smelly liquid that smells like a rotten swamp or something. I don't know if this is normal or not... I'm woefully ignorant in this area. They also live in the water most of the time, and they prefer to be wet. As soon as I get my camera working, I'll take pics. I've given him some food, but he hasn't gone for it yet... I'm observing him from a discreet distance, to see how he goes. I'm a bit worried, though. I put the food in and he immediately stood on top of it. Now he's moved around a bit... but he's ignoring the food. They can't swallow unless they're under water, so maybe he's waiting it to soften up a bit. Tomorrow, I'll remove anything he hasn't eaten from his tank... I may have to go to a local petshop and ask them about him. Poor guy.

This post was last modified: 10-11-2007 12:51 AM by Messenjah.

Will be interesting to see how things go. Be sure to keep us updated.

Welcome to Tortoise Forum.org I would like to hear how this turns out too.

Thanks for everyone's warm welcome! I'm glad to have found a place to talk about torts!

I went to the petshop and spoke to the girl there. She has some turtles and she suggested I give him some blood worms. He doesn't eat an entire cube yet, but I think he's eating a little. I washed him a bit last night, then let him run around my shower (it's ok, I didn't use any soap, and I made sure there was no soap or soap related products or residue around) and today I let him walk around my back yard. He's an energetic little fellow. He's finally clean enough that I don't have to change his tank water today... I had to do it twice yesterday, and once the day before. The girl at the petshop said that the algae on his face is fine and it won't harm him at all. My digital camera's working again, so I'll be able to get pics up in a couple of days!

Congrats?
if its wild you should leave it be.

Also its a turtle =]