Lost Hermanns - Can anyone give me hope?

[ifstarscollide]

I have a 13 year old Herman’s called Winston. He’s been missing for 3 days now and I’m beginning to lose hope.
He was free roaming in my kitchen and I can only assume my husband opened the back door and he escaped out of it.
Here in Devon, England it’s been very rainy the last few days but fairly warm (14-16 C).
Our garden is secure, I think, but we do have borders with soil etc.
I’ve done 3 fingertip searches and can’t find him at all.
Is it likely he’s dug down quite deep? I don’t know whether to keep searching or just accept he’s maybe hibernating and wait to see if he appears when it warms up? (Which breaks my heart)
Any more ideas of things I can do or any success stories of similar things happening to people?
I’m heartbroken and I can’t concentrate on work or anything.

 

[Cmama]

I had a friend that lost her but it had crawled under the refrigerator and couldn’t get out.. have you checked EVERYWHERE in the kitchen

 

[ifstarscollide]

I had a friend that lost her but it had crawled under the refrigerator and couldn’t get out.. have you checked EVERYWHERE in the kitchen

Yeah the gap under our fridge is like 2cm!
I’ve pulled out everything else in the kitchen too.

 

[wellington]

Contact all local vets, pet stores and rescues. Let neighbors know he is missing and put signs up. Look outside on hands and knees feeling around under every bush and anything else he could climb under. Check each day when the sun comes out for him to warm himself.
There is lots of hope.
When you do find him, build him a proper enclosure. The floor of your home isn't it. They need their own enclosure that is properly heated, lite and had what they need for proper walking and exercise.

 

[ifstarscollide]

Contact all local vets, pet stores and rescues. Let neighbors know he is missing and put signs up. Look outside on hands and knees feeling around under every bush and anything else he could climb under. Check each day when the sun comes out for him to warm himself.
There is lots of hope.
When you do find him, build him a proper enclosure. The floor of your home isn't it. They need their own enclosure that is properly heated, lite and had what they need for proper walking and exercise.

Thanks. He does have a proper outdoor enclosure. He was only inside in the kitchen because there was a storm going on.

 

[LeoTheWaywardTortoise]

Hi, @ifstarscollide , have you found Winston yet? I’ve “lost” my Sulcata, Leo, too many times to count. He has mad skills when it comes to hiding in my backyard. In May, he went missing for three days - I had been bringing him inside every evening, but one evening when I went to bring him in he was nowhere to be found. I checked each of his usual spots but it seemed like he just vanished. He hadn’t eaten his food, which was a first (he LOVES to eat) so I was really worried. I couldn’t find any indication that he’d escaped the backyard, so I had awful scenarios running through my mind… did a coyote somehow jump the block wall or gate? Did a bird of prey get him? Could someone have jumped the wall or gate and grabbed him? I was worried sick, but I kept putting food out for him every day. When I got home from work on the evening of the third day, I checked his food dish, expecting it to be untouched - but it was completely empty, I still couldn’t find him, but I was overjoyed to have evidence that he was still in the backyard somewhere. Turned out he’d gone into our very dense rosemary plant. I live about 35 miles from Phoenix, and the temps were getting higher so he decided he’d stay outside 24/7. I had to camp out on our back porch on weekend mornings if I wanted to see him, so that was our routine - every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I’d wait on the porch for him to emerge, then I’d bring him in for a good soak, dry him off, then let him back out. And now that the seasons are changing and the low temps are too low for him, I’ve blocked off the ingress/egress points on the rosemary and also blocked off his first burrow but he STILL is difficult to find sometimes… he sure knows how to camouflage himself.

TL;DR: Don’t give up hope! Tortoises are incredibly good at hiding. If there’s a particular food that he can’t resist. Sulcatas should never eat fruit, but I was able to lure him out of his hiding place by putting half a strawberry near the rosemary plant, and not even two minutes after I put it down, I saw the branches start twitching and out he came. I’ve used this trick two or three other times since, and it had worked every time.

I hope you’ve found Winston, but if you haven’t you might try putting out any food that he can’t resist. Just put it anywhere you think he might be able to hide. Here’s hoping you find him soon, if he’s still missing.

 

[LJL1982]

I would say the last two or three nights temperatures, coupled with the rain will have slowed him down. If he went outside he won't have gone far. He's most likely under, or up against something, like base of a shrub, or under your shed.

If he's in an inaccessible place and cools down enough he will hibernate and you might see him next year.

Do you have any other animals (cats or dogs) and can you watch their behaviour. I often could find my tortoise by seeing which areas a particular one of my cats was sitting in repeatedly.

Don't stop looking, but also don't underestimate him...they can fall down two or three steps and right themselves to keep on going, but I'd be amazed if he moved much at all in current temps. If he burrowed he could be down 5 or 6 inches but look for fresh dug soil areas.

If the back door was open mine would go out. Double treble check the kitchen...and the rest of the downstairs...did anyone open any internal doors, even for 30 seconds?


Keep us updated...also is he microchipped? Keep an eye on local Facebook lost and found groups too!