# Rescued a Texas Tortoise - need info/advice!



## LunaNegra

Two days ago I rescued a male Texas Tortoise from a very busy main street in our subdivision (San Antonio, Texas). There once was fields all around that have been reduced to a very small "green" area that is bordered now by homes on all sides. I have checked for signs/craigslist, etc just to make sure he wasn't "lost" but so far, nothing yet.

However, from his condition, if he was someone's pet, I don't think he was well-cared for. I have done pretty exhaustive research these past two days and I am confident he is a male. However, his shell has something strange going on. I hope everyone's (much more) experience and knowledge here can help identify what is going on and recommendations. I have placed pictures at the end of this post.

I am VERY leery to return him back to this "green" area as he might just end up back on this busy street or being harassed (or worse) by all the neighborhood boys who play in there. There is a large state park about 7 miles away that I can take him to for release (if you think that is best). I am taking all advice.

If you think his condition is bad, I can keep him and "nurse him". I have worked as zoo docent for over 7 years as well as lots of pets, just never a turtle/tortoise. 
If I can release him back, I'm sure that would be best for any wild animal. However, I'm not sure what his health status is. When you see the pictures, you can maybe better ascertain. 

Questions and info:


*Condition & Care:*
1. His shell has these very large discolored, almost "sun bleached" (?) areas. I don't know if this is an age thing, a disease or fungus, or some other effect.

2. His shell seems to be very rough, turned up on the rear areas (both left/right). I am not sure if this is normal. I did not see that (or at least turned up this much) from all the various pictures I could find.

3. I have put fresh water daily in a low dish that he can also sit in. I also have added fresh Kale, romaine lettuce, and chopped nopales (cactus). I can't tell if he has eaten anything. I would say "No", or if so, not very much. I don't know if this is normal (barely eating) or if he still is stressed from being picked up/confined, etc.

4. We have him in a large wagon with wood sides (about 4 feet long and 2ft wide). This keeps him up and away from the dogs for now. I have also filled the wagon with leaves/mulch/grass clippings for half of it. I read that Texas Tortoises like to small small pallets out of tree litter, etc. He does burrow slightly at night, or makes a small nest area. This is only temporary until we release him or move/make a permanent outdoor home. They are now a "threatened" species in Texas and I want to ensure he is properly released, turned to a good sanctuary, or I will care for him if no other viable/better options.

5. The wagon is outdoors on a covered porch, so he is not in the sun. However, I have let him out each day to get full sunlight and "stretch" his legs a bit and walk around the yard.

*Identification*:
1. He is a male from what I can see. His shell length is 7". I have read through this whole forum (North American section) and see that there are hybrids between CDT and Texas. I would say he is all Texas, however, there are a few things that don't quite match the pictures.

2. He seems to have a VERY long forked (gular scute). I don't know if this grows with age or his is just extra long.

3. Is there anyway to estimate his age?

I have been very impressed here with both everyone's knowledge and enthusiasm for these great reptiles. It's contagious. I want to do the best and right thing for this fellow. So, I appreciate any and all advice, information and/or insight.

Thanks!


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## egyptiandan

Welcome to the forum 

He is most definately a Texas tortoise. The discolored areas on his carapace and plastron are fungal shell rot. This can be treated with athletes foot cream. It should take about 2 weeks (of applying daily) to kill the fungus. Everything else about his shell is fine. He is probably around 20 years old. I'd release him in the State park after you heal the shell rot.

Danny


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## LunaNegra

egyptiandan said:


> Welcome to the forum
> 
> He is most definately a Texas tortoise. The discolored areas on his carapace and plastron are fungal shell rot. This can be treated with athletes foot cream. It should take about 2 weeks (of applying daily) to kill the fungus. Everything else about his shell is fine. He is probably around 20 years old. I'd release him in the State park after you heal the shell rot.
> 
> Danny



Thanks Danny! I see/noted from reading through the various thread that many stated you were one of the most knowledgeable about these gopher species (CDT, etc).

A few more questions:

1. Should I get any sort of particular type of athlete's foot cream? 

2. Is he going to be ok in that wagon for two weeks? I feel so bad for him in there but I don't want him to get hurt by the dogs; just to be safe.

3. How often do they eat? I'm concerned that now in 2-3 days I havent' noticed much if any of the food gone. I put fresh each day. He didn't even touch the Nopales, which I thought he would, if anything. 

4. Is there any sort of food that I could get that would encourage him to eat more/better? I can go pull some grasses, etc if I have an idea of what kinds to get. Or, I can buy turtle food/supplements or something. What do you recommend?

5. That's great that he's 20! How can you tell or what gives you an idea to their age?

Thank you so much again!


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## Yvonne G

Wow, LunaNegra: You've done a wonderful and informative job of posting your question here on the forum! Thanks for the great pictures. We all learn when we can see these great pictorials.

Danny really knows his stuff and I hate to disagree with him, so I'm not really disagreeing, just maybe making a suggestion. Before you release the tortoise, please make an anonymous call to your State Game and Fish department and find out what the rules are about picking up and releasing the Texas tortoise. Here in California, it is illegal to pick them up even off a busy street, and it is DEFINITELY illegal to put him back once you've picked him up.


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## LunaNegra

emysemys said:


> Wow, LunaNegra: You've done a wonderful and informative job of posting your question here on the forum! Thanks for the great pictures. We all learn when we can see these great pictorials.
> 
> Danny really knows his stuff and I hate to disagree with him, so I'm not really disagreeing, just maybe making a suggestion. Before you release the tortoise, please make an anonymous call to your State Game and Fish department and find out what the rules are about picking up and releasing the Texas tortoise. Here in California, it is illegal to pick them up even off a busy street, and it is DEFINITELY illegal to put him back once you've picked him up.



Thanks Yvonne! I learned a lot from reading this forum and thus it helped guide me in the types of pictures to take and the questions to ask.

I read that (here) about the California rules. In Texas, from what i can glean, that is not the case here. I wanted to make sure about releasing him, even though it will be in similar terrain as some animals have a very small home range. Some site that I read said that females (Texas) will go long distances and try to get "back" and thus will get hit by cars, etc by going over roads and other barriers that are now in the "way" to returning back home. It sounded a little odd and I couldn't find anything to verify or collaborate that information.

However, leaving him in that small green area (maybe 1 acre) that is bounded by a busy road and lots of kids/houses, I don't feel good. I would rather release him in the park. However, I figured you all would know more and I would trust your suggestions as this group seems both knowledgable and really care about your turtles/tortoises.


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## egyptiandan

Any athletes foot cream will do the job. There are though 2 different kinds out there, so you might have to use 1 for 3 or 4 days and see if there is a difference in how the shell looks. If there is none you can switch to the other one. I'd buy both at the same time.
He definately deserves to be back in the wild passing on his genes.
He should be fine in the wagon when your not home. He may not eat every day but should eat every other day to every third day. Try the cactus pads themselves. He would probably be more interested in them than the fruit. You can also try grasses. 
Age wise, it's the fact he's adult, but not smooth (carapace wise) as well as counting major growth rings on the scutes.

Danny


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## LunaNegra

I wanted to post an update. He is doing WONDERFUL! I am hoping to release him back in the next few days. I've added new pics at the bottom. Compare the ones at the top to the new ones. His shell has returned back to a nice dark color, the gold centers in his scutes now show, all the faded/sun bleached/fungus areas seem to be dramatically reduced or gone.

I put the anti-fungal cream on at night and by the next day, it was already a HUGE transformation, literally, the difference was "night and day." 
It was amazing the difference with only one treatment. You will see in the pics. I went through the whole tube (about 4 applications) but he looks now like he did the next day. With this kind of dramatic change, it could be either that his fungus wasn't very bad (although it looked terrible), it responded well to the type of fungicide I used (randomly picked), I overwhelmed it because I put on so much (he was kind of white that first night and by the morning it had soaked in), or he didn't actually have a fungus. I say that because from what I've read, it's supposed to take 4-6 weeks. 


For future reference for anyone else, I ended up picking the Athlete's foot cream that contains "*Clotrimazole Cream, USP 1%*." I used a generic store brand, but the it's the same ingredients in the name brand, *Lotrimin*.


*Compare shell now to the before pics in my first post above:*

















































*Behavior:*
I kept him outside in a side yard that is about 40ft by 15ft. We had lots of rain, so I just left it unmowed and all the clover to come up, which he loves. I set up several little shelters with some hay and he has taken up living under the wheels of my two large recycle/garbage bins.

Regarding food, he eats lots of the clover. He wouldn't touch anything I put out except diced carrots, which he LOVES. He will eat the whole small pile. He won't eat any of the romaine, kale, collard, mustard greens, hibiscus leaves, or nopales (both the pad and diced up). I was worried about his nutrition, so I started mixing the greens into the carrots, to "force" him to eat it. I have to say, I am really going to miss him!!

One thing that's odd, he goes to the same area of the yard and sticks his nose out, tries to get out under the fence, sleeps in that area at night (he goes all over during the day). I wonder if it orientates to a certain direction or something. I found him yesterday standing on his hind leg looking out between the fence. It broke my heart because I'm sure he's ready to go too. I'm sure I'm projecting but it looked like he was trying to shake the fence to get out. LOL Awwww...

Have you seen your torts do that? He was on his hind legs for a while. 

In this pic, he's under the blue cart.












*Awwwww.... "Let me out of here!"*


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## franeich

Are you sure he wasn't someones pet. If you release him and he was a pet will he know how to fend for himself.


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## dmmj

Wow saw your first pics and the set of second ones, he does look a lot better.


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## Laura

What has the weather been where you are? Maybe heis gettnig ready to hibernate.. he needs to get out there to find a safe place to do so.. if it isnt his noramal territory he will have to find a new place. 
You can always contact your local rescue and adopt one in need.


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## LunaNegra

Laura said:


> What has the weather been where you are? Maybe heis gettnig ready to hibernate.. he needs to get out there to find a safe place to do so.. if it isnt his noramal territory he will have to find a new place.
> You can always contact your local rescue and adopt one in need.



Yes, I agree. I was going to release him this weekend but I think the trails will have too many people. So, a friend and I have plans to go during the week, so there won't be so much traffic and draw attention to him. Although they recommend treatment for approx 6 weeks for fungus, he has responded so well and also, I want to give him plenty of time to get used to his new "neighborhood" before hibernation. Since I've had him and let him free 24/7 in the yard, he comes out in the morning from his pallet for a few hours and walks the yard and eats, goes back in and naps during the heat of mid-day, then comes out again in the late afternoon for about two hours (3-5pm-ish) and then goes back in for the night. This seems to match the descriptions of "normal" behavior for Texas Tortoises, from what I've read. I just think it's funny that I've made these various shelters (which he discovered and used for a few days) but his favorite resting spot is the the wheels of the recycle cans.

I am going to scout the location to find an area that has lots of prickly pear, open scrub as well as a water source. I hope he does well. I know I'm going to worry about him now! I want to release him in the morning so he has all day to find a spot to nest for the night, before the predators come out. 

It's still hot (93-94 degrees) so he has a couple more weeks before the weather starts to change and give him the signals for hibernation.

Does anyone have any good ideas or suggestions about transporting him? I am going to have to hike about a mile on the trails to the release spot I have investigated. I want to take him then away from the trails so that he won't be bothered. I'm going to have to put him in some sort of backpack, shoulder bag or something. I don't know if being upright is going to bother him. I would prefer to keep him level but I'm not sure how to do it while hiking in.





franeich said:


> Are you sure he wasn't someones pet. If you release him and he was a pet will he know how to fend for himself.



Hi Franeich. Yes, I'm pretty sure he was not a pet. I did check for signs, craigslist, etc. Other signs that indicate he was not is that he is not familiar with any sort of foods, food dishes, eating out of hands, etc. Also, his shell was in pretty bad shape, so I don't think this was a pet or being cared for.




dmmj said:


> Wow saw your first pics and the set of second ones, he does look a lot better.



Thanks Dmmj! I am super pleased with the transformation. I almost can't believe it when I go back and look at those first pictures. Hopefully, after this, upon release, he will go forth and prosper.


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