# What's this? Identity crisis.



## ActionCatt (Feb 5, 2015)

Hi guys. Brand new user here, although I've lurked this forum all day in hopes of finding a problem similar to mine, to the point of giving up and getting a headache.

So. A neighbor is moving out and she came by asking if I want her pet tortoise. I've kept turtles before and she would come over and watch them swim. I wasn't aware that she had a tortoise herself. So I say sure, and she hands over the box and says she isn't sure what kind it is, but it eats grass and mostly green stuff. And then she leaves. So.. Please if someone could help identify this rather large little guy/girl? Thank you all in advance.


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## mike taylor (Feb 5, 2015)

You're in California aren't you . Desert tortoise thats what you got . Lets hit up the forum glue @ Yvonne for care information .


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## dmmj (Feb 5, 2015)

Gopher tortoise, aka desert tortoise.


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## mike taylor (Feb 5, 2015)

Haha I posted first!


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## ActionCatt (Feb 5, 2015)

Yup California. She also wasn't sure of its age.. Oh I was hoping it wouldn't be one of those sulcata tortoises, they are freakishly huge.


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## wellington (Feb 5, 2015)

Not a sulcata. Nice looking tort. There are laws about them. @yvonne can fill you in.
Congrats and Welcom


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## mike taylor (Feb 5, 2015)

Did she give you any papers with the tort? I ask because you need a permit to keep them . But @yvonne is the one that can help you with all the information you will need . By the way welcome to TFO!


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## dmmj (Feb 5, 2015)

Dom't worry them about laws and permits, the permits are free avaiable from the cttc, and no law against keeping them. oh an being first doesn't count with mods.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 5, 2015)

Hi Catt, and welcome to the forum!

Your tortoise isn't quite full grown. He may get about 4 or 5 more inches longer (in a straight line front to back).

You can contact any of the chapters of California Turtle & Tortoise club for the papers to register your tortoise, and like david said, it's free.


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## mike taylor (Feb 5, 2015)

See David if you was like Jacqui she would've moved my post down one . Haha I'm not up on the laws on keeping California torts so just put it out there . If the first owner had papers do they go with the tort or does new owner have to do it again? If they have to get new papers then how do the wild life office keep up with the numbers of tortoises?


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## bouaboua (Feb 5, 2015)

Hello and Welcome to the Forum...It is a nice looking torts you have over there!! ! !! 

Congrats! ! ! ! !


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## Heather H (Feb 5, 2015)

Hi and welcome. This is a great great place.


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## Heather H (Feb 5, 2015)

If you take a picture of the tail you might be told the sex


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## ActionCatt (Feb 5, 2015)

Sweet! Thanks guys. 
No she didn't give me anything to go with the tortoise, literally just a cardboard box and a carrot. Carrot..?! 

Good to know it's not fully grown yet, but won't grow into a giant. I guess if you all unanimously agree that it a desert tortoise, off I go to Google its lifespan and all the other things I need to know, like hibernation, food preferences, habitat, etc. I used to have a tortoise as a kid but it ran away. The joke's on me lol


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## Heather H (Feb 5, 2015)

ActionCatt said:


> Sweet! Thanks guys.
> No she didn't give me anything to go with the tortoise, literally just a cardboard box and a carrot. Carrot..?!
> 
> Good to know it's not fully grown yet, but won't grow into a giant. I guess if you all unanimously agree that it a desert tortoise, off I go to Google its lifespan and all the other things I need to know, like hibernation, food preferences, habitat, etc. I used to have a tortoise as a kid but it ran away. The joke's on me lol


Enjoy


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## mike taylor (Feb 5, 2015)

You don't need to do a Google search . Thats what TFO does best . Just ask the questions and we will tell you the answers . Google is full of bad information .


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## Heather H (Feb 5, 2015)

mike taylor said:


> You don't need to do a Google search . Thats what TFO does best . Just ask the questions and we will tell you the answers . Google is full of bad information .


Is there a care sheet?


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## dmmj (Feb 5, 2015)

They average 80 years or so life span.


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## mike taylor (Feb 5, 2015)

If I'm not mistaken care is like a sulcata . Right? I don't keep these guys so haven't studied up on them . @yvonne you have a care sheet?


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## ActionCatt (Feb 5, 2015)

So, is he/she/it going to wanna hibernate?? Also, I heard something about bathing it, if so, how often? 
I'll take a picture of its tail later and see if you guys could help figure out if it's a male or a female


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## mike taylor (Feb 5, 2015)

Don't hibernate it this year . It's good to keep a new tortoise up for the first winter in a new place . If its sick or something else is wrong you need time to check him out . Soak it daily in warm water for fifteen minutes a day . They eat grasses, weeds, and cactus . I would start a new thread in the desert tortoise section and make the head line care for new desert tortoise . You'll get more of a response . I wish I could help you more but I don't keep these guys .


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## Jodie (Feb 5, 2015)

Here is a link with some info. I don't keep these guys either. He is beautiful though. Welcome to the forum.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/gopherus-agassizii-california-desert-tortoise.106620/


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## Momof4 (Feb 6, 2015)

Welcome!! Please don't leave and Google!! All your care needs are here! 
You're going to have fun setting up his enclosure and enjoy raising him!


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## Jacqui (Feb 6, 2015)

mike taylor said:


> See David if you was like Jacqui she would've moved my post down one . Haha I'm not up on the laws on keeping California torts so just put it out there . If the first owner had papers do they go with the tort or does new owner have to do it again? If they have to get new papers then how do the wild life office keep up with the numbers of tortoises?



Ummm do not!!


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## Jacqui (Feb 6, 2015)

Lucky you and lucky tortoise. I just love his eyes I that first picture.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 6, 2015)

mike taylor said:


> See David if you was like Jacqui she would've moved my post down one . Haha I'm not up on the laws on keeping California torts so just put it out there . If the first owner had papers do they go with the tort or does new owner have to do it again? If they have to get new papers then how do the wild life office keep up with the numbers of tortoises?



A new keeper sends in a new permit application, noting the old number and asking for a transfer.

(And dmmj is just as qualified to answer these desert tortoise questions as I, but thanks for the vote of confidence)


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## ActionCatt (Feb 6, 2015)

Wow I'm overwhelmed by the awesome responses, thank you all for taking the time to answer my questions. 

I took him to the vet, who says it might be a "her" because the tail is tiny and the bottom of the shell is flat. But it's still very young, apparently. Also I had it scanned for a microchip just in case my neighbor forgot to mention it had been registered to her. Negative.. It's paperless, too. I suppose I'll get started with the permit application. 

One more question, it's sitting in a temporary enclosure, which is a large crate, in the sun, and it's chosen to hide in the shade and go to sleep. During the day.. Is it trying to hibernate? We have a beautiful 78 degrees today in southern California..


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## Ciri (Feb 6, 2015)

She is a beautiful tortoise. it's hard to say whether she is trying to hibernate. It's quite possible. You know whether she was in hibernation when your neighbor brought her over? In any case, we are weeks away from spring, so there wouldn't be much time left to hibernate anyway. 

You asked about tortoise care:
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has excellent info compiled by reptile specialist veterinarian who has cared for the museums desert tortoises for 35 years:

http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/tap_tortcare.php

the San Diego Turtle and Tortoise Society is a great organization:

http://www.sdturtle.org/public_documents/sdtts_goodandbadgardenplants.pdf#!care-sheets/c217k

This is a brochure listing lots of really healthy native foods for desert tortoises:
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

I hope this helps.

Good luck with your desert tortoise.


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## dmmj (Feb 6, 2015)

I imagine the tortoise is trying to regulate it's temp, in a box, it can over heat quickly even in 78 degree weather.


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## smc (Feb 16, 2015)

A picture of the tail would be the best bet. My Pebble was though to be a girl until his growth spurt; looked just like yours. Now he's BIG with horns and glands. Give him/her a yard where you can let the wild field grass and mallows grow - they love that better than store-bought veggies. Pebble goes nuts over prickly pear fruit.


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