# Colorado tortoise and turtle owners



## GeoTerraTestudo (Sep 18, 2011)

I've noticed that there are some other tortoise- and turtle-owners here in Colorado. Seems like quite a few of us are down in Colorado Springs (not me), and a lot of us own Russians (as do I). So here's a chance for us Colorado tort people to chime in. For those of us in Colorado:

1) What part of Colorado do you live in?
2) What species do you own and why?

I'll start. I live in Westminster, Colorado. I used to own 2 three-toed box turtles here, and they did very well. I rehomed them when I moved away, but when I came back I got two Russian tortoises, because I think they are well suited to the climate here.


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## chase thorn (Sep 18, 2011)

My girlfriend (claireabbo) and i live here in colorado springs in the briargate area! we both have Russians and my dad owns two adult sulcatas. i had the idea to get a russian for the fact that i have had my sulcatas for over 11 years now and wanted one that i can call my own. so i thought why not get a russian! as i wanted one, my girlfriend wanted one the second i showed them to her. we have had them for little over a month and luckily i found this site before we got them.TFO has helped alot!! 

nice to see others from ColoRADo


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Sep 18, 2011)

chase thorn said:


> My girlfriend (claireabbo) and i live here in colorado springs in the briargate area! we both have Russians and my dad owns two adult sulcatas. i had the idea to get a russian for the fact that i have had my sulcatas for over 11 years now and wanted one that i can call my own. so i thought why not get a russian! as i wanted one, my girlfriend wanted one the second i showed them to her. we have had them for little over a month and luckily i found this site before we got them.TFO has helped alot!!
> 
> nice to see others from ColoRADo



Cool! Say, what do you guys do with your sulcata in the wintertime? How is he doing?


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## chase thorn (Sep 18, 2011)

we have a huge room in our heated basement with pond lining and substrate on top. with uvb lights and heaters! its a nice little set up.

at my dads house that is! he is the keeper of the sullies:]


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## Claireabbo (Sep 19, 2011)

im chase thorns girlfriend  i love colorado and we both live in briargate area. but we go up to denver alot as i see you are from denver  we go through there on the way to certain ski resorts!  (one of the best parts of colorado eh?) have you been to one of the reptile expos in denver? i hear there is one on november 12th. oh and i think there should be more colorado owners on here!


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## dbeilfuss (Sep 19, 2011)

Hi,
I am Desiree and I live in Delta, a very small town approx 6 hrs from CO Springs. It is on the opposite side of the State from everyone else so far. 

My family and I have just adopted Sheldon-a ten yr old Sulcata from CORHS in Longmont. My kids and I fell in love with CA desert torts on a recent trip to CA. When I got back I started doing research (which is when I found TFO!!!!) and wondered upon the local reptile rescue that had many torts that were looking for homes. Saw some pics of Sullies and that was it. Drawn to them and couldn't stop researching and learning about their great personalities and antics from the other people that owned them. 

We love Sheldon and his daily antics already, it has been approx 1 month now since we brought him home. He has been living outside for the last month, as temps have been ok. In the last week or so it has started to get cold and we have been taking him inside our garage-as it is insulated and is much warmer. I do have to say that after three nights of bringing him inside (carrying) I was glad that after a huge rainstorm I came home and he had made his way through the door and into his inside borough-as I was not looking forward to lugging him through the rain and mud to bring him inside for the night. Lucky me-he managed to take care of that on his own. 

We are having an indoor enclosure built that will be approx 9 x 9 with a two foot hide for him to sleep in. He is 24in long and 61lbs as of last week. I can't believe how much he has grown since we brought him home. It will be in our garage all winter and will be heated and have three lights in it to keep him nice and toasty. 

The shelter said that we could let him wonder outside or a little bit each day-even though it is cold-as long as we allow him to areas (ie our garage) where he can get warm....what are your thoughts on this? I want him to be able to choose if he wants to go outside or not....not just keep him trapped inside all winter???? Thoughts????


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Feb 2, 2012)

Hiccups49 said:


> My name is Amanda and I am new to the forum. I currently live in Parker, co but am moving to Littleton. I am getting 2 Russians and am stoked! These will be my very first tortoises but I have been reading about them for 3 years to prepare boy was I wrong about so many things till I found this place!



That's awesome. Congratulations! Parker is beautiful, but I have some friends who live down in Littleton, and it is very nice there, too.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Mar 11, 2012)

dbeilfuss said:


> Hi,
> I am Desiree and I live in Delta, a very small town approx 6 hrs from CO Springs. It is on the opposite side of the State from everyone else so far.
> 
> My family and I have just adopted Sheldon-a ten yr old Sulcata from CORHS in Longmont. My kids and I fell in love with CA desert torts on a recent trip to CA. When I got back I started doing research (which is when I found TFO!!!!) and wondered upon the local reptile rescue that had many torts that were looking for homes. Saw some pics of Sullies and that was it. Drawn to them and couldn't stop researching and learning about their great personalities and antics from the other people that owned them.
> ...



So how has your sulcata withstood the Colorado winter so far? Almost springtime, so it shouldn't be much longer until he can safely go outside. Curious about how you are managing with such a large, tropical reptile in this climate.


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## Tyrtle (Mar 11, 2012)

Hello fellow Coloradans. We live in Arvada, Colorado and just recently adopted two female Russian torts. We selected the Russians because they don't get too large and were described as friendly.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Mar 11, 2012)

Tyrtle said:


> Hello fellow Coloradans. We live in Arvada, Colorado and just recently adopted two female Russian torts. We selected the Russians because they don't get too large and were described as friendly.



Cool! Looks like it's going to get to at least 68*F in the next couple days, so it will soon be tortoise weather again.


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## nickercrombie (Apr 1, 2012)

Hey everyone! Fellow coloradan here! I live in edge water, which is between Arvada and Denver, pretty small town (.7 sq. miles!) anyway, I own a red foot named manny, I believe he's 2 or 3 years old? 

Also, if anyone here is looking for a great reptile store in the Denver area, check out reptilian paradise on 44th and Sheridan!


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Apr 1, 2012)

nickercrombie said:


> Hey everyone! Fellow coloradan here! I live in edge water, which is between Arvada and Denver, pretty small town (.7 sq. miles!) anyway, I own a red foot named manny, I believe he's 2 or 3 years old?
> 
> Also, if anyone here is looking for a great reptile store in the Denver area, check out reptilian paradise on 44th and Sheridan!



Cool, you live about 10 miles south of us then. Thanks for the tip on Reptilian Paradise. Here's another notable Denver Metro Area reptile store - Scale 'N' Tails:

http://scalesntails.info/Default.aspx

I've been to two (out of 6) of their locations, and I think they're great.

Been a great weekend for Mork and Mindy. Plenty of sunshine, plenty of weeds, plenty of time outside. Life is good.


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## nickercrombie (Apr 11, 2012)

I used to go to scales n tails all the time when I had my savannah monitor actually, and two of the (in my opinion) most knowledgeable guys, Andrew and Clint actually had a little falling out with the owner, and started reptilian paradise. Scales n tails stores are definitely great, and they do have a lot of nice knowledgable workers, I feel very fortunate to have reptile stores with legitimately resourceful people working there!


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