Babies from Heaven?

[Dianne iin South Florida]

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Here's a picture of a baby gopher tort
Pretty sure that's what you got

Here's a picture of a baby gopher tort
Pretty sure that's what you got

That baby gopher looks just like what I have! Darn, I was really hoping for a long-term pet, all my others have much shorter lifespans. I suppose I will hold on to them and ween them back to living outside and enjoy them till they outgrow the enclosure we just built. Darn I'll have to check with the wildlife people in the State Park where I live and see what they want me to do. And for the other Floridian, Redfoot ( I think that's what your name is its very small print) here, just to let you know I am in Port St Lucie, next to the Savannah State Park, in the only private equestrian area left in this city. It's a huge state I was wondering how far you are, and thank you.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I learned my first lesson on gopher torts and leaving wild animals alone when I was 9 yrs old. There was a park right next to my house called Hampton pines park that ran a gopher tortoise breeding program (late 80's). For some reason I though it be a good idea to bring one home in my wagon (being towed by my big wheel) to keep as a pet. Florida fish and wildlife came knocking on my door shortly after! They were nice about it though and they even let me start coming to the park to help care for the gopher torts!

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm not familiar with FL gopher tortoises, but those are not sulcatas.

I'm afraid the scales on the front legs tell the tale. Those are gopher tortoise babies.

 

[Yvonne G]

View attachment 240546 View attachment 240547 View attachment 240548 View attachment 240549 View attachment 240550 View attachment 240551 View attachment 240552 View attachment 240546 View attachment 240547 View attachment 240548 This Is Shelby

View attachment 240549 View attachment 240551 This is the new one

Shelby now has pink nail polish dots down her back

Shelby is also a gopher tortoise baby.

 

[Redfool]

Brevard county space coast. No need to inform anyone about them. When you relocate them, do close to your property. This is to prevent the spread of localized disease/infection that they may show no sign of, to non local populations that may not have certain immunities that yours could have. Even our local sanctuary won’t take relocates from out of area for that reason.

 

[Redfool]

Had a neighbor put in my backyard a “rescue” that they thought was one of mine. Turned out to be a gopher tort. Never interacted with my RFs (fence within a fence) but it did manage to dig a 6ft burrow straight under the slab of my house. Had to wait for grazing time to get it back into the woods down the street.

 

[Dianne iin South Florida]

Being new I'm not all that familiar with continuing a thread, so here I go my first real member post. Today I spoke to the Florida Gopher Tortoise division, they actually have that. I am waiting for instructions of where they would like me to bring the two babies we found. They will continue being 2 of the luckiest of their age that survive, they are very excited to get them. Now that I have that beautiful habitat that we built & we found the actual communications you can have with raising a baby tortoise, with the Gophers leaving I ordered a baby Sulca from Arizona and expect it on Tuesday. After it settles in I will post pictures I am very happy this experience happened. It was meant to be the new baby will be named Shelby.

 

[Yvonne G]

Be sure to read the sticky threads (those pinned at the top of our Sulcata section) on raising baby sulcatas. I'm afraid you won't be using your new outdoor area for a year or so.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings... here is an adult Florida Gopher Tortoise that we were lucky enough to spot and watch last Fall, near Palm Coast area.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Word of warning, they are like Pringles,
You can't stop at just one....

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It' pretty nice to see. Actually.
I've ived in so. Florida most of my life and I've seen dozens, maybe hundreds of Gophers. But never a wild baby.

 

[Dianne iin South Florida]

Had a neighbor put in my backyard a “rescue” that they thought was one of mine. Turned out to be a gopher tort. Never interacted with my RFs (fence within a fence) but it did manage to dig a 6ft burrow straight under the slab of my house. Had to wait for grazing time to get it back into the woods down the street.

YIKES I will be very careful with my Sulcata not to let it loose!

 

[Dianne iin South Florida]

In a couple of hours, the Baby gophers are being picked up by the wildlife specialist. The decision is to put them in a special breeding program to repopulate the state! It's a nice feeling to have saved them and to let them go to such a wonderful program, knowing they will be kept safe and fed all their lives. Tomorrow I wait patiently for Fedex and my baby hatchling Sulcata from Arizona. For someone who said absolutely no more pets I can't believe I ordered a tortoise. After Road Runner the HUGE MALE Sulcata from a breeder who left 3 torts behind (we rescued him, ) we fed him the best veggies, etc. for 3 years, it cost us so much to feed a full-grown boy, I thought I did not miss him but I do, I must be crazy to want another pet but we made such a nice habitat it really needs to be lived in.

 

[JoesMum]

In a couple of hours, the Baby gophers are being picked up by the wildlife specialist. The decision is to put them in a special breeding program to repopulate the state! It's a nice feeling to have saved them and to let them go to such a wonderful program, knowing they will be kept safe and fed all their lives. Tomorrow I wait patiently for Fedex and my baby hatchling Sulcata from Arizona. For someone who said absolutely no more pets I can't believe I ordered a tortoise. After Road Runner the HUGE MALE Sulcata from a breeder who left 3 torts behind (we rescued him, ) we fed him the best veggies, etc. for 3 years, it cost us so much to feed a full-grown boy, I thought I did not miss him but I do, I must be crazy to want another pet but we made such a nice habitat it really needs to be lived in.

I am so pleased your two babies will going to help conservation of this species. What a happy outcome

And enjoy your new Sulcata... exciting times for you

 

[daniellenc]

A sulcata lol eating machines! I have a red foot. Quite a bit smaller lol.

 

[Dianne iin South Florida]

Gopher Tortoise Dept The City of West Palm Beach is what she had on her official SUV, a very professional woman who also has horses so she was at home with me. She even bought a saddle from my tack shop and is bringing me lots of business to a dying store. She said my babies were about a year old ( shock) and while hunting around the woods we found a huge Gopher hole! She said the first one must have just walked up to my gate out of that huge hole and another little hole is where the second one was found and it was found because it did not get very far digging a new hole near the house before my husband picked it up. A very happy ending.

 

[Tom]

Please read these for care of your new sulcata baby.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Most breeders/sellers start them far too dry. They need to be soaked daily and kept mostly indoors. If your new baby was not soaked daily and if it was kept mostly outside in the AZ sunshine, you might run in to problems.

When they are older, they should be eating mostly grass and grass hay. All that grocery store produce is very expensive and not good for them. They sure like it, in the same way I like hot dogs, bacon cheeseburgers and pizza. Save your money and feed your sulcata grass and grass hay when it gets bigger. You can add in weeds, mulberry leaves, grape leaves and lots more too.

 

[Dianne iin South Florida]

Thank you Tom, I sprayed with water already when I was spraying the coco cair and her bathtub is sitting next to the habitat. (its been here like an hour now.) It's always warm and humid where I live in the tropics of South FL. A perfect place for a Sulcata to grow up. I thought to soak once a week but I will try every other day and spray it daily when I rewet the medium. She's too young to have been ruined in the Arizona sun and being I got her from a breeder as a hatchling she really has no past except for hatching and flying 2k miles in a container. I also like this breeders website, photos, and experience. I feed my horses Orchard Grass and this time of year for the next 9 months orchard mixed with alfalfa. I will put a tiny bit in with her to taste daily get her used to it but I like to use treats like Hibiscus (I have year round) and fresh spinach which we always have in the fridge. We are veggie eaters ourselves and the produce market used to give us tons of veggies they could not sell for the huge Sulcata we fostered. This Sulcata will have a great diet of fresh good food always. I love her already I wish she would wake up the long walk tuckered her out.

 

[Dianne iin South Florida]

She weighed in at 40 grams shell 3 1/4 long. Beleive it of not this was the first time she ducked her self into her shell camera shy!

 

[Tom]

Thank you Tom, I sprayed with water already when I was spraying the coco cair and her bathtub is sitting next to the habitat. (its been here like an hour now.) It's always warm and humid where I live in the tropics of South FL. A perfect place for a Sulcata to grow up. I thought to soak once a week but I will try every other day and spray it daily when I rewet the medium. She's too young to have been ruined in the Arizona sun and being I got her from a breeder as a hatchling she really has no past except for hatching and flying 2k miles in a container. I also like this breeders website, photos, and experience. I feed my horses Orchard Grass and this time of year for the next 9 months orchard mixed with alfalfa. I will put a tiny bit in with her to taste daily get her used to it but I like to use treats like Hibiscus (I have year round) and fresh spinach which we always have in the fridge. We are veggie eaters ourselves and the produce market used to give us tons of veggies they could not sell for the huge Sulcata we fostered. This Sulcata will have a great diet of fresh good food always. I love her already I wish she would wake up the long walk tuckered her out.

I want you to be aware of a few things. Just trying to arm you with knowledge.

• Spraying the coco coir does very little. That will evaporate in minutes. You need to pour water into the substrate to keep it damp. How much and how often varies a lot. Temperature and ambient humidity have a big influence on how quickly the substrate dries out.
• I think you'll find that coco coir is too messy for little sulcatas. I prefer fine grade orchid bark.
• FL is a great place for a baby to grow up. AZ is not. Kidney damage from dryness can literally happen in one day. If this baby is 40 grams, it is more than a day old. Even just a coupe of weeks of dryness is enough to doom them. She is not too young to have been ruined, I am sorry to say.
• I have found a generality over time and it relates to many subjects. People with website and marketing skills are often not the best at producing a quality product. The converse is that the people who are most skilled at producing a quality product are often not very skillful at marketing or making a good website. Just a point to ponder.
• Grass hay is good for older larger sulcatas. Its too large, rough and coarse for babies.
• Go easy with spinach. High in oxalates. A small amount once in a while is okay, just not much and not frequently.
• Hibiscus leaves are great tortoise food, but the grocery store produce isn't. Read this for food suggestions: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
• Your baby needs to be soaked every day. In the wild they hatch into the hot, rainy, humid, monsoon season. There are puddles, marshes and green growing food everywhere. Hydration is key to their survival. Most websites, breeders, vets, and "experts" are not aware of this and will tell people the opposite. Some people are starting to get the message that water isn't the enemy and we are seeing advice that runs the spectrum from "they get all their water from food" to "soak once a week" to "every other day" to "daily". Daily is the right answer, but not everyone has caught on to this yet.

I sincerely hope your baby is one of the survivors and was well cared for by whoever you bought it from, but I've seen so many out of AZ that aren't. Here is more explanation on what goes wrong: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/

Forgive me for being pushy, but I see new keepers making the same mistakes and having the same misunderstandings over and over. I'm just trying to lend some experience based insight. Knowledge is power. I'm happy to answer questions, but I don't intend to comment anymore unless you request more explanation.