help ID tortoise species!

[marco]

Hi All, great forum. Had a gopher tortoise for years when I was young... figure 40 years ago, lost to a tragic tipping over incident.

Anyway, my wife found a ~20# gopher tortoise yesterday, marching down the middle of the road outside Bozeman, MT. I'm thinking he's got to be a Sulcata at 14". We placed adds and notices with everyone from Craigslist to reptile vets but haven't found the owners yet.

Couple q's for y'all- first, can you confirm he's a Sulcata (figuring male with his prominent concave plastron). Second, after reading a little around the forum it would appear he's "pyramided" vs. what I first thought of as being simply captive raised and not "worn down" up top. Comments on that both for my benefit and hopefully for his owner when I find them? I do notice quite a hefty appetite and enjoyment of a very wide variety of foods including native grasses, alfalfa, dandelion, clover, tomato, etc. You figure too much fruits & lettuce with calcium/phosphorus/vit D imbalance to get these pyramids going?

Thanks- marco

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Marco:

Welcome to the forum!!

You're right in assuming your new tortoise is a sulcata. Actually, the pyramiding isn't too bad. He's got a lot of growing to do, maybe reaching 150lbs or so. They pyramiding had to do with not enough moisture in the air when he was a baby.

 

[Scooter]

Welcome to the forum! That is one handsome sulcata your wife found.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Welcome to the party! Yep, I agree it's a Sulcata. They don't hibernate so if you are thinking about keeping him you need to make an insulated heated shed for him to over winter...
If you don't want to keep him and you don't find it owner, I have a friend who runs a turtle and tortoises rescue outside of Billings and I know she would just love to have him. She's in Roundup. In the mean time, no fruit, all dark leafy greens and weeds. You can add some grocery store greens as well. Here's a link to a care sheet...


http://africantortoise.com/

http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/sulcatacare.htm

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the group! In addition to Craigslist you should put up fliers in the neighborhood and call local vets, animal control, and animal shelters. Its rare to find a Sulcata of that size with less pyramiding than that. I wouldn't feed the tomato, but anything chemical-free in your yard like the grass and weeds should be great! Agreed with Yvonne that the current theory on pyramiding is lack of humidity as a hatchling/juvenile. With how big he is, new growth can be smoother with some humidity (a mud hole can help, as can sprinklers, but you want to focus on warm humidity not cold humidity), but the bumps will always be there, just less prominent. Thanks for looking out for the tortoise and I hope you find its home soon!

 

[marco]

Thanks all for great advice. I've got all the bases covered to reunite Speedo (amazing how fast he can boogie from one end of my 2 acre pasture to the other) with his owner. Best lead came tonight-- the junior high science teacher my wife talked with thinks she knows who has a sulcata around this size... named TANK. We should figure it out this week. If not, I'll definitely be talking with maggie3fan to find her friend in Roundup. Good feeling to have this fun spirited tort covered one way or the other.

Welcome to the group! In addition to Craigslist you should put up fliers in the neighborhood and call local vets, animal control, and animal shelters. Its rare to find a Sulcata of that size with less pyramiding than that. I wouldn't feed the tomato, but anything chemical-free in your yard like the grass and weeds should be great! Agreed with Yvonne that the current theory on pyramiding is lack of humidity as a hatchling/juvenile. With how big he is, new growth can be smoother with some humidity (a mud hole can help, as can sprinklers, but you want to focus on warm humidity not cold humidity), but the bumps will always be there, just less prominent. Thanks for looking out for the tortoise and I hope you find its home soon!

 

[marco]

good news- "Sid"'s owner just called and is on his way. He has a large outdoor enclosure he broke through. happy ending!

 

[TortieLuver]

Glad to hear he is back with his owner! I am sure he was greatly missed!