Identify this tortoise, please

[austinl01]

A friend of mine called me yesterday because she found a large tortoise in her yard. I think it is some type of African tortoise, but I'm not sure. I told her that it had to escape from a neighbor's yard. She is going to put up some signs to try to find the owner. Can you please tell me what kind it is? It was very heavy (maybe 20 lbs) and looked to be well cared for. Thanks!

 

[Jacqui]

Looks like a Gopher tortoise to me.

 

[lisa127]

He/she is beautiful.

 

[MikeCow1]

I think a Gopher also

 

[krh11b23]

Not for sure but looks like a sulcata to me

 

[austinl01]

I think you guys are right that it's a gopher tortoise.

I looked up the range map and they are not native to Arkansas. Is there anyway that it migrated here or that we have gophers now in central Arkansas, or must it be someone's pet? Could they even survive our 15 degree winters?

 

[tortadise]

Yeah definitely a gopher. A huge one too.

 

[austinl01]

Does it have an abscess or something on its lower mouth? I saw two large bumps on both sides of its lower jaw. I don't see this in pics online of gophers.

 

[tortadise]

the gopherus genus in the males have glands in the lower mandible that will swell when in breeding season, thats what they are. Usually they wont swell unless being territorial or dominant during breeding. More than likely someone had this as a pet and it got out. Arkansas is pretty far from their range.

 

[Mgridgaway]

Definitely not a sulcata. I say gopher as well.

I was about to say those were abcesses. Never heard gopher torts had that!

 

[GBtortoises]

I disagree, it's not a Gopher tortoise. Those "abscesses" that you see are not abscesses but chin glands which are normal in both Desert Gopherus agassizii and Texas tortoise Gopherus berlandieri. The well developed gular scutes on the plastron under the neck are also characteristics of those two tortoises. Based on those two characteristics it is a mature adult. A big Texas tortoise is about 9" but they average around 6.5-8". They are very round in shape and high domed. Desert tortoises get larger as mature adults and are more oblong in shape with the dome of their shell not being as high but more flat on top by comparison.
A straight line carapace measurement and plastron photo would tell more for sure.

 

[tortadise]

I disagree, it's not a Gopher tortoise. Those "abscesses" that you see are not abscesses but chin glands which are normal in both Desert Gopherus agassizii and Texas tortoise Gopherus berlandieri. The well developed gular scutes on the plastron under the neck are also characteristics of those two tortoises. Based on those two characteristics it is a mature adult. A big Texas tortoise is about 9" but they average around 6.5-8". They are very round in shape and high domed. Desert tortoises get larger as mature adults and are more oblong in shape with the dome of their shell not being as high but more flat on top by comparison.
A straight line carapace measurement and plastron photo would tell more for sure.

You know Im going to aggree too. I was looking at the photo again, and the angles, The gophers are way flatter, as well as the shape of the head. When I had gophers there heads were more viper shapes and came to a point rather than a sloped rounded head like this one. How big is he. Could be a bolsen those guys get rather large as well.

 

[Jacqui]

Don't look at me, I just made a wild guess. To me, it could be any of the three. I freely admit I know very little about how to tell them apart. My only first hand knowledge of a gopher was about five minutes to get her off the road and at the time, I was only worried about not getting either of us hit by a car. I bow to your superior knowledge.

 

[tortadise]

:

I bow to your superior knowledge.

.....looks around..........ME???? pssshhh Im low man on the totum pole here.

 

[Jacqui]

:

I bow to your superior knowledge.

.....looks around..........ME???? pssshhh Im low man on the totum pole here.

No GB!

 

[austinl01]

Hey, it does look like a desert tortoise. I'm thinking the chin glands give it away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_tortoise

 

[tortadise]

How big is he/she? Im assuming a he by the size in the photo and the glands.

 

[austinl01]

Very large. I would estimate 25 pounds and a length of 20 inches. I'm seeing if my friend can measure it and take a picture of the plastron for us. He's very beefy and strong.

 

[tortadise]

OH yeah not a gopher. Thats huge. My mistake earlier.
Wow very far from their natural range. more than likely someone had him and he got out.

 

[Yvonne G]

My first thought was desert tortoise, but you all seemed to know what you were talking about.

The give-away for me was the eyes. Desert tortoises have those neat, green eyes.