# desert tortoise?



## Blakem (Jan 24, 2012)

Good evening, my girlfriends sister currently lives in las Vegas and has recently told me about desert tortoises she has seen. I do not know if this can be answered. But, she said that there are desert tortoises that are native to the mojave and sonoran desert. Any idea of what kind this may be?


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## cmosuna (Jan 24, 2012)

Blake m said:


> Good evening, my girlfriends sister currently lives in las Vegas and has recently told me about desert tortoises she has seen. I do not know if this can be answered. But, she said that there are desert tortoises that are native to the mojave and sonoran desert. Any idea of what kind this may be?



Most likely Gopherus agassizii - Desert Tortoise. They are all over the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. I posted a picture of ours.


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## Blakem (Jan 24, 2012)

That's a great looking tortoise. Is the care very much different from a sulcata?


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## Laura (Jan 24, 2012)

yes and no...
you dont need a permit to keep a sulcata, sulcatas dont hibernate and need heat in the winter, diet is similar, sulcatas need more room...
you should Not house them together... they will make each other sickly..


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## Shelly (Jan 25, 2012)

DO NOT collect wild tortoises from this area, it is highly illegal.


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## cmosuna (Jan 25, 2012)

Laura said:


> yes and no...
> you dont need a permit to keep a sulcata, sulcatas dont hibernate and need heat in the winter, diet is similar, sulcatas need more room...
> you should Not house them together... they will make each other sickly..



They don't do to bad with the Sulcatas, ours don't interact a ton but yeah once a Sulcata is much larger it's not a great idea.


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## Blakem (Jan 25, 2012)

Please do not jump to conclusions. I simply was interested in the species that lived there. If I did my only interest would be to rescue one from a shelter. I understand that you are just trying to look out for them.


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## cmosuna (Jan 25, 2012)

Shelly said:


> DO NOT collect wild tortoises from this area, it is highly illegal.



Highly illegal with huge fines and possible jail time, besides there are plenty of them looking for homes in rescue groups. The law is that ones in homes cannot be released back into the wild, and people have been backyard breeding these guys for decades. Usually just throwing a couple out there and letting them do their things. But they cannot sell them, also highly illegal, so they end up in rescue groups. Our Athena is tagged and registered as all desert torts should be. We are also members of the CTTC


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## Blakem (Jan 25, 2012)

That's great! They are great looking torts. I really wish people would do things the right way and truly care about all animals.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 25, 2012)

The desert tortoise has recently been divided into two sub-species:

http://www.basinandrangewatch.org/Tortoise-Species.html


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## Utah Lynn (Jan 25, 2012)

In Utah, You can ADOPT from WildLifeResources, but you cannot OWN them. They remain the property of WLR.


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## ascott (Jan 25, 2012)

Blake there is really no way to say for sure which of the two species your sister has seen (referring to the species update last year that Yvonne attached link for) likely it is one or the other or even perhaps a hybrid of the two....they are a beautiful creature...very regal. It is awesome that she has seen them in the wild...


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