# Epoxy for affixing ID tag on shell



## Sa Ga (Oct 5, 2021)

After 2 years of weighing options, I was going to get Morla, my Russian tort, micro chipped. I already have a little pink plastic chicken leg band on her so that if someone found her, they would have some indication she's a pet but this of course is hardly enough. (I can't put a tag on her though bc it would be cumbersome and could hurt or pinch her if she pulled her leg in.)

I have tried to get some sort of harness or halter to put on her, but bc of torties' unique anatomy, it isn't secure, or could get caught on something, or she can get herself out of it/it can shift and end up hurting/constricting her.

I would like to find some way to give my contact info that is secure (like a microchip is) but also readily visible, as most ppl wouldn't think to check for a chip and assume she's "just a wild turtle."

I brought her to my vet last week for her yearly "well baby" ? check up and was going to get her chipped then. However, my vet (she's one of the vets for the Mall of America's Sea Life) did mention when I asked of risks, that chips can travel and with small torts like Russians, this isn't a small concern.

I decided NOT to chip her and she was going to brainstorm and ask some colleagues. 

The consensus was the best way to achieve ready visibility and completeness of info is to EPOXY A TINY TAG TO A SCUTE (avoiding the edges and space between the scutes).

She started to research possible epoxy products, and one found was LocTite. She wasn't familiar with it though, and said I should research further for epoxy that:
1.) Does NOT heat up as it cures (AKA sets or "dries")..
2.) Does NOT require heat (such as a blow-dryer) to cure.
3 ) Cures quickly.
4.) Is thicker (so it isn't runny and going all over the place).
5.) "Dries" clear.
6.) Cures as a non-toxic substance.

Does anyone know of a product that would be safe to use or has used over time and had success/no adverse effects?

Heya, @Tom, @ZEROPILOT, @KarenSoCal, @Maggie, @Yvonne, thoughts?


Thanks so much!!!
~Sara and Morla


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## Sa Ga (Oct 5, 2021)

Sa Ga said:


> After 2 years of weighing options, I was going to get Morla, my Russian tort, micro chipped. I already have a little pink plastic chicken leg band on her so that if someone found her, they would have some indication she's a pet but this of course is hardly enough. (I can't put a tag on her though bc it would be cumbersome and could hurt or pinch her if she pulled her leg in.)
> 
> I have tried to get some sort of harness or halter to put on her, but bc of torties' unique anatomy, it isn't secure, or could get caught on something, or she can get herself out of it/it can shift and end up hurting/constricting her.
> 
> ...





Sa Ga said:


> After 2 years of weighing options, I was going to get Morla, my Russian tort, micro chipped. I already have a little pink plastic chicken leg band on her so that if someone found her, they would have some indication she's a pet but this of course is hardly enough. (I can't put a tag on her though bc it would be cumbersome and could hurt or pinch her if she pulled her leg in.)
> 
> I have tried to get some sort of harness or halter to put on her, but bc of torties' unique anatomy, it isn't secure, or could get caught on something, or she can get herself out of it/it can shift and end up hurting/constricting her.
> 
> ...



Oops! I meant @Yvonne G !


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## wellington (Oct 5, 2021)

Why not just build an outdoor enclosure that is escape proof?
Put fencing on the ground letting grass and weeds still grow thru and prevents digging out. Use side walls that is either wood with overhang inward on the top or cinder blocks that has the top row over hanging inward just a bit. 
Or put a wire top on the whole enclosure and then no need for over hang


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## Sa Ga (Oct 5, 2021)

wellington said:


> Why not just build an outdoor enclosure that is escape proof?
> Put fencing on the ground letting grass and weeds still grow thru and prevents digging out. Use side walls that is either wood with overhang inward on the top or cinder blocks that has the top row over hanging inward just a bit.
> Or put a wire top on the whole enclosure and then no need for over hang



Lol. Well, besides the fact that anything can happen and every place is escape proof--until it's not! (Ie - things wear or break, torties are persistent, and simply things unforeseen occur), I live in MN where it is far too cold to have her outside all the time. (And honestly, I think I'd worry too much about her if she was!)

So when she is out, she is fully supervised. HOWEVER, in that moment of "supervision weakness" (I somehow get distracted "for just a moment," I fall down and go unconscious, or aliens abduct me for an afternoon! ?), I want to make sure she could find her way back to me, finder-willing! 

All joking aside, you never know what could happen at any time. (A huge storm just blew thru here last month, tearing my metal 8' x10' shed from its base, and dropping it in my neighbor's yard--also uprooting their huge Ash tree and flattening their neighbor's fence. Imagine what that could do to my escape proof enclosure! And I actually DID take a freak tumble the other day and fell hard enough to even smack my cheek on the pavement! She wasn't out w/ me at that time, but again, you just never know! Aliens likely excepted, I suppose... ?) And since everyone who ever sees her asks me, "What pond did you find her in?" it might, at the very least, prevent some well-meaning someone from tossing her into one nearest to them or even just letting her go, period.


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## Tom (Oct 5, 2021)

Sa Ga said:


> After 2 years of weighing options, I was going to get Morla, my Russian tort, micro chipped. I already have a little pink plastic chicken leg band on her so that if someone found her, they would have some indication she's a pet but this of course is hardly enough. (I can't put a tag on her though bc it would be cumbersome and could hurt or pinch her if she pulled her leg in.)
> 
> I have tried to get some sort of harness or halter to put on her, but bc of torties' unique anatomy, it isn't secure, or could get caught on something, or she can get herself out of it/it can shift and end up hurting/constricting her.
> 
> ...


The readers for micro chips penetrate several inches into the animals body. In a little bitty Russian tortoise even if the chip did migrate, the reader will still pick it up.

Will @Kapidolo Farms and I have been talking about this lately. He knows all these systems and how they work and is very familiar with all of it.

I've never glued a tag on to a tortoise shell, and I'm no epoxy expert either.

Your tortoise should never be out loose. It should only be in the escape proof enclosure. Your tortoise won't be outside during a big storm like that anyway. Freak accidents can always happen, but the point is to do your best. If you keep doing this, you will almost certainly lose your tortoise eventually.


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## KarenSoCal (Oct 6, 2021)

Sa Ga said:


> Does anyone know of a product that would be safe to use or has used over time and had success/no adverse effects?
> 
> Thanks so much!!!
> ~Sara and Morla


I looked at different possibilities when I had my DT, Chug. I wanted something that would not get scraped off during underground adventures.

I use Tiles on some of my belongings, so I thought of using them. That idea didn't last long due to multiple reasons. Trying to find a suitable spot on his shell was impossible, since the tiles were way bigger than any of his scutes. And if he was underground, I doubted that the bluetooth system would be able to locate him, especially since the range is 300ft.

I considered microchipping, but like you, I don't think anyone around here would think of checking for a chip.

The high-tech solution I used was to write my phone # on a piece of paper and glue it to his shell. I put it on a marginal scute just above his rear leg, and covered it with something clear. I'm not sure, but I think I used clear-drying J & B Weld, the kind you get 2 tubes and mix them together.

The paper stayed on and remained legible for at least a year, then I replaced it.


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## Krista S (Oct 6, 2021)

@Sa Ga I don’t have any advice or personal experience to offer, however I think it’s great that you’re trying to provide identification if your tortoise were to find a way to escape. Russians are called escape artists for a reason, so I’d rather be safe than sorry too. I look forward to seeing what you end up doing. I agree with what you said too about inserting the chip. If your tortoise were to escape, the vast majority of people wouldn’t think to take the tortoise to a vet to see if it had been chipped. 

@KarenSoCal your cutting edge high-tech method is awesome! Simple and effective. Thanks for sharing that.


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