Identification methods

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IowaGuy28

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Hello, once been a good while since I've posted. Get straight to it, when my Sulcata get big enough to just roam around or go on "walks" (with my supervision) is there a way I can tag him? I've seen TV shows where turtles have free roam of enormous yards and people have, what appears to be, glued tags straight to the shell...or another was dragging a plank of wood which said its name, age and its small story.
 

Yvonne G

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You can put one of your return address labels in the center of a scute then paint over it with clear nail polish or epoxy. But try to stay away from the actively growing spaces between the scutes.

Do a search for "Walking Rock." If I'm remembering correctly, that tortoise has a pretty nice I.D. tag.
 

Madkins007

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Some commonly used solutions:

- Use acrylic or latex paint to paint on code numbers or return info. The thin lines of this safe and stretchy paint will not interfere with growth, but it wears off kind of quickly, especially on active burrowers and quick growers so it needs to be renewed periodically.

- Like Yvonne said- stick a return address label on the middle of a scute, and cover with clear nail polish. Wears off as well. Avoid growing lines between scutes.

- Use a slow-set epoxy or a silicone adhesive to glue a small metal or hard plastic tag to the center of a scute. Make sure it is as flush to the scute as possible so it is not torn off rubbing on something. Will also wear or fall off.

- One guy on-line glued a small loop to the shell and used it to attach a keychain with one of the little weatherproof keychain tags that you can write on a small card and seal it inside. This seems better than the 'dragging a block of wood' solution I have seen.
 

Jacqui

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I have some Russians who the previous keeper had glued her phone number to the carapace shell using those plastic label machines and the epoxy (I believe). It has been years and they are still on. The bad thing was, the phone number is no longer a working number.
 
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