# if you lost your turtle or tortoise - do not give up the search!



## the Turtle Shepherd (May 18, 2017)

my red eared slider ran off multiple times, thanks to group effort he was found by a neighbor who put him in a tub from which he again escaped and headed down to the next neighbor, anyway a week later he was returned home, the yard was proofed though he escaped multiple times into the yard during enclosure renovations after - he, believe it or not, would return on his own to the back door of the house.
all i want to say is do not give up your search, door to door is better than flyers, the neighbors were going to keep him, we were new to the area back then and did not know them.
Do search, do knock on doors and alert the neighbors, there is alway hope.
and never leave any type of turtle/tortoise unattended in unfenced areas - it literally takes 60 seconds before they will become one with the landscape. 
it took me a couple years to figure out that pretty much concrete and cinder blocks are the only way to stop him, because the things he climbed are crazy!
anyway, be safe.


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## ZEROPILOT (May 18, 2017)

Most of our lost tortoise stories have happy endings.
Each story shared can help another keeper not lose theirs.


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## Yvonne G (May 18, 2017)

. . . and sometimes they're not really lost at all.

I have three male leopard tortoises in a very large, well-planted yard - two SA leopards and the sole manager of my Babcock breeding factory. Every night I walk the yards making sure all the tortoises are safe in their houses. For a week I haven't been able to find Benawes, a young SA leopard tortoise. I saw him and the factory manager fighting behind the rose bush one night, and I separated them, and for about a week or so after that I couldn't find Benawes. I knew he hadn't climbed the fence, but who knows if he may have been stolen or not. 

Every night I looked for him, poking a stick into the tall grass and getting down on my hands and knees looking under bushes. No luck. Then, last night, when I looked in the shed, there he was. I have no idea where he had been hiding, but was very glad to have him back!


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## ZEROPILOT (May 18, 2017)

Yvonne G said:


> . . . and sometimes they're not really lost at all.
> 
> I have three male leopard tortoises in a very large, well-planted yard - two SA leopards and the sole manager of my Babcock breeding warehouse. Every night I walk the yards making sure all the tortoises are safe in their houses. For a week I haven't been able to find Benawes, a young SA leopard tortoise. I saw him and the warehouse manager fighting behind the rose bush one night, and I separated them, and for about a week or so after that I couldn't find Benawes. I knew he hadn't climbed the fence, but who knows if he may have been stolen or not.
> 
> Every night I looked for him, poking a stick into the tall grass and getting down on my hands and knees looking under bushes. No luck. Then, last night, when I looked in the shed, there he was. I have no idea where he had been hiding, but was very glad to have him back!


They DO blend. Don't they?
I've had Redfoot take a few steps in the yard and disappear.


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## Big Charlie (May 18, 2017)

Once when Charlie was small I lost him on our ranch. A few days later he showed up at the back door. So it is true, they often show up.


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## Moozillion (May 19, 2017)

My Hermanns' outdoor enclosure is only 18' x 20' and the centermost part is taken up by her nighthouse. In addition to the shrubs I have planted in it, I let the gras grow really long. Oak trees overhang part of the enclosure, so piles of oak leaves are in it too. Nonetheless, it really doesn't seem like it should be so hard to find a 7+ inch long tortoise, but she often foils us. Like Yvonne, I have gotten down on my hands and knees, poking into all the leaf piles, tall grasses and pulling aside the shrubs, trying to find her. After the THIRD consecutive time of me and my hubby combing her enclosure from end to end, suddenly we see a little movement and THERE SHE IS, standing right in front of us!! I don't know how she does it! 
We figure she must have stealth ninja camouflage skills!!!


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## silvaricci (May 2, 2021)

the Turtle Shepherd said:


> my red eared slider ran off multiple times, thanks to group effort he was found by a neighbor who put him in a tub from which he again escaped and headed down to the next neighbor, anyway a week later he was returned home, the yard was proofed though he escaped multiple times into the yard during enclosure renovations after - he, believe it or not, would return on his own to the back door of the house.
> all i want to say is do not give up your search, door to door is better than flyers, the neighbors were going to keep him, we were new to the area back then and did not know them.
> Do search, do knock on doors and alert the neighbors, there is alway hope.
> and never leave any type of turtle/tortoise unattended in unfenced areas - it literally takes 60 seconds before they will become one with the landscape.
> ...


Thanks! I really needed to hear some good news. I lost my 1 year old Hermann’s tortoise two days ago. I’m worried sick and heartbroken.


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## Jan A (May 3, 2021)

silvaricci said:


> Thanks! I really needed to hear some good news. I lost my 1 year old Hermann’s tortoise two days ago. I’m worried sick and heartbroken.


Do not give up. My feral cat, when she gets loose, doesn't go far. Put up signs, knock on doors, post on homeowner's or neighborhood websites, or get the neighborhood kids out looking for your tort. Put his favorite foods out in your backyard or deck. Hang in there!!


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