# First Post!



## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

Hello everyone! This is my first post so I figure I would introduce a couple of my Mojave's! 

This is Lucy our only female, she has a separate enclosure away from the boys:






And this is Zeus, Duke, and Gus eating one of their varied meals:





Here is the meal (Mulberry leaves, Squash, Mustard Greens, and ZooMeds Grassland Tortoise Diet, and a little Spinach):





Thanks for looking! I hope I get to see some of your Desert Tortoises! I really need some new enclosure ideas! ha!


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## jaizei (Aug 3, 2011)

Welcome, they look good.


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## african cake queen (Aug 3, 2011)

hello, nice pictures! lindy


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## Laura (Aug 3, 2011)

very cool. do they grass to graze on?


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## dmarcus (Aug 3, 2011)

Hello and welcome to the forum, those are some very nice tortoises


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## jackrat (Aug 3, 2011)

Nice torts! Welcome to the forum.


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## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

momo said:


> hello, nice pictures! lindy



Thank you both! Its odd to here someone say that Gus (the tortoise on the far left) looks "good" haha. He was a rescue that was pulled from a backyard in the city. The owners moved out the winter and left him while he was hibernating then in the spring when he woke up the new owners had 3 dogs that liked to chew...They completely ate his gular horn, leaving a huge wound that was infected and infested with maggots The dogs also chewed of the marginal scutes above his head and all four legs. He also suffered some severe damage to his front and back legs and now walks with a sort of limp. We got him just in time and were able to clean all of his wounds thoroughly and flush all of the maggots from his neck and chest. We have now had him for about 11 years and he has become a local mascot and teaching tool for people interested in adopting a Mojave Desert Tortoise. . 







Laura said:


> very cool. do they grass to graze on?



Yes, they have the run of the front yard once a week which is full of grass and weeds for them.


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## wrmitchell22 (Aug 3, 2011)

They are gorgeous and happy looking torts, so glad you rescued Gus! Welcome to TFO


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## coreyc (Aug 3, 2011)

Welcome what a nice group of tort's you have


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## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

dalano73 said:


> Hello and welcome to the forum, those are some very nice tortoises



Thank you very much! Zeus and Lucy have been in captivity their whole lives about 85 years now! Believe it or not we have proof of this! So they are basically spoiled here. lol


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

Welcome! They are all beautiful.....how long have you had them? Love the CDTs


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## dmarcus (Aug 3, 2011)

Thats cool, I am originally from Las Vegas and of course we had Majave Max as our local mascot...


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## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

wrmitchell22 said:


> They are gorgeous and happy looking torts, so glad you rescued Gus! Welcome to TFO



Thank you very much! and so am I! he's a trooper!



ascott said:


> Welcome! They are all beautiful.....how long have you had them? Love the CDTs



Thank you! Its hard to keep up with responding to you all! This is great! I feel very welcomed! haha! 

I have had Zeus and Duke the longest about 12 years then we got Gus about 11 years ago then finally we got lucy about 7-8 years ago.


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

Very cool......do they live outside 24/7?


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## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

dalano73 said:


> Thats cool, I am originally from Las Vegas and of course we had Majave Max as our local mascot...



I know mojave max! lol Awesome Tortoise for sure not at all cocky over the publicity he gets! 

Have you heard of the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center outside of Vegas?


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

I know of the conservation center.....


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## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

ascott said:


> Very cool......do they live outside 24/7?



Yes 24/7...They all have established burrows and plenty of shade if they want it but they do manage to sneak in and cool off once in a while though...especially now with this heat. Me being from Barstow and you from AV we basically suffer the same! 



ascott said:


> I know of the conservation center.....



Nice! I actually worked on a book called "Tortoise through Lens" and we got to go put in some hours there and work with some hatchling and injured Torts as well as release some adults! It was awesome! Dr. Kahn is an awesome person who has alot of help there but I have been meaning to get back out there to help anyway! ha


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## dmarcus (Aug 3, 2011)

The Mojave Kid said:


> dalano73 said:
> 
> 
> > Thats cool, I am originally from Las Vegas and of course we had Majave Max as our local mascot...
> ...



Yes I have, it was mainly started to preserve wild tortoises that were being dislocated because of they growth and development of Las Vegas. They do great work out there..


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

Awesome...and yup we share the same weather....how did they do with the crazy volume of rain and freezing weather at the start of the year? I was not able to leave mine out for the entire winter....actually had to dig em out by hand ....we were subjected to crazy amounts of rain /flooding as we live below the mountains a out a mile below the base.....I have always been an advocate for letting them remain outside 24/7 and pretty much still am....but kinda sucks because I don't know if I will chance it again this coming winter.....?

Very nice....I have spoken with Dave Lamfrom a bit about natural viewing sites that are guaranteed CDT sightings as well as Bighorn Sheep viewing.....I have a friend at DEFY that I was privileged to assist in the release of tort back into the desert out by you...luckily the person who helped the tortoise out had the sense to not allow anything to come into co.tact with the wild tort and called right away so the tortoise was eligible to be put back....so very cool and nerv racking making sure they go back to advantageous spot.....I have four adult males....they all have separate yards as they are all full of themselves LOL my except my old man--he has horrible eye sight and so he has a yard right up next to the front porch and sleeps indoors at night for his safety....


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## Shelly (Aug 3, 2011)

Why does this one look like it's covered with ashes?


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

Shelly that is just dried mud...my guys get like that as well....especially if it has rained and they burrow :}


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## Jacob (Aug 3, 2011)

Awesome!


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## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

ascott said:


> Awesome...and yup we share the same weather....how did they do with the crazy volume of rain and freezing weather at the start of the year? I was not able to leave mine out for the entire winter....actually had to dig em out by hand ....we were subjected to crazy amounts of rain /flooding as we live below the mountains a out a mile below the base.....I have always been an advocate for letting them remain outside 24/7 and pretty much still am....but kinda sucks because I don't know if I will chance it again this coming winter.....?
> 
> Very nice....I have spoken with Dave Lamfrom a bit about natural viewing sites that are guaranteed CDT sightings as well as Bighorn Sheep viewing.....I have a friend at DEFY that I was privileged to assist in the release of tort back into the desert out by you...luckily the person who helped the tortoise out had the sense to not allow anything to come into co.tact with the wild tort and called right away so the tortoise was eligible to be put back....so very cool and nerv racking making sure they go back to advantageous spot.....I have four adult males....they all have separate yards as they are all full of themselves LOL my except my old man--he has horrible eye sight and so he has a yard right up next to the front porch and sleeps indoors at night for his safety....





Yeah the beginning of this year was pretty harsh and normally what I do is fill the burrows with leaf litter then cover the entrances but Two of my males recently decided to "re-arrange" their burrows so This past hibernation I actually had to move them into boxes in our garage because the burrows now flood. Just a couple of days ago when we had that downpour here Zeus's burrow actually filled up with him in it without me knowing! But I came out to find him sitting outside of his burrow angry because he had to move more than he wanted! hahah He actually even tried to go back into the flooded burrow! I found that really weird..But I am an advocate for leaving them as well. Everything thing they need occurs naturally here so why mess with a good thing! lol

And David is a very good friend of mine and he is one of the best people I know! And thats awesome! Releasing a rehab tortoise is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done! I can see where you are coming from with the males...all of mine are in one large enclosure for now which is soon to be split into smaller individual ones but they are typical males especially in the spring when its time to breed! lol And aww poor old tort those ones need the most love for sure! Glad they found a good home in you! 



Shelly said:


> Why does this one look like it's covered with ashes?



Yeah sorry! Black and white probably wasn't the best choice but its all i had! lol It is just dry mud and its from her waterlogged burrow. I promise I don't stoke my fire place with her!


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

I think I will likely winter box my guys this winter....I can't handle the stress LOL...and last year during the crazy rain/flooding I had to patrol one of my guys burrow as it was flooding and he was so hidden I could not get to him safely for him...so rubber boots, rain slicker and spade shovel in hand kept the water from flooding in by every 20-30 minutes digging/clearing trenches routing water away from his burrow...and he had no idea of the treachery at ground level LOL...my son was my time announcer....every 20 minutes he would say...time to check on Haus ....very funny, now


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## Yvonne G (Aug 3, 2011)

Shelly said:


> Why does this one look like it's covered with ashes?



Because its a black and white picture???

Hi The Mojave Kid:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know your name and where you are (Barstow?)?

Here's a shot of my desert tortoise habitat:






That's Mi-shell in the picture. She's my first desert tortoise and is about 70 years old (she was full grown when I got her about 35 years ago. The smaller pens in front of the big pen are quarantine and Texas tortoise pens, and the pen at the bottom of the picture is where Dudley (sulcata) lives.


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

Yvonne, I love when you flash pics of your place...am SOOOOOO jealous of all of the green.....I can feel the cool breeze whispering through your trees now....ahhhh, margarita in hand feet up on a tree stump watching the tortoise go by... ahhh, thanks for the moment


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## The Mojave Kid (Aug 3, 2011)

Hi The Mojave Kid:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know your name and where you are (Barstow?)?

Oh jeez I knew i forgot something! haha sorry! 

Heres a little Bio:

My name is Lucas Basulto I am a 20 year old Undergraduate preparing to transfer to either UAT (University of Arizona Tucson) or HSU (Humboldt State) to major in Environmental Biology and Applied Vertebrate Ecology. I have really been around DT's since I was about 5 years young and I have been hooked ever since! I have done a few internships with the Mojave National Preserve/National Park Service surveying power lines in the preserve to get a count on hatchling-juvenile mortality rates brought on by raven predation. Also like I mentioned, I am published in a book about desert tortoises, "Tortoise Through the Lens", that is probably my proudest achievement because 100% the proceeds go directly to Desert Tortoise conservation. So I encourage you all to check it out! (Aside from my shameless plug) I simply love my shelled comrades and I plan to return to this desert to aid in the fight to preserve this species. As some of you may know the Desert Tortoise EAST of the colorado river have been classified as _Gopherus morafkai_ which means the range of _Gopherus agassizii_ has now been reduced to 30% of what it once was. So I hope to help as much as I can! Oh and yes I live in Barstow. 

Also Emysemys: that is a beautiful set-up you have there! You have some lucky tortoises! I wish I had that much room! haha


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## ALDABRAMAN (Aug 3, 2011)




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## Angi (Aug 3, 2011)

WELCOME!


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