ID? Found wandering in our garden, SE Wisconsin

WICHRIS

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Found this one wandering in our garden. My son want to keep it as a pet, I'm inclined to let him wander off back into the woods where I'm assuming he came from.
Any ideas on what he is? I've been looking at Wisconsin turtles, but haven't seen anything that looks close. He's probably about 6-7" long and about 5-6" across, and probably about 2.5-3" tall.
Thanks for any info.
Chris

Turtle%20Top%20Small_zpsfeguhfgi.jpg

Turtle%20Bottom%20Small_zpsgt63k2m9.jpg
 

MichaelaW

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Looks like a Herman's tortoise. It's definitely a pet that someone either released or lost. It's not native to your state so don't release it. It's beak is way overgrown and so are the toenails. You should probably take it to a reptile veterinarian to get that taken care of. Whoever owned it before you did not give it the proper care. There are many care sheets on Herman's tortoises that you can check out.
 

JoesMum

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Welcome to TFO :)

@HermanniChris will know for sure, but I am in the Russian camp too. Care is very similar for Russians and Hermann's anyway.

Diet is a mix of leafy greens. No fruit, including bell peppers and tomato, or carrot it can't digest the sugars properly and could become sick.

Not a native so don't release back into the wild.

Read these to understand care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
 

WICHRIS

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Thanks for the info. I was assuming it wasn't a native species since I couldn't find any pics that looked close. I'll dig around and find some info on it.
 

JoesMum

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Thanks for the info. I was assuming it wasn't a native species since I couldn't find any pics that looked close. I'll dig around and find some info on it.
Hopefully the two threads I have given you will give you the information you need to start. The rest of the world wide web can be a daunting place to find accurate information, but fortunately you find us and we some true experts here.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Chris, and welcome to the Forum!

You have a male Russian tortoise (testudo horsefieldii) and he is not native to WI. He is in desperate need of having his beak trimmed and filed. It should look like this:

images
 

Yvonne G

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We like to try to have 'found' turtles and tortoises returned to their owners, so I encourage you to put up fliers on the utility poles in the neighborhood where the tortoise was found. You can also place a 'found' ad on Craigslist and in the local newspaper. When placing an ad, don't give out too much info because there are many folks who try to get a free turtle and tortoise by answering the ads. Make them I.D. the species and sex before giving them the tortoise.
 

prc93

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There are actually a few lost tortoise ads on the Milwaukee and Madison craigslist pages so this may be one who escaped. Like Yvonne suggested I would ask for a description and a picture if possible from those people to make sure this is their tortoise. If I recall there was just one posted recently looking for a lost Russian.
 

MichaelaW

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Whoever the owners are, they need some help on taking proper care of tortoises. The poor guy is in pretty bad shape even in the Craigslist ad. I feel bad that he will go back to living like that.
 

Gillian M

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A very warm welcome to the forum.

That tort is definitely in need of a visit to a vet asap.
 

WICHRIS

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Wow, I didn't even think of looking on craigslist. I just sent them an email and a link to this thread.
Thanks guys!
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Thanks for coming here Chris and a big well done to the forum members and especially to Patrick for putting it all together.
And hopefully you've all helped provide a better life for the tortoise in the future.
The owners obviously care, as they want their tortoise back, just need to know a couple of things they were unaware of.
Good job, people.
 

Tom

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What a cool thread!

@WICHRIS , Please let us know if they contact you and how the story ends.
 
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