Desert Tortoises + Sulcatas: Free to capable and responsible owners

RabbitSide

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Oct 28, 2020
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22
Location (City and/or State)
Niland, CA
Hi, we live in Slab City, California. We took on two Desert Tortoises a while back as a "mated pair". We quickly separated the male from the female but it was too late and she had babies. She then had babies again the next year. Hopefully after this year it'll slow down/stop.

As a result, we currently have 4 babies here that are about a year old. We have already re-homed 5 other babies. They are in great health and very active. They are housed in an outdoor enclosure here in the California desert and eat a varied diet of plants and grasses we grow here plus native plant matter we forage.

Once you become "tortoise people" other torts always find their way to you. There was a 150lb Sulcata wandering around out here last year and we took him in. We found the original owner but they said we'd be a better option for the tortoise so we were asked to keep him. We then were also brought a different Sulcata that was about 2 years old by our neighbor, again because we were more suited to take care of it. We now have:

1 adult female Desert Tortoise - ~ 30 yrs old
1 adult male Sulcata Tortoise - 18 yrs old
1 unsexed Sulcata Tortoise - 3 years old
4 baby Desert Tortoise - 1 year old

We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises. We'd love to bring them with us but the environment we are moving to just isn't suitable for these types of tortoises. We'd much rather see that they are kept in an optimal environment and stay happy, warm and healthy!We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises.

These Desert Tortoise babies are free to a good home in the local area. They are suitable for someone living in the desert region of California / Arizona as that's the habitat these tortoises are native to and do best in. We're not going to ship them but if you're unable to come the whole distance to pick them up, we can possibly deliver them half way to you or whatever works best.
The adult female is also up for adoption to a good home. Her name is Apples and she is the sweetest thing to walk this earth. She is so friendly and affectionate. She's the one we really, really don't want to part ways with. She's wonderful.

The smaller Sulcata will also need to go to someone local enough to come pick it up. You'll also need to be sufficiently prepared to house it when it's larger, because it will grow fast and quickly become a 150lb monster. An ideal situation is someone on a large enough property to be able to fence off and secure a nice sized area for the tortoise to grow into.

As for the big Sulcata, his name is Ninja and he is very strong and very curious. He isn't aggressive but will approach you quickly and be a bit pushy to see if you have any food. Once he sees you have nothing, he gets bored and walks away. We have him in a small pen with a covered "house" that he dug a burrow in which goes about 15 feet underground. When he comes up, we let him out into a large fenced in run that is time-shared with other tortoises and our dogs will pop out there too. The tortoise, dogs and cats all get along fine. We don't let him mingle with the smaller tortoises because he's so large we worry he could harm them. Since he has ample space to roam around, he never has attempted to dig under the fence to escape. he just hangs out in the yard and then goes to bed in his hole. The good tortoise life.
veggies
So for the big guy, an experienced keeper is preferred and you'll of course need plenty of space to house him. The best scenario would be a zoo or wildlife park because he is a nice specimen and they would have the space, knowledge and disposable income for greens needed to give him a good life.

If you meet the location criteria and have a good situation for any one of these tortoises send a message and we'll talk!

Thanks so much
RabbitSide

Small Sulcata:
tort_1.jpeg


Babies:
tort_2.jpg


Adult female Desert Tortoise:
tort_3.jpeg


*Youtube video is of the big fella*

 

Yvonne G

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Everyone should bear in mind that it is illegal to take desert tortoises out of their home state. So if you want to adopt the desert tortoises you have to keep them in California.
 

HoosierTort

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Indianapolis
Everyone should bear in mind that it is illegal to take desert tortoises out of their home state. So if you want to adopt the desert tortoises you have to keep them in California.
So I have read this and I realize that is the case, but I also know a few rescues in Iowa, Washington, and other states that have deserts. I have spoken with my state permits manager and she informed me I didn’t need a permit from the state of Indiana.

Any idea how they can be adopted from a non-native state?
 

Yvonne G

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So I have read this and I realize that is the case, but I also know a few rescues in Iowa, Washington, and other states that have deserts. I have spoken with my state permits manager and she informed me I didn’t need a permit from the state of Indiana.

Any idea how they can be adopted from a non-native state?
The tortoises were probably originally brought to the state illegally. The tortoises in this thread cannot leave the state. If you get caught the fine is pretty steep.
 

wellington

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So I have read this and I realize that is the case, but I also know a few rescues in Iowa, Washington, and other states that have deserts. I have spoken with my state permits manager and she informed me I didn’t need a permit from the state of Indiana.

Any idea how they can be adopted from a non-native state?
Indiana may not have a permit rule but it's the states the DT is native too that does not want them taken out of state. They also should not be taken out of their native state!
 

HoosierTort

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171
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Indianapolis
The tortoises were probably originally brought to the state illegally. The tortoises in this thread cannot leave the state. If you get caught the fine is pretty steep.
Oh I realize that! Wasn’t trying to adopt these! I’m not risking everything under my care, or my licensing and permits for that!
I was just curious as to the regulations for adopting them from a non-native state. Does anyone know?
Thanks!
Indiana may not have a permit rule but it's the states the DT is native too that does not want them taken out of state. They also should not be taken out of their native state!
Again, I realize this. I run an educational program as part of my nonprofit and I’m talking about DT that are already out of their native state and at a few rescues I know of. I’m checking to see if anyone knows the process of adopting one from a non-native state like Iowa or Washington.
I’m a medically retired firefighter and now run my own nonprofit, Hoosier Turtles and Tortoises. I do educational presentations, rescue, rehab, field studies of native turtles, and I’m working with the state Herpetologist on a soft release program for T.c. Carolina. I’m not new to this or trying to find a way around any regulation. Everything I do is above the books.
 

wellington

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Oh I realize that! Wasn’t trying to adopt these! I’m not risking everything under my care, or my licensing and permits for that!
I was just curious as to the regulations for adopting them from a non-native state. Does anyone know?
Thanks!

Again, I realize this. I run an educational program as part of my nonprofit and I’m talking about DT that are already out of their native state and at a few rescues I know of. I’m checking to see if anyone knows the process of adopting one from a non-native state like Iowa or Washington.
I’m a medically retired firefighter and now run my own nonprofit, Hoosier Turtles and Tortoises. I do educational presentations, rescue, rehab, field studies of native turtles, and I’m working with the state Herpetologist on a soft release program for T.c. Carolina. I’m not new to this or trying to find a way around any regulation. Everything I do is above the books.
Sorry, misunderstood seeing you posted on a thread that is about rehoming some CA DT.
 

Maggie3fan

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Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
Hi, we live in Slab City, California. We took on two Desert Tortoises a while back as a "mated pair". We quickly separated the male from the female but it was too late and she had babies. She then had babies again the next year. Hopefully after this year it'll slow down/stop.

As a result, we currently have 4 babies here that are about a year old. We have already re-homed 5 other babies. They are in great health and very active. They are housed in an outdoor enclosure here in the California desert and eat a varied diet of plants and grasses we grow here plus native plant matter we forage.

Once you become "tortoise people" other torts always find their way to you. There was a 150lb Sulcata wandering around out here last year and we took him in. We found the original owner but they said we'd be a better option for the tortoise so we were asked to keep him. We then were also brought a different Sulcata that was about 2 years old by our neighbor, again because we were more suited to take care of it. We now have:

1 adult female Desert Tortoise - ~ 30 yrs old
1 adult male Sulcata Tortoise - 18 yrs old
1 unsexed Sulcata Tortoise - 3 years old
4 baby Desert Tortoise - 1 year old

We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises. We'd love to bring them with us but the environment we are moving to just isn't suitable for these types of tortoises. We'd much rather see that they are kept in an optimal environment and stay happy, warm and healthy!We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises.

These Desert Tortoise babies are free to a good home in the local area. They are suitable for someone living in the desert region of California / Arizona as that's the habitat these tortoises are native to and do best in. We're not going to ship them but if you're unable to come the whole distance to pick them up, we can possibly deliver them half way to you or whatever works best.
The adult female is also up for adoption to a good home. Her name is Apples and she is the sweetest thing to walk this earth. She is so friendly and affectionate. She's the one we really, really don't want to part ways with. She's wonderful.

The smaller Sulcata will also need to go to someone local enough to come pick it up. You'll also need to be sufficiently prepared to house it when it's larger, because it will grow fast and quickly become a 150lb monster. An ideal situation is someone on a large enough property to be able to fence off and secure a nice sized area for the tortoise to grow into.

As for the big Sulcata, his name is Ninja and he is very strong and very curious. He isn't aggressive but will approach you quickly and be a bit pushy to see if you have any food. Once he sees you have nothing, he gets bored and walks away. We have him in a small pen with a covered "house" that he dug a burrow in which goes about 15 feet underground. When he comes up, we let him out into a large fenced in run that is time-shared with other tortoises and our dogs will pop out there too. The tortoise, dogs and cats all get along fine. We don't let him mingle with the smaller tortoises because he's so large we worry he could harm them. Since he has ample space to roam around, he never has attempted to dig under the fence to escape. he just hangs out in the yard and then goes to bed in his hole. The good tortoise life.
veggies
So for the big guy, an experienced keeper is preferred and you'll of course need plenty of space to house him. The best scenario would be a zoo or wildlife park because he is a nice specimen and they would have the space, knowledge and disposable income for greens needed to give him a good life.

If you meet the location criteria and have a good situation for any one of these tortoises send a message and we'll talk!

Thanks so much
RabbitSide

Small Sulcata:
tort_1.jpeg


Babies:
tort_2.jpg


Adult female Desert Tortoise:
tort_3.jpeg


*Youtube video is of the big fella*

That big Sulcata is nice to see...
 

caliwatergirl

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Joined
Oct 22, 2021
Messages
1
Location (City and/or State)
WOODLAND
Hi, we live in Slab City, California. We took on two Desert Tortoises a while back as a "mated pair". We quickly separated the male from the female but it was too late and she had babies. She then had babies again the next year. Hopefully after this year it'll slow down/stop.

As a result, we currently have 4 babies here that are about a year old. We have already re-homed 5 other babies. They are in great health and very active. They are housed in an outdoor enclosure here in the California desert and eat a varied diet of plants and grasses we grow here plus native plant matter we forage.

Once you become "tortoise people" other torts always find their way to you. There was a 150lb Sulcata wandering around out here last year and we took him in. We found the original owner but they said we'd be a better option for the tortoise so we were asked to keep him. We then were also brought a different Sulcata that was about 2 years old by our neighbor, again because we were more suited to take care of it. We now have:

1 adult female Desert Tortoise - ~ 30 yrs old
1 adult male Sulcata Tortoise - 18 yrs old
1 unsexed Sulcata Tortoise - 3 years old
4 baby Desert Tortoise - 1 year old

We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises. We'd love to bring them with us but the environment we are moving to just isn't suitable for these types of tortoises. We'd much rather see that they are kept in an optimal environment and stay happy, warm and healthy!We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises.

These Desert Tortoise babies are free to a good home in the local area. They are suitable for someone living in the desert region of California / Arizona as that's the habitat these tortoises are native to and do best in. We're not going to ship them but if you're unable to come the whole distance to pick them up, we can possibly deliver them half way to you or whatever works best.
The adult female is also up for adoption to a good home. Her name is Apples and she is the sweetest thing to walk this earth. She is so friendly and affectionate. She's the one we really, really don't want to part ways with. She's wonderful.

The smaller Sulcata will also need to go to someone local enough to come pick it up. You'll also need to be sufficiently prepared to house it when it's larger, because it will grow fast and quickly become a 150lb monster. An ideal situation is someone on a large enough property to be able to fence off and secure a nice sized area for the tortoise to grow into.

As for the big Sulcata, his name is Ninja and he is very strong and very curious. He isn't aggressive but will approach you quickly and be a bit pushy to see if you have any food. Once he sees you have nothing, he gets bored and walks away. We have him in a small pen with a covered "house" that he dug a burrow in which goes about 15 feet underground. When he comes up, we let him out into a large fenced in run that is time-shared with other tortoises and our dogs will pop out there too. The tortoise, dogs and cats all get along fine. We don't let him mingle with the smaller tortoises because he's so large we worry he could harm them. Since he has ample space to roam around, he never has attempted to dig under the fence to escape. he just hangs out in the yard and then goes to bed in his hole. The good tortoise life.
veggies
So for the big guy, an experienced keeper is preferred and you'll of course need plenty of space to house him. The best scenario would be a zoo or wildlife park because he is a nice specimen and they would have the space, knowledge and disposable income for greens needed to give him a good life.

If you meet the location criteria and have a good situation for any one of these tortoises send a message and we'll talk!

Thanks so much
RabbitSide

Small Sulcata:
tort_1.jpeg


Babies:
tort_2.jpg


Adult female Desert Tortoise:
tort_3.jpeg


*Youtube video is of the big fella*


Hi! We would be very interested in all of them but live in northern CA (about 8 or so hours from you). We have 16 acres so lots of room to roam!
 

bye_alicia

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Joined
Nov 12, 2021
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Gilroy
Hi there, I would be really interested in taking one of the yearlings if you still have any available.
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
Oh I realize that! Wasn’t trying to adopt these! I’m not risking everything under my care, or my licensing and permits for that!
I was just curious as to the regulations for adopting them from a non-native state. Does anyone know?
Thanks!

Again, I realize this. I run an educational program as part of my nonprofit and I’m talking about DT that are already out of their native state and at a few rescues I know of. I’m checking to see if anyone knows the process of adopting one from a non-native state like Iowa or Washington.
I’m a medically retired firefighter and now run my own nonprofit, Hoosier Turtles and Tortoises. I do educational presentations, rescue, rehab, field studies of native turtles, and I’m working with the state Herpetologist on a soft release program for T.c. Carolina. I’m not new to this or trying to find a way around any regulation. Everything I do is above the books.
What Yvonne is trying to say is that there are NO regulations for adopting in a non native state because it is against the law. You simply cannot have Gopherus agassizii in a non native to them state. If they are in a rescue there, said rescue is lawfully supposed to return them to the native state, Nevada Arizona and Calif are them...I think.I ight be wrong...
 

zovick

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
3,387
What Yvonne is trying to say is that there are NO regulations for adopting in a non native state because it is against the law. You simply cannot have Gopherus agassizii in a non native to them state. If they are in a rescue there, said rescue is lawfully supposed to return them to the native state, Nevada Arizona and Calif are them...I think.I ight be wrong...
I think they also occur in southeastern Utah, although maybe those populations have been wiped out by now.
 

OtterRN64

New Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2021
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Keller
Hi, we live in Slab City, California. We took on two Desert Tortoises a while back as a "mated pair". We quickly separated the male from the female but it was too late and she had babies. She then had babies again the next year. Hopefully after this year it'll slow down/stop.

As a result, we currently have 4 babies here that are about a year old. We have already re-homed 5 other babies. They are in great health and very active. They are housed in an outdoor enclosure here in the California desert and eat a varied diet of plants and grasses we grow here plus native plant matter we forage.

Once you become "tortoise people" other torts always find their way to you. There was a 150lb Sulcata wandering around out here last year and we took him in. We found the original owner but they said we'd be a better option for the tortoise so we were asked to keep him. We then were also brought a different Sulcata that was about 2 years old by our neighbor, again because we were more suited to take care of it. We now have:

1 adult female Desert Tortoise - ~ 30 yrs old
1 adult male Sulcata Tortoise - 18 yrs old
1 unsexed Sulcata Tortoise - 3 years old
4 baby Desert Tortoise - 1 year old

We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises. We'd love to bring them with us but the environment we are moving to just isn't suitable for these types of tortoises. We'd much rather see that they are kept in an optimal environment and stay happy, warm and healthy!We are going to be moving from the area to the Appalachian mountains in the next year or so, which is why we are re-homing tortoises.

These Desert Tortoise babies are free to a good home in the local area. They are suitable for someone living in the desert region of California / Arizona as that's the habitat these tortoises are native to and do best in. We're not going to ship them but if you're unable to come the whole distance to pick them up, we can possibly deliver them half way to you or whatever works best.
The adult female is also up for adoption to a good home. Her name is Apples and she is the sweetest thing to walk this earth. She is so friendly and affectionate. She's the one we really, really don't want to part ways with. She's wonderful.

The smaller Sulcata will also need to go to someone local enough to come pick it up. You'll also need to be sufficiently prepared to house it when it's larger, because it will grow fast and quickly become a 150lb monster. An ideal situation is someone on a large enough property to be able to fence off and secure a nice sized area for the tortoise to grow into.

As for the big Sulcata, his name is Ninja and he is very strong and very curious. He isn't aggressive but will approach you quickly and be a bit pushy to see if you have any food. Once he sees you have nothing, he gets bored and walks away. We have him in a small pen with a covered "house" that he dug a burrow in which goes about 15 feet underground. When he comes up, we let him out into a large fenced in run that is time-shared with other tortoises and our dogs will pop out there too. The tortoise, dogs and cats all get along fine. We don't let him mingle with the smaller tortoises because he's so large we worry he could harm them. Since he has ample space to roam around, he never has attempted to dig under the fence to escape. he just hangs out in the yard and then goes to bed in his hole. The good tortoise life.
veggies
So for the big guy, an experienced keeper is preferred and you'll of course need plenty of space to house him. The best scenario would be a zoo or wildlife park because he is a nice specimen and they would have the space, knowledge and disposable income for greens needed to give him a good life.

If you meet the location criteria and have a good situation for any one of these tortoises send a message and we'll talk!

Thanks so much
RabbitSide

Small Sulcata:
tort_1.jpeg


Babies:
tort_2.jpg


Adult female Desert Tortoise:
tort_3.jpeg


*Youtube video is of the big fella*

Hello, I am new as of today and was wondering if any of your babies or young adults are available? Thank you:)
 
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