I took a trip to a very large reptile store in Southern CA a couple weeks ago to look at snakes and monitor lizards, but some of the tortoises caught my eye. The massive sulcatas near the store entrance intrigued me, and I was reminded of a friend who kept a ~80 lb sulcatta in his backyard. I went home thinking about getting a tortoise and have spent a lot of time reading about them on the web. Sulcatas are cool, but I concluded that they grow to be too large for what I'm looking for. I figured that a redfoot or leopard tortoise would be perfect for me, but even then, I thought that I would need a couple months of planning and setup before buying an animal. I have experience with snakes, and don't like making impulse buys for this type of thing.
All that said, yesterday morning, we found a small tortoise on our front driveway. It's definitely a sulcata, 4-5" in length (edit, not 5-6"). I live in a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, on a hill with lots of weed-filled landscape in everybody's backyards. But the tortoise was actually on the front of the house, right where the garden hose faucet drips water. Maybe it was thirsty. I have NO IDEA how it got there or how long it's been free or how it can even survive a week out here. This neighborhood has cats roaming free, possums apparently raccoons coming out at night. I saw a coyote in the backyard a year ago. But yet here's this tortoise. Given my recent interest in tortoises, this has to be the most amazing coincidence I've ever been a part of.
Time for business. I was not prepared for this animal and am not sure what to do. I heard that someone in the neighborhood had a tortoise in the past, but that was "long ago". I want to find this animal its rightful owner so it can be cared for, but realistically, whoever owned it must have set it loose because he/she didn't want it anymore. I almost feel this is some sort of sign for me to keep it, but I don't know what to do. I don't have an enclosure, and so far have been keeping it in a box about 2 x 2 ft. I put garden dirt in there and some leaf lettuce and a small shallow pan of water. I want to keep it outside to get some sun, but 1) it's kind of cool in SoCal right now (high of 69 degrees during the daytime, and 50s at night) and 2) those predators I mentioned. I have it in the garage right now.
Assuming I choose to keep it, what's the next step? I can get a tortoise table, which I guess will house it for several years, but my concerns are more about right now. An incandescent lightbut makes sense to generate heat, but do I really need a UVB bulb if I take it outside sometimes? Someone did a write-up on how to raise baby sulcatas and said that all they need is 30-60 min of sunlight several times/week, and I think I can provide that. There are lots of grasses and weeds I can feed it. With the sunlight, does it still need the calcium supplementation? Also, I've read conflicting information about water and humidity. Tom, in his writeup, greatly advocates humidity, but I've also seen other care sheets saying that water should only be placed in the enclosure a few times a week to limit humidity. Any final word on this? Thanks a lot, I'm sure I'll have more questions coming and I'll see if I can dig up my camera to post pics.
All that said, yesterday morning, we found a small tortoise on our front driveway. It's definitely a sulcata, 4-5" in length (edit, not 5-6"). I live in a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, on a hill with lots of weed-filled landscape in everybody's backyards. But the tortoise was actually on the front of the house, right where the garden hose faucet drips water. Maybe it was thirsty. I have NO IDEA how it got there or how long it's been free or how it can even survive a week out here. This neighborhood has cats roaming free, possums apparently raccoons coming out at night. I saw a coyote in the backyard a year ago. But yet here's this tortoise. Given my recent interest in tortoises, this has to be the most amazing coincidence I've ever been a part of.
Time for business. I was not prepared for this animal and am not sure what to do. I heard that someone in the neighborhood had a tortoise in the past, but that was "long ago". I want to find this animal its rightful owner so it can be cared for, but realistically, whoever owned it must have set it loose because he/she didn't want it anymore. I almost feel this is some sort of sign for me to keep it, but I don't know what to do. I don't have an enclosure, and so far have been keeping it in a box about 2 x 2 ft. I put garden dirt in there and some leaf lettuce and a small shallow pan of water. I want to keep it outside to get some sun, but 1) it's kind of cool in SoCal right now (high of 69 degrees during the daytime, and 50s at night) and 2) those predators I mentioned. I have it in the garage right now.
Assuming I choose to keep it, what's the next step? I can get a tortoise table, which I guess will house it for several years, but my concerns are more about right now. An incandescent lightbut makes sense to generate heat, but do I really need a UVB bulb if I take it outside sometimes? Someone did a write-up on how to raise baby sulcatas and said that all they need is 30-60 min of sunlight several times/week, and I think I can provide that. There are lots of grasses and weeds I can feed it. With the sunlight, does it still need the calcium supplementation? Also, I've read conflicting information about water and humidity. Tom, in his writeup, greatly advocates humidity, but I've also seen other care sheets saying that water should only be placed in the enclosure a few times a week to limit humidity. Any final word on this? Thanks a lot, I'm sure I'll have more questions coming and I'll see if I can dig up my camera to post pics.