Lost greek tortoise

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jamiem21

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Hi,

I am new to the forum and new to having tortoises. My son just got one for his birthday and he loves his new pet. We let it out to browse around in the garden and it wondered off. We looked everywhere including the woods behind my house. Is there anything that I can do to maybe get him to come back? A heat light? Will he die in our environmnet? I live in south MS. All comments are appreciated. :)
 

T Smart

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Im sorry he got lost. You could try to put out some of his favorite food around the yard. I'm not familiar with Greeks but he might have dug a small burrow or something somewhere in your yard so Keep looking, I hope you can find him. Best of luck
 

CGKeith

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If it is a little bit cool out then it probably did not go far and is buried under some loose soil or leaves.

You are going to have to check extremely well or you will go right over it.
 

jamiem21

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CGKeith said:
If it is a little bit cool out then it probably did not go far and is buried under some loose soil or leaves.

You are going to have to check extremely well or you will go right over it.

We have been looking everyday and no luck yet. There are some woods close to my house. I have a feeling he is somewhere in them. I wish he would come out. Thanks for you input.
 

Sonja215

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Just wanted to add a quick note. I've lost my little one outside a few times. He's pretty easy to figure out though. Seems that as soon a he gets uncomfortable he wants to hide. I think each time he's outside the first thing he does is he surveys the area for a safe place. My house has siding and we have a crawl space so the bottom of the house is brick (painted green). When Herbie is out in my yard I have to watch him like a hawk because I don't have an outside set up yet. So I'll set him out in some greenery (what little I have), put a leaf over him, and he thinks he's hidden and I'll be watching him from the steps. Few times my neighbor has got me over to the fence chatting and while I'm watching Herbie from my new position. Come to find out each time I wind up staring at a pine cone and not Herbie.

Here's the thing though, that damn Herbie always ends up the exact place I keep moving him away from. The wall, or in the tree because there is a small hole down in the roots where Rexy Rex (see profile pic) thought there was a rodent or something of the sort. Or from climbing through my fence cause I have a big bush.

Went to work late on Monday this week because Herbie was not in the same spot I thought he was while I picked pine needles off my car. So raked my whole front yard, raked out the bottom of some bushes, nowhere was Herbie. I broke my MDB trying to fix it to the steps so I grabbed the red light and had the red light special going on at my front door all night long. My thought was that he knows its a heat source and would come to it if he got cold. Next morning I started picking up leaves and bagged then up, small pile by small pile. Herbie was heavy enough, so if know if I grabbed him in the leaves. I looked along side the wall next to my house really good. He usually goes there and I even dreamed that's where he was. As I'm raking I found him. I don't know how I missed him the other ten times I raked over that spot.


This pic I was trying to post.

You'll see how easy it is to just overlook these guys. Think about what I said them searching for a safe spot. Herbie was pretty well dug in, I raked over him a few times before I seem him. And these pics were after I wiped off the dirt around him. It's cool here where I am, the night he was out, 50 degrees that night. Other time he wandered off, he went to the bush I wouldn't let him get under previously. Raked out the leaves, couldn't see him. So I started hosing down different areas of the yard, figured he wouldn't like all the water and come out. Nope. I only found him because he was sitting there with the water glistening off his shell and under the bush.
 

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jamiem21

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Sonja215 said:
Just wanted to add a quick note. I've lost my little one outside a few times. He's pretty easy to figure out though. Seems that as soon a he gets uncomfortable he wants to hide. I think each time he's outside the first thing he does is he surveys the area for a safe place. My house has siding and we have a crawl space so the bottom of the house is brick (painted green). When Herbie is out in my yard I have to watch him like a hawk because I don't have an outside set up yet. So I'll set him out in some greenery (what little I have), put a leaf over him, and he thinks he's hidden and I'll be watching him from the steps. Few times my neighbor has got me over to the fence chatting and while I'm watching Herbie from my new position. Come to find out each time I wind up staring at a pine cone and not Herbie.

Here's the thing though, that damn Herbie always ends up the exact place I keep moving him away from. The wall, or in the tree because there is a small hole down in the roots where Rexy Rex (see profile pic) thought there was a rodent or something of the sort. Or from climbing through my fence cause I have a big bush.

Went to work late on Monday this week because Herbie was not in the same spot I thought he was while I picked pine needles off my car. So raked my whole front yard, raked out the bottom of some bushes, nowhere was Herbie. I broke my MDB trying to fix it to the steps so I grabbed the red light and had the red light special going on at my front door all night long. My thought was that he knows its a heat source and would come to it if he got cold. Next morning I started picking up leaves and bagged then up, small pile by small pile. Herbie was heavy enough, so if know if I grabbed him in the leaves. I looked along side the wall next to my house really good. He usually goes there and I even dreamed that's where he was. As I'm raking I found him. I don't know how I missed him the other ten times I raked over that spot.


This pic I was trying to post.

You'll see how easy it is to just overlook these guys. Think about what I said them searching for a safe spot. Herbie was pretty well dug in, I raked over him a few times before I seem him. And these pics were after I wiped off the dirt around him. It's cool here where I am, the night he was out, 50 degrees that night. Other time he wandered off, he went to the bush I wouldn't let him get under previously. Raked out the leaves, couldn't see him. So I started hosing down different areas of the yard, figured he wouldn't like all the water and come out. Nope. I only found him because he was sitting there with the water glistening off his shell and under the bush.



Thank you so much for responding. I am going to look for him better. There is a lot of pine trees behind my house and I bet he could be buried under them or the pine needles. He has been gone for quite sometime now though. Those pics were pretty impressive. They are good at burying. We looked for him right away for a long time and could never find him. I hope we are able to find him. Thank you for your post. I enjoyed reading it.
 

Katherine

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jamiem21 said:
He has been gone for quite sometime now though.

Don't throw in the towel on these guys ever. I have found a lost BT two years after he made a break for it not but 4 meters from where he went missing. I'm hopeful for you.
 
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