Lost Russian Tortoise

I lost tank just yesterday. I’ve looked for him 4 hours straight this morning he means so much to me. If you find him please reply to this thread or email me at tortoisecontact@gmail.com
My area: Trabuco Canyon/Coto de Caza/Rancho Santa Margarita (California). He could be anywhere by now
Here he is

I put them outside in a bin to get sun light and I took him out to empty it and I have no idea how I just forgot about him. I’m a complete idiot and I’m just killing myself for it because I know it’s my fault. But behind my yard to the left is hundreds of acres of wilderness and to the right is a street and many homes. There is plenty of bushes and grass, cactus and other greens in the wilderness I’m just really worried that he will be okay in the wild. If he did go to the right I fear someone will pick him up with zero experience and put him in a bin without any uvb or heat lamps and completely mistreat him. In the wilderness area there are hiking trails so I’ll put some papers out and one on the street.

Maybe you will see him roaming around in your back yard in a day or two, praying you find your little guy

I kept a Craigslist ad up the entire time. It has now been 2 months since tank has been missing. On my way to adopt a 120lb sulcata I get a text “is this your tortoise?”. And there was tank! Found in hiking mountains miles away! I am currently still out transporting the sulcata. My brother showed me tank over FaceTime. It looks like he’s been worn out and even possibly been attacked by an animal. On the bottom of his shell there is a thin long cut that is bleeding. I don’t have a photo of it and can’t take one until I get back home later in the day. I told my brother to give him a nice soak to clean him up for now until I get back. What should I do about the wound? Should I put an antibiotic ointment on it? I might make a new thread for this.

I don’t have advice on the injuries but I’m very glad to see he is returned!

Wow... what a story. Incredible that Tank is discovered the same day you are retrieving a Sully rescue.

@Tom and @zovick and @Yvonne G should be able to help with Sully’s wounds. Best of luck

Wow! It’s amazing how tortoises have the means to survive months in the wild, and run miles away, only to be found!
Good luck with the cut!

Thanks to all of you!

That's great news! I guess you should never really give up hope on finding animals as resilient as tortoises.

Sorry, forgot to upload a picture of his shell. Been so busy with the Sulcata. Here he is:

It looks bad although it seems to have been there for a little while. He does not seem to be in any pain. It’s just a matter of time for his shell to grow back and recover. He walks completely normally, eats great, and is very person friendly. What concerns me is a bump on his face. I’ll take a photo of that tomorrow. For the mean time any info for the shell will be helpful. For calcium, I have him under a UVB tube. I do have calcium supplements too. Though I worry because he’s been in the sun for a while and the supplement I have has added D3 (I also have crushed egg shells but I know it isn’t as effective as pure calcium carbonate). Will it harm him in any way? I think a calcium supplement is crucial to get his shell grown back.

Dude, thats awesome sumone found him. Congrats, and congrats on the new sulcata

It kind of looks more like a crack than a cut. Maybe glue a few Popsicle sticks onto the bottom of his shell while it heals to make sure it stays in place? I'm not sure what kind of glue would be safe to use, but I'm sure somebody does.

You’re right, it is rather a crack. It is very well in place though. I have him in quarantine separated from the other tortoises Incase he’s picked up anything from being in the wild and to avoid other torts climbing on him or stressing him out until he recovers.

@tortoiseplanet how's the little runaway russian doing?

He’s doing great. He’s very active and the bump on his head is almost gone. I’ve been supplementing him with calcium to heal the crack as fast as possible. He’s also more personable than before, rarely gets scared when handled. So glad he’s safe back home. I’ll be uploading some updated photos soon.