# Yet another "please tell me what I have" post.



## TheChubbyMermaid (Sep 10, 2014)

Help help help! I am a new tortoise mom. I want to give the best care to my new fast friends and want to make sure they're properly identified. These little guys were given to me by a coworkers father who lives in Palm Springs California. He say's they're "a desert tortoise," but I want to make sure I don't have a sulcata or something. Are there defining characteristics for a desert tortoise I can use? I can't tell the difference between Russian, sulcata or gopher at ALL, especially since they're so young. So really, these could be another species and I am feeding and caring for them all wrong. 

They've been roughing it in a sweater box filled with smooth gravel until I have their habitat built which I am in the process of doing. I included a rendering... who says animal enrichment can't look awesome? Do you think that would be sufficient until they're large enough to have free range outside? The table is about 3x4 feet. They try and eat everything and I mean EVERYTHING. I want to get dirt/sand/top soil from the desert for their habitat, but I am afraid they will eat it. I read that the babies will eat sand and get impacted... if so that seems like a really weird thing for them to do since they are a desert species. There is sand everywhere in the desert. 

Please excuse the photos of their paper towel habitat as it was their first day. They're so cute, omg their little tortoise bums! And tortoise stacking?! Are you kidding? They snooze like that. So cute in fact that I had to draw them. Hope you like the drawing! 

They were being fed romaine lettuce and I quickly read up on desert tortoise care and added dandelion, hibiscus, mulberry leaves, bermuda grass and clover to their diet. They seem to like it! While I am scrambling around getting their habitat together I take them outside to sun and exercise each day for an hour or so. I still need to get a proper basking lamp and a calcium supplement. 

Any critical hatchling care I should know about? They seem to sleep a lot. I have also determined they both think that the corner of their sweater box is the gateway to Narnia. They keep tying to walk through it... for hours.


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## tortadise (Sep 10, 2014)

Those do indeed look like little desert tortoises. @Yvonne G and @ascott are whom I refer to about this species. They are full of information.


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## TheChubbyMermaid (Sep 10, 2014)

tortadise said:


> Those do indeed look like little desert tortoises. @Yvonne G and @ascott are whom I refer to about this species. They are full of information.


Oh man, thanks. You guys are going to be a great resource.


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## ascott (Sep 10, 2014)

Gopherus agassizii--Mojave Desert
Gopherus berlandieri--Texas tortoise
Gopherus flavomarginatus--Mexico desert
Gopherus morafkai--Sonoran desert 
Gopherus polyphemus--Florida/Southeastern United States

Adorable babies. You have California Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) there on your hands . Here is a pic of some of their natural range;

http://s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/bZTm9yPQaj5mMBmFobqONQ/l.jpg
http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Paul-releasing-tortoise.jpg
http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/E8/E82....Large/Desert-tortoise-feeding-on-flowers.jpg
ttp://cdn2.arkive.org/media/99/9998B473-3489-4F0E-9A36-06F97D024A88/Presentation.Large/Desert-tortoise-eating-plant.jpg
http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/B0/B07...tation.Large/Desert-tortoise-eating-fruit.jpg
http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/B7/B72...sentation.Large/Desert-tortoise-in-burrow.jpg
http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/CF/CF4...rge/Desert-tortoise-in-entrance-to-burrow.jpg


If you notice, the ground is dirt, sand, rock and such....but also notice, that the tortoise do not pick their food up from the ground directly but rather eat bites from the plant...so keep in mind that in captivity when you place food down for the tortoise, please do so on a large piece of stone or on ground that is not heavily sand nor rocks...as a tort will pick up some of the ground while biting food from the ground....

Also, please do offer soaks for these babies at least once a day for 30 minutes in tepid/barely warm water (not cold water)...the substrate can be purchased at the store--something like peat moss is good for eventual compaction.....if you want to collect dirt from outside that will work as well...just be sure to make sure you are not collecting ants in the dirt as well....ick.

While romaine is not a bad food item...if you are able to continue to offer those other items you switched to....that is much much better...especially all of the parts of the dandelion plant...such a great plant. 

This is a highly territorial species, especially if you have two males ....they are too small to accurately sex them...so watch their behavior..."stacking" is also a sign of dominance, so please watch their behavior for ultra subtle signs of dominance and submission....this is not a natural thing for them to live in for any length of time...even though we can not tell yet the sex, I would lay bets that they are already in the know ....lol...

Here is a good site also;

http://www.donsdeserttortoises.com/1.html

You won't need to yet obtain permits for them until they are two or three years old....but that process is easy peasy....


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## TheChubbyMermaid (Sep 10, 2014)

ascott said:


> Gopherus agassizii--Mojave Desert
> Gopherus berlandieri--Texas tortoise
> Gopherus flavomarginatus--Mexico desert
> Gopherus morafkai--Sonoran desert
> ...



Thanks! Helpful info! I grew up in the middle of the Mojave so I know a bit about them, but not how to identify them from similar looking species. Are there tell-tale signs you look for?

I'm quite happy about them being CDT! I was hoping it was a native species since I live in California! I will of course register them once they are larger, I've already looked into it. 

If I were to get soil from the desert can I just freeze it to kill any bugs or parasites? Currently I have filled their tub with smooth gravel (more like river pebbles) They're about 1/4" pieces with some larger stones for terrane. Is that not appropriate? Is pete a better choice? The only selections available at PetCo was sand. 

That is very good into about their grazing being higher than ground level. I have been noticing the babies having difficulty getting food from the reptile dish I just bought them. They seemed to eat better on the flat raised rock I was using as a makeshift food platter. I will continue to feed them native plants and hopefully I can get my back yard in order to grow enough weeds for their meals. 

Soaking... got it. I will do more of that. When I got the tortoises one of them has some peeling on the lower part of it's shell. It's really active though and eats fine. Does that kind of thing resolve or so I need to do anything special.

So many questions! Sorry, but thank you so much for your time and info. I want to be a good tortoise friend.


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## Gillian M (Sep 10, 2014)

They're *SO* cute. take good care of them.


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## tortadise (Sep 10, 2014)

Polyphemus has kinda a flattened carapace.
Berlandieri has an oblong shape. They widen towards the posterior or flanking marginals(these are the smallest gopherus)
Bolsens(flavomarginata) are the largest. These can very tough to differentiate from Mohave. They both have green eyes. But the bolsens typically have smoother scales on the forelimbs.


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## Tom (Sep 10, 2014)

I typed this up for Russian tortoises, but I start DT babies exactly the same and it works amazingly well. Many babies die of dehydration related issues. NONE of the babies I start this way die. They thrive!

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

This is a good one too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/


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## Gillian M (Sep 10, 2014)

Thanks very much your help. I'll see a site with photos due to the fact that I'm not very familiar with torts names yet. My tort is NOT large in size, it's greenish in colour, and very friendly so long as the weather is HOT or at least WARM. It ONLY eats lettuce, though I've tried feeding it all sorts of things but it just wouldn't eat if it's not lettuce. I sometimes wonder: "Didn't it get bored of the same food for over three years?"


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## Gillian M (Sep 10, 2014)

Tom said:


> I typed this up for Russian tortoises, but I start DT babies exactly the same and it works amazingly well. Many babies die of dehydration related issues. NONE of the babies I start this way die. They thrive!
> 
> http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
> 
> ...


Hi Tom, I've been looking for a photo of a tort similar to mine since I got your message and found a DESERT TORT which looks very much like mine, only mine is green and not grey.


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## bouaboua (Sep 10, 2014)

They are so cute.......How come I never have a friend like yours.....I'm so envy of you now........Kidding. 

Please keep us posted of this two cutie...


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## Yvonne G (Sep 10, 2014)

Hi and welcome to the Forum!

In the first picture, sitting on your palm, the eyes are closed, and in one of the other pictures the eyes look sort of squinty. I think these babies are terribly dehydrated. Soak them every day in warm water for at least 15 minutes.

And, Gillian, you might have a water turtle then because I don't think there are any green tortoises.


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## Gillian M (Sep 10, 2014)

Yvonne G said:


> Hi and welcome to the Forum!
> 
> In the first picture, sitting on your palm, the eyes are closed, and in one of the other pictures the eyes look sort of squinty. I think these babies are terribly dehydrated. Soak them every day in warm water for at least 15 minutes.
> 
> And, Gillian, you might have a water turtle then because I don't think there are any green tortoises.


 I very much doubt it is a water turtle, though I'll admit I'm not sure.


Yvonne G said:


> Hi and welcome to the Forum!
> 
> In the first picture, sitting on your palm, the eyes are closed, and in one of the other pictures the eyes look sort of squinty. I think these babies are terribly dehydrated. Soak them every day in warm water for at least 15 minutes.
> 
> And, Gillian, you might have a water turtle then because I don't think there are any green tortoises.


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## TheChubbyMermaid (Sep 10, 2014)

Yvonne G said:


> Hi and welcome to the Forum!
> 
> In the first picture, sitting on your palm, the eyes are closed, and in one of the other pictures the eyes look sort of squinty. I think these babies are terribly dehydrated. Soak them every day in warm water for at least 15 minutes.
> 
> And, Gillian, you might have a water turtle then because I don't think there are any green tortoises.



Oh no! Well that's a bit worrisome. I will soak them as soon as I get home. I've had them maybe a week and a half and I have stuck them in a warm puddle twice. Do I need to just keep the water warm? The water gets cold pretty fast...

They also have a shallow rock bowl that I have seen the larger of the tortoise hang out in a few times. 

Thanks for the care tips. I will soak them.


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## Yvonne G (Sep 10, 2014)

No, I'm not talking about any kind of puddle or drinker, I mean a dish pan or plastic tub that the babies can't climb out of. Sit it on the kitchen counter and add enough warm water so it comes up to the middle of the tortoises' sides. Leave them there for at least 15 minutes...even if they start scrambling to get out. And the water won't get any colder than the temperature in the house.


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