Biggest desert tortoise

[Shelly]

What's the biggest/heaviest desert tort you've ever seen? My female is pretty big, over 15 pounds, but I'm sure there are others much larger....

 

[Shelly]

Come on you guys! Nobody wants to share about their gigantic torts?

 

[Candy]

Ask Maggie she has "Bob" who is supposed to be 85 lbs. he's a Sulcata with a lot of personality. And then I know Yvonne has some pretty big ones at her house. Come on Maggie and Yvonne tell us about your big guys.

 

[Millerlite]

your talking about desert tortoises only right, not all tortoises, because there are a few people with aldabras that are huge.

 

[Yvonne G]

Several years ago there was some really bad flooding in the desert and CTTC had too many rescued tortoises, so I took in several. These tortoises were the biggest I'd ever seen. Some of them were 18 or 20" long and weighed around 20lbs.

Yvonne

 

[Shelly]

your talking about desert tortoises only right, not all tortoises, because there are a few people with aldabras that are huge.

Yes, only DT's.

 

[desertsss]

Just wanted to to post this because I find it kind of humorous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhwEZpwoHk8

 

[lgdpt]

Here is what the CTTC website says....

The largest recorded desert tortoise is "Maximus" a captive tortoise measuring 15 inches in carapace length and weighing 23 pounds (St. Amant, 1976). Maximus had been a pet for many years and was turned into the California Department of Fish and Game office in Long Beach in the 1970's.

Maximus
Largest known desert tortoise
23 pounds; 15 inches carapace length



The largest known wild desert tortoise was about 14.5 inches. The tortoise was a male and was frequently observed on the western portion of the on the Desert Tortoise Natural Area in the 1970's. (Berry, 1990).

Michael J. Connor



However, my brother just adopted a male surrendered after his elderly owner passed away. She had him for 40 years. We measured him at 17 inches long and at least 23 lbs. He is at least 12 inches wide.

I wear a size 10 shoe (that is my foot) and the dimension of that container (on the inside) is 19x14".

 

[LBSKUNK]

wow! Thats a BIG boy!

 

[chelonologist]

The biggest one I recorded in the field was a MASSIVE boy, pictured here:

http://tortoiseforum.org/attachment.php?aid=927

As you can see, he topped out the 5kg scale. I estimate him to have been around 12 pounds. Take into account that this is a wild animal, not one that's been gorging on greens in captivity. Had he been a captive animal, he would have weighed closer to 15 pounds. I remember his midline carapace length was over 320mm. HUGE.

 

[Shelly]

Is that a radio transmitter stuck to his side?

 

[chelonologist]

yes, good eye.

 

[Shelly]

So how old do you estimate a wild tort that size is?

 

[chelonologist]

For that guy, his shell condition says that he's probably older than 25 years, perhaps as old as 40. Some estimates place tortoise longevity at 60-80 years. While I think this is certainly attainable for captive desert tortoises, it's probably not as likely for wild ones.

 

[dmmj]

Mine personally just tips the scale at 15 pounds. But at my latest C.T.T.C deworming clinic I did see a giant DT that had to be at least 20 pounds

 

[Shelly]

Here's a picture of my big girl, "Bubbles". 15 pounds, 3 ounces.

BTW, I wear a size 11.5

 

[Madortoise]

Hi there Shelly,
Your bubble looks nice and healthy. How old is she and how long have you had her?

 

[Shelly]

If you believe the people I got her from, she's in her early 50's. I adopted her about 10 years ago. She really is my favorite of the 3 I have. She is a lot of fun, very curious and friendly. That's her in my avatar.

 

[tortoisenerd]

She's gorgeous!

 

[LBSKUNK]

Love her!