# New Desert Tortoise Owner Need Advice



## Christi Collins (Jul 24, 2016)

Hi im Christi and i have a desert tortoise that is about 2 and a half years old and his name is Fettucini ( Cini for short). And i just got him a few months ago from a friend who's tortoise had a few babies . He lives indoors at the moment but i am moving in September to a 9 acre farm and was hoping to move him into an outdoor enclosure. Also i was wondering if you need to have a permit to own a desert tortoise in california ?


I am very new at this so any advice would help


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## Grandpa Turtle 144 (Jul 24, 2016)

Hello Christi


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## Yelloweyed (Jul 24, 2016)

Once your tort is three years old, find a local turtle and tortoise chapter and they will help you register your tort and get a permit. The permit is free. Also, your tort can live outside full time once it's 4" SCL in a predator-safe outdoor enclosure. How big is your tort? We love pictures!


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## Christi Collins (Jul 24, 2016)

This is only photo on hand but I will post better ones tomorrow. I was outside and my cat max fell asleep next to him. Sorry about the bad quality


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## Christi Collins (Jul 24, 2016)

sorry im hapen to not be at home right now so i dont know his exact measurement but atlest the cat gives some sort of idea


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## Razan (Jul 24, 2016)

Hi Christi !

Welcome to the tortoise forum. 
It seems CA is a fortunate place for people who want to take in a desert tortoise. We found an adult CA desert tortoise and love taking care of him.
The avatar shows our sulcata...they are kept separated.

The desert tortoise likes grape leaves and mulberry leaves a lot and those grow well here. Even the extreme heat like we are having now these plants grow well (being watered every day of course). In this extreme heat he stays in his burrow most of the time. I have not seen him in about 2 weeks.

There does not seem to be any enforcement of turtle permits in CA. The tortoise police don't come to your house


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## Yvonne G (Jul 24, 2016)

Hi Christi, and welcome to the Forum!

Like yelloweyed mentioned, you really don't need to apply for a permit until your tortoise is about 3 years old. Many desert tortoises under that age don't make it.

My younger tortoises live in something like this until they're big enough for a bird to not carry them off:





...after they graduate from that, they just live in the tortoise yard, with access to the shed.


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## Tom (Jul 25, 2016)

Christi Collins said:


> Hi im Christi and i have a desert tortoise that is about 2 and a half years old and his name is Fettucini ( Cini for short). And i just got him a few months ago from a friend who's tortoise had a few babies . He lives indoors at the moment but i am moving in September to a 9 acre farm and was hoping to move him into an outdoor enclosure. Also i was wondering if you need to have a permit to own a desert tortoise in california ?
> 
> 
> I am very new at this so any advice would help



Hello and welcome. Care for DTs is the same as it is for russians, so check this out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

Most of the advice offered for DTs is old outdated and wrong. I've been using the above methods with 100% success for several years now. Since 2008. Soon I'll have to call it "many" years instead of "several" years… So many young ones die because they aren't cared for correctly.

This one will help too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/


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## Christi Collins (Jul 25, 2016)

Tom said:


> Hello and welcome. Care for DTs is the same as it is for russians, so check this out:
> http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
> 
> Most of the advice offered for DTs is old outdated and wrong. I've been using the above methods with 100% success for several years now. Since 2008. Soon I'll have to call it "many" years instead of "several" years… So many young ones die because they aren't cared for correctly.
> ...


Thankyou so much for the info


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## Christi Collins (Jul 25, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> Hi Christi, and welcome to the Forum!
> 
> Like yelloweyed mentioned, you really don't need to apply for a permit until your tortoise is about 3 years old. Many desert tortoises under that age don't make it.
> 
> ...


ok that makes sense thankyou


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## majxmom (Jul 30, 2016)

Hi Christi, I've had a CDT for 53 years now. It is definitely a pet you have to think about in a will! He has done very well outdoors at all times in San Lorenzo, Hayward, and the NorCal Brentwood all that time. I make sure he has a varied diet. He gets spring mix lettuce, a little baby spinach (too much calcium can lead to intestinal stones), dandelion leaves and flowers, rose petals (he loves them but only the light colored ones, not red), and a limited amount of fruit. His favorite is definitely the yellow dandelion flowers so I no longer treat my lawns for weeds. Too much fruit can upset their gut, but about every second or third day I might give him 4 or 5 grapes sliced in half, a few strips of melon sliced thinly, a quarter of an apple sliced thinly, one or two berries, etc. I do give him iceberg lettuce. Most forums and books will say not to give it to them as it has little nutritional value and they like it so much sometimes they won't eat anything else. My Barstow is willing to eat many things so I haven't worried about it. We had him about 45 years before I ever heard that I shouldn't give it to him, so I figured he'd lived a long life already, it couldn't be bad for him. As to the amount, I give him however much food he will clean up. In high summer, that is usually a big fistful of greens plus a quarter cup of extras per day. Fresh water at all times although he only drinks occasionally, and even then mostly out of the hose. He likes to crawl across the water dish and sit in it. You can usually tell if he is getting enough water by the urine. It is normal to see a clear water that has some cloudy white stuff in it. If he is passing clumps of thick white globs, he probably needs a little more water in his diet. Just rinse his lettuce and that usually keeps Barstow happy. 

He has been an escape artist before I learned to deal with it, so don't leave your gate open! It's amazing how fast they can find a route and be traveling. Assume they can scale over anything like a jeep, so look at all of his borders with an eye toward how he might get over it. I went down to Lowe's and bought 6" X 12" retaining wall bricks, and I stacked them double high in an area 30' X 40'. That's a pretty big area. If you look at the Arizona state site for tortoise adoption, they show them using ten foot square habitats. They also have a good instruction there for how to build a burrow, which is how I did it. I did have to renovate it a year later and make it higher as Barstow was having trouble squeezing under. 

You should look at the forum thread with the landscaping ideas for a habitat. People have shared some beautiful things to make a lovely home that would blend into any yard. 

When winter comes, I let Barstow "hibernate" naturally. It's not really hibernation but I forget the correct word. He has a burrow dug down about a foot into the ground, with a thick plywood roof and all the removed dirt piled over it for insulation. When it gets cool, I cover the burrow and especially the opening with several layers of tarp which I remove if the temp is above 50 degrees F and replace when it's below 50. If it gets really cold I put on more layers. Barstow shows no interest in eating the tarp but be careful. He usually sleeps for about 60 days and comes back out on the first warm day (usually around Jan 25), but he may sleep again on and off until spring. I am lucky that I don't have to withhold food from him before hibernation as he always regulates himself. (You want his gut to be empty while he is dormant so food doesn't rot inside his colon). One day in the late fall, he doesn't clean up his food and then he won't eat at all for days, and then he disappears into the burrow. When he comes out, he might look for something to eat right away, but it takes him a while to eat with gusto again). Be very careful in fall and winter to keep his temp above 45 degrees. If it freezes, their eyes can freeze and they can be blinded. 

Pitfalls I've read here: be careful not to leave him out in the sun with no shade. Newbies seem to lose a lot of tortoises thinking since they are desert animals, they should relish the sun. On the contrary, if they are not looking for food, they usually will seek shade or their burrow. If you build him a burrow, he will spend 90 percent of his time in it, but Barstow is very friendly and will always come out if anyone is standing or talking nearby. He also joined us to help dig out his burrow, sat there pushing the ground with his front feet, obviously knowing we were digging a hole for him and he was joining in. 

He's always been in an area when there are potential predators, at least rats and raccoons. We've never had an incident, thank god. I don't close him up at night because he is often out of his burrow before I get up in the morning, but I'm certainly not going to say it's a bad idea. Every dog we've had -- he's outlived eight! -- has paid very little attention to him after the first moments, but there are plenty of stories here about a dog tearing off a leg so be careful about leaving them alone together until you are sure they are ok. 

They are not a high action pet, but I have had many a quiet contemplative hour with Barstow on a blanket in the backyard. I think when you get to know your CDT, you will be surprised at how affectionate they can actually be. Good luck!


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## Christi Collins (Aug 2, 2016)

wow thank you so much for all of the info this will deffinitly help me improve my care for Cini


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## Ciri (Aug 4, 2016)

Christi Collins said:


> This is only photo on hand but I will post better ones tomorrow. I was outside and my cat max fell asleep next to him. Sorry about the bad quality
> 
> View attachment 181373


Very cute young tortoise! I see that the cat is appropriately bored by it all LOL!

If you're interested, and haven't already discovered this information, you might like to check out this list of Native foods for desert tortoises (California and Sonoran desert tortoises are cared for the same):
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/tortoise/documents/NativePlantsforDesertTortoises_2008.pdf

A good source of seeds (they even have a desert tortoise wildflower mix):
http://shop.nativeseeds.org/pages/seeds

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has excellent info compiled by reptile specialist veterinarians:
http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/tap_tortcare.php

I prefer to have water constantly available. I find adult desert tortoises won't drink on a daily basis, but youngsters often do.

I hope I'm not overwhelming you with information. Keep us posted as to how your youngster is doing. I'm sure that he will be thrilled to be moving to 9 acres. I used to take my desert box turtle for walks when we lived next to an open desert area. She loved it.


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## Christi Collins (Aug 7, 2016)

thanks soo much for all the information


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