Help with age/gender of stray tortoise

[chandarcat]

So I finally got more pictures of Sasha, our stray Russian tortoise (I think) that we found living under our deck in Wisconsin. I think I have an adult female - can anyone confirm this? Any guess at all on her age?

I think her claws are pretty long - not sure if that's a problem, or if I should trim them. I have trimmed cat, dog, and bird claws before, but never a tortoise!

Sasha's shell is not as domed as some of the pictures I see of RTs. I have no idea where she came from or what her diet/living conditions were before she was released, so who knows what she ate. She is quite active and a very good eater though, so hopefully I can correct any imbalances. She especially likes kale and anything yellow (summer squash and squash blossoms). She doesn't like as much but will eat dandelions, plantain, and clover. When I had her outside she also ate a mushroom. Today I gave her a handful of spring mix and she ate most of it. She seems to think she's hungry most of the time, but I'm trying not to overfeed her.

Thanks for the help! I have had many pets but this is my first tortoise.

 

[wellington]

I would say female. I don't know if her nails are too long, but her beak is. Be sure to feed her on a ruff flat rock or piece of tile. It will help trim it down a bit. It may need trimming too.

 

[mike taylor]

I would take her to a vet . Have her beak trimmed and checked for parasites . Good save all and all one good looking tort.

Sent from my C771 using TortForum mobile app

 

[OCTortoiseGuy]

Looks to be a female!

 

[turtlelou]

I'm glad you found her . Is it cold where you are yet? I wonder how long she has been a stray...

 

[ascott]

Have you placed any "Tortoise Found" signs/postings anywhere?

 

[chandarcat]

Have you placed any "Tortoise Found" signs/postings anywhere?

No, but I checked the neighborhood, craigslist, and the paper. The only lost tortoise notices were more than 10 miles away. I think it is much more likely that she was released than escaped

---

I'm glad you found her . Is it cold where you are yet? I wonder how long she has been a stray...

It's actually unseasonably warm here, but it will soon be cold. Much too cold for her to survive the winter outside - I don't think she could burrow 42" below the frost line in our clay soils. As for how long she was out - I don't know exactly, but she was living under our deck and foraging in our yard and the woods behind our house for at least 2 weeks. Took me a while to figure out that she wasn't a native species. She was actually doing pretty well for herself. I would have been tempted to let her stay outside if we lived in a warmer climate. I have been putting her outside in my fenced garden for a few hours on days that it gets warm enough, and next summer I will probably build her an outside enclosure for days and bring her in at night.

 

[biochemnerd808]

You definitely have a female, and she looks to be quite large. She will need a beak trim for sure - her beak is beyond what 'feeding on a flat stone' will take care of. I wrote a blog post on how to do it (here), but if you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with it, I recommend asking a vet. With this shape over overgrown beak, it is actually quite easy to trim, because the overhanging part just needs go be clipped away. Alternatively, local reptile rescues or tortoise clubs sometimes offer free beak trimming (ours does).

It looks like she has has some sort of blunt trauma or burn there in the back top of her plastron - where the scutes are kind of 'stuck' together? Would you mind posting a close-up of that area? Most likely, it will be a matter of just making sure she is hydrated and misting her shell. I have been able to get 'stuck scutes' to separate with new growth by massaging a little coconut oil into the stuck areas. Normally it isn't recommended to put anything but water on the shell, and having those scutes stuck together won't hurt your tortoise... but if you do want the new growth to separate those scutes, you can help it by gently brushing it with water and a toothbrush (especially the cracks where new growth will appear).

The claws are long, but rather than cutting (which will often cause bleeding if the quick has grown far out), I would just set her on the driveway every few days and let her walk around there for a bit (supervised, of course) to wear down her claws.

There are actually different subspecies of Russian tortoises, and some are more domed, some are more flat.

Best of luck!

So I finally got more pictures of Sasha, our stray Russian tortoise (I think) that we found living under our deck in Wisconsin. I think I have an adult female - can anyone confirm this? Any guess at all on her age?

I think her claws are pretty long - not sure if that's a problem, or if I should trim them. I have trimmed cat, dog, and bird claws before, but never a tortoise!

Sasha's shell is not as domed as some of the pictures I see of RTs. I have no idea where she came from or what her diet/living conditions were before she was released, so who knows what she ate. She is quite active and a very good eater though, so hopefully I can correct any imbalances. She especially likes kale and anything yellow (summer squash and squash blossoms). She doesn't like as much but will eat dandelions, plantain, and clover. When I had her outside she also ate a mushroom. Today I gave her a handful of spring mix and she ate most of it. She seems to think she's hungry most of the time, but I'm trying not to overfeed her.

Thanks for the help! I have had many pets but this is my first tortoise.