I have no idea what i'm doing

Status
Not open for further replies.

CapnB

New Member
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
4
I found a random tortoise in my street a few days ago about be attacked by dogs so I picked it up and brought it in and asked around to find the owner, no one knows whos tortoise it is. So it looks like I now have a pet tortoise but I have no idea what i'm doing. I don't know what type of tortoise it is but i assume its a Sulcata as i live in Cape Town South Africa.

I've been keeping it in a washing tub with some water and lettuce to eat but it doesnt look like it's eating. It's cold weather right now so there isnt much sun but i still let it out everyday to walk in the sand. Any tips to help me, I could upload a picture if it would help identify the type
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,698
Location (City and/or State)
CA
With a pic, it can be ID'ed.
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,698
Location (City and/or State)
CA
Interesting. First thought was an old leopard. I am thinking though now it's a Hermann.
 

CapnB

New Member
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
4
thanks for the response, i'll check around on the site for proper dietary needs
 

Gillian M

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
15,417
Location (City and/or State)
Jordan
A warm welcome to the :tort: forum!

Take care of cold weather, as it's the time when reptiles hibernate. As for its diet, lettuce (I was told by experts in this forum) is of NO good: it is 90%, if not more ....WATER. Unfortunately I fell into this trap: I had my Greek tort before joining the forum and was told by pet-sellers to :( feed it....lettuce, and now the poor little thing won't accept any other food.It seems that it got addicted to it. So take care! Good luck to you and your tort. ;)
 

WithLisa

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
967
Location (City and/or State)
Austria
I've no idea what kind of tortoise it is, but it doesn't look like a Hermanns to me. :confused:
My best guess would be angulate tortoise.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Chersina angulata.

Sulcata do not come from South Africa. They come from just under the Sahara desert, far to your north.

Best case would be for you to turn this guy loose in a safe wild area near you. What part of Cape Town are you in?

This species does not do well with artificial captive conditions. They do best when left outside in a large enclosure with natural food and a variety of shelters. I've found that to be the case both in their native country and abroad.

@Will can you please verify the species for me? You have much more experience with South African species than I do.
 

Tidgy's Dad

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Messages
48,238
Location (City and/or State)
Fes, Morocco
Hello, CapnB, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and your new angulate.
I think it depends on whether this is a wild tortoise or an escaped pet.
Are you deep in the city or near rural areas?
Can you advertise to see if someone in the area has lost a beloved pet, or research to see if angulate tortoises live near your area.
This should help you decide whether to keep it or release it back into the wild.
Good luck.
 

CapnB

New Member
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
4
Hey all thanks for the responses. I live in a pretty urban area so the chances of it being an escaped pet is very high (until now no one has come asking though). At this point my little sister(about 5) is very attached to it so the family decided to just keep it as a pet and give it the best home we can. We enclosed an area earlier for him to live in with a covered area for rain/shade
 

Kapidolo Farms

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
5,172
Location (City and/or State)
South of Southern California, but not Mexico
It's an Angulate Tortoise Chersina angulata for generic info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angulate_tortoise. Not so many outside of RSA as they are tragic hard to adapt to captivity. That's a really nice looking individual. There is a "cape tortoise" group on face book. Best to be a lurker on it though if you live there and have a pet, they all seem to be illegal to have unless you jumped through some hoops and filled out a form on the second tuesday of the sixth week in February LOL. Lots of good info there though from locals who did all the hoop jumping.

http://www.carecentre.org.za/ here is another local care/husbandry web page.
 

hollygaucas

Active Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
Messages
102
Location (City and/or State)
Manchester
That tortoise is definitely an angulate tortoise which is most likely wild as they are found in South Africa. They can be used as pets but are best left in the wild where they belong. If you would like to keep it as a pet be my guest just make sure the little guy has all of the right equipment which could come to the price of £100. But you are lucky as you have gotten a free tortoise when they are usually really expensive.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
This is a really old thread. CapnB hasn't been back here in two years.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top