TessS
Member
Hello. My husband was out hunting this weekend and happened upon an adult sulcata in the desert of AZ. (Maybe 45-50 lbs? 2 feet wide) His brother also came across him in the same area when he had been scouting earlier that week. The tortoise is very friendly and came right up to them and devoured the lettuce they offered him. (Yeah, they had lettuce... their hunting expeditions are more like extravagant buffets... but I digress. ) Obviously, the tortoise was dumped because, well, sulcatas aren't native to the Arizona desert. Hubs asked if I cared if he brought him home (we live in Tucson). I said sure? Now, I'm wondering where we're going to house him. We have a patch of grass with sprinklers that is about 70 feet by 10 feet. It's on top of retaining wall so that would help solve most of the burrowing issue. I'm assuming the grass would be okay for him to eat? And from what I've read, the sprinklers are fine. We could also turn some of the grass into the muddy area that I've read they need. I know he'll need a hut of some kind. I've read the no-nos regarding food, but how often would he need to be fed if he has access to grass all day? How much? There are three tree wells in the area with lemon and lime trees that are still young so the fruit they bear is minimal and easily picked before falling on the ground. I know we'll need to add some big rocks and maybe a log (not so easy to find in the desert...) How big is the water dish he'll need? What am I missing that we need to do?