# Found Little Guy, Need Help!



## Tubular13 (Mar 10, 2020)

Hello, tortoises aren’t my go to. I keep Red Eared Sliders so I am way out of league here.
My mom was visiting and told me that one of my RES had escaped to the backyard, which if you know about aquatic turtles this can catch you off guard quickly. I went to go check and I found this little guy hiding under the wheel of my giant toolbox.
He appeared very lethargic and dehydrated. I have soaked him twice and has come to life but I feel he may be having problems opening his jaw. I put some mixed greens and strawberries in and he just kind of head butted it. I am working on getting a proper setup tomorrow but I need help identifying species and possible shell rot (or whatever the tortoise equivalent is). There appears to be a white nodule on the plastron by the neck and the end of its tail seems to have been rubbed or rotted to the bone?
Any help is greatly appreciated as I am quickly becoming emotionally involved in this situation,


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## Randy Micheals (Mar 11, 2020)

Poor guy looks a little weathered. Good for you for taking him in. Wondering what species he is hmmm.


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## bouaboua (Mar 11, 2020)

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I believe what you have is a *Texas tortoise* (_Gopherus berlandieri_ ). And looks like a wild one, not an escaped pet. I'm not sure AZ's laws allows you to pick them up or not, but you already have him/her in your care, so you may not want to release him/her back into wild after you nourishing him/her back to health condition. 

You can find lots information in this forum from below link:





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North American Tortoises (genus Gopherus)


Desert, Texas, and Gopher tortoises




www.tortoiseforum.org


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## Toddrickfl1 (Mar 11, 2020)

It's that pink paint on one of the scutes? If so that's an escaped pet.


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## Randy Micheals (Mar 11, 2020)

I wondered that also. I went to see some hatchlings by a breeder in Vancouver and he had marked each that was spoken for with tiny dots.


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## Toddrickfl1 (Mar 11, 2020)

Randy Micheals said:


> I wondered that also. I went to see some hatchlings by a breeder in Vancouver and he had marked each that was spoken for with tiny dots.


Yes that's how breeders identify them.


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## Yvonne G (Mar 11, 2020)

Since you're in Arizona, I'm going with Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafki). A bird has probably carried it off from where his keeper was allowing it outside for sun. They are protected by the State.


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## Tubular13 (Mar 11, 2020)

Thanks for all the replies! Quick Update I have contacted the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum who runs the tortoise adoption of native species in Tucson to cover me legally. Waiting for them to get back to me.
The little guy had a white grayish excrement this morning which I figured is a good sign of somewhat getting rehydrated. More updates to come soon.


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## Maggie3fan (Mar 11, 2020)

Toddrickfl1 said:


> Yes that's how breeders identify them.


I used to 'head start' Gopherus agassizzi hatchlings for my sister...I'd get them 15 to 20 at a time...so I used fingernail polish so I could monitor them, who's eating, drinking , and what not...I also did it to my box turtles for the same reason...and I still have one that is probably 10 yrs old and still has glitter polish on his scute...lol


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## DesertGirl (Mar 13, 2020)

Tubular13 said:


> Hello, tortoises aren’t my go to. I keep Red Eared Sliders so I am way out of league here.
> My mom was visiting and told me that one of my RES had escaped to the backyard, which if you know about aquatic turtles this can catch you off guard quickly. I went to go check and I found this little guy hiding under the wheel of my giant toolbox.
> He appeared very lethargic and dehydrated. I have soaked him twice and has come to life but I feel he may be having problems opening his jaw. I put some mixed greens and strawberries in and he just kind of head butted it. I am working on getting a proper setup tomorrow but I need help identifying species and possible shell rot (or whatever the tortoise equivalent is). There appears to be a white nodule on the plastron by the neck and the end of its tail seems to have been rubbed or rotted to the bone?
> Any help is greatly appreciated as I am quickly becoming emotionally involved in this situation,
> ...


Looks like a Sonoran Desert Tortoise. Looks just like mine! They are real sweeties.


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## Cocorene' (Mar 18, 2020)

Any updates?


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## queen koopa (Mar 18, 2020)

DesertGirl said:


> Looks like a Sonoran Desert Tortoise. Looks just like mine! They are real sweeties.


How old are they when they are that size?


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## DesertGirl (Mar 18, 2020)

queen koopa said:


> How old are they when they are that size?


I have no idea. We are only guessing the age of ours at 10 years. We have had her 3 years. She is 9” and weighs 4.4 lbs


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