Hatchlings Found

[tort newbie]

Two weeks ago my daughter found the tiniest little tortise in the street in front of our house. Last week our neighbor found another one in their driveway and brought him to us. My children also found a third who had been run over.

The good news is we have two new family members we weren't planning on but are excited to welcome into our home. The bad news is that I have no idea how to raise them and am searching all over the internet to find out how to raise them. (Thank you for this site!!!)

My main concern is how to get these little guys through the next year. They are so very small! Specifically, here are my three questions:

1. Do they look okay? The bottom edges of their shells look to be curling up just a little bit and are not smooth. Is that normal? If not, how do I help? Also, are the tops of their shells normal?

2. They are kept inside right now. Living in the Phoenix Valley, I know they will eventually have an outdoor home, but for now they sleep inside and only go out when we take them outside. Usually they are outside for about 3 hours a day. Do they need a heat lamp inside when our home is 80 degrees year round? Outside it is still warm- we were over 95 this week.

3. I keep reading that they need vitamins/minerals. Can someone give me direction as to what, how much and where to purchase them?

That's about it. Thanks in advance for your advice!

Wendy

p.s. GRRR! I can't get the photos to download. If you really know what you are talking about and would be so kind as to give me advice, please email me @[email protected]. I can email photos just fine.

 

[katesgoey]

Hi Wendy,

Welcome to the forum. Here is a thread explaining one way to post photos http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5245.html. Sometimes photos are just too large to upload here so you could resize them (depending on the program you use, you may be able to right click on the photo, choose resize or the size you want and go from there). Once you've resized them you can either use the photobucket account or you can simply click on attachment link found on the page where you post on this forum and either enter the link or "browse" until you find the photos on your computer, then upload them that way. In the meantime, have you looked through the forum to see which type of tortoise looks like the hatchlings you've found to get an idea of what type you are dealing with?

 

[tort newbie]

Two weeks ago my daughter found the tiniest little tortise in the street in front of our house. Last week our neighbor found another one in their driveway and brought him to us. My children also found a third who had been run over.

The good news is we have two new family members we weren't planning on but are excited to welcome into our home. The bad news is that I have no idea how to raise them and am searching all over the internet to find out how to raise them. (Thank you for this site!!!)

My main concern is how to get these little guys through the next year. They are so very small! Specifically, here are my three questions:

1. Do they look okay? The bottom edges of their shells look to be curling up just a little bit and are not smooth. Is that normal? If not, how do I help? Also, are the tops of their shells normal?

2. They are kept inside right now. Living in the Phoenix Valley, I know they will eventually have an outdoor home, but for now they sleep inside and only go out when we take them outside. Usually they are outside for about 3 hours a day. Do they need a heat lamp inside when our home is 80 degrees year round? Outside it is still warm- we were over 95 this week.

3. I keep reading that they need vitamins/minerals. Can someone give me direction as to what, how much and where to purchase them?

That's about it. Thanks in advance for your advice!

Wendy

p.s. GRRR! I can't get the photos to download. If you really know what you are talking about and would be so kind as to give me advice, please email me @[email protected]. I can email photos just fine.

---

Hi Sandy,

Thanks for the info. I know it is my computer that is the issue, as it is the resizing that is giving me difficulties. As soon as I can get it fixed I will post them.

They are sulcata tortoises.

Thanks!

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum Wendy

Most likely what you've found are hatchling Desert tortoises, Gopherus agassizii, going by where you are in Arizona. Though we should be able to tell for sure when you can post pictures.

Yes you will need a basking light for the hatchlings. Seeing as your house is that warm, I'd keep the hatchlings closer to the floor as that will let them be a bit cooler and the basking spot won't be hotter than it should be.

Danny

 

[katesgoey]

Wendy, You've probably compared the two species already, but just in case - here is a link of a baby desert tortoise http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-9090.html posted by Rainman69 (click on the link in the first post to see it) and here is one of sulcata hatchling http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-9836.html posted by mctlong. It would be unusual for sulcata hatchlings to be found wandering around rather than the desert tortoise hatchlings - I'm curious whether anyone in your neighborhood keeps sulcata? Do you know?

 

[Yvonne G]

They could even be baby box turtles. And the care differs, so we'll need to see pictures. But it is most important to keep them hydrated, no matter what kind they are. Babies are so small and with the lights and heat, we have them on slow-cook. So soak your new babies every day.

Yvonne

 

[mctlong]

Sulcata and Desert tort babies look very similar. I can't tell the difference between a light-colored desert tort and dark-colored sulcata. Here's a pic of a light colored desert tortoise species (Gopherus agassizii) that is found in the wild in the Phoenix area:

The picture can be found on the Chelonia.org website.[/align]