NEED TO RESCUE TORTOISE IN AZ

[DevilDog5mom7]

I found your website and thank goodness I did. I live in Arizona Our next door neighbor has a large (3' long 2' wide) beautiful tortoise. Neighbor is a 80 yr old widow. Her tortoise is not being cared for properly. She loves her animals but can no longer care or feed them. I have been reading about tortoise care. The pen is much to small. It is all dirt. There is no grass inside the pen for munching. The water is nasty. The only food is hay/straw. The woman is in the hospital. We have been feeding the tortoise, after careful review of what to feed him. I have contacted Maricopa county animal services. They cannot help. I have contacted AZ Game and Fish. They have a large duty to care for and regulate the desert tortoise population in AZ. They have not bothered to respond to my calls. I need to know what to do about this lovely tortoise. Who can I contact? I looked over your forums and could not decide what forum to post this in. If you could advise I will post in the correct forum. I really want to help him. the neighbor may not survive and her adult daughter is caring for the birds but has not checked on the tortoise. I want someone to rescue this tortoise. Thanks. I have enjoyed reading through your site.

 

[motero]

If you have the consent of the owner to take it and find it a home, then you are probably OK to post in the adoptions section that is in the for sale forum.

 

[Vladsfriend]

I'm confident you'll get a lot of help here on this forum. I've been helped tremendously. But one thing that would make it easier to provide suggestions is pictures. Pictures of the tortoise and the enclosure.

 

[Jodie]

Thank you for taking care of this tortoise. Pictures would be very helpful for us to give the best advice.

 

[DevilDog5mom7]

I'm confident you'll get a lot of help here on this forum. I've been helped tremendously. But one thing that would make it easier to provide suggestions is pictures. Pictures of the tortoise and the enclosure.

I will get pics tomorrow. the tort is very dirty. I do know he is brown not black. And I will get pics of the enclosure. Thanks.

 

[Jacqui]

So you are feeding him and giving him water, that's good.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

From your size description, I'm assuming this is a sulcata, not desert tortoise. I think consent of owner (or her daughter) is your best option.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Great to hear you are taking care of the tort. Please post pics asap so as to get the hep you need. Good luck!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi:

As I told you in our Pvt Conv, you will need to have permission from either the old lady, or the daughter to re-home the tortoise. It's a good thing you're doing, taking care of the tortoise until something else can be done. Thank you for that.

 

[Lyn W]

Thank goodness you are looking out for him.
No chance you could take him yourself? You're obviously a caring person
and sounds as if you would give him a loving home.

 

[Oxalis]

Thank you for caring about the animal's well-being. You will never run out of help here on Tortoise Forum. Best of luck to you! Hugs!

 

[DeanS]

Dying to see pics of this guy...

 

[Maro2Bear]

Three feet long, and two feet wide. I can't wait to see a pix as well. Lets all hope someone " here " can adopt!

 

[DevilDog5mom7]

I'm confident you'll get a lot of help here on this forum. I've been helped tremendously. But one thing that would make it easier to provide suggestions is pictures. Pictures of the tortoise and the enclosure.

I have images. I have to reduce the size and then will post them.

 

[DevilDog5mom7]

Thank goodness you are looking out for him.
No chance you could take him yourself? You're obviously a caring person
and sounds as if you would give him a loving home.

He is amazing to watch and very cute We do not have the space he needs and we have desert landscaping. But we are down to one very old kat, 16 years old, and she is the caboose. I think if he was smaller than maybe but he is huge. I have pictures to post soon.

 

[DevilDog5mom7]

I found your website and thank goodness I did. I live in Arizona Our next door neighbor has a large (3' long 2' wide) beautiful tortoise. Neighbor is a 80 yr old widow. Her tortoise is not being cared for properly. She loves her animals but can no longer care or feed them. I have been reading about tortoise care. The pen is much to small. It is all dirt. There is no grass inside the pen for munching. The water is nasty. The only food is hay/straw. The woman is in the hospital. We have been feeding the tortoise, after careful review of what to feed him. I have contacted Maricopa county animal services. They cannot help. I have contacted AZ Game and Fish. They have a large duty to care for and regulate the desert tortoise population in AZ. They have not bothered to respond to my calls. I need to know what to do about this lovely tortoise. Who can I contact? I looked over your forums and could not decide what forum to post this in. If you could advise I will post in the correct forum. I really want to help him. the neighbor may not survive and her adult daughter is caring for the birds but has not checked on the tortoise. I want someone to rescue this tortoise. Thanks. I have enjoyed reading through your site.

Here is an update. the owner is in ICU and not expected to recover. I have talked with the daughter who pretends to be worried about the tort but she has not been back to the house since Saturday. I am feeding Elvis (my name for him?) every day. tomorrow I will get rid of the nasty water bowls and put down a new bowl that is not so huge. I think I should rake the waste since his pen is so small. He has dug a pretty big burrow? which he goes into to sleep I guess. I heard from AZ Game and fish. I send him the photos. He was going to check on the legal process if she refused to give him up. So a huge wonderful thank you for all the replies, helpful suggestions. I know of one person who would love to adopt Elvis. I would prefer that a person adopt Elvis without the involvement of the sheriff's dept. I have to say that tortoise lovers are a unique group of individuals. I know Elvis would be well taken care of if someone from this group were to adopt him. I will keep all informed. And i will post pictures as soon as I know how to do that. Gail

 

[Lyn W]

Here is an update. the owner is in ICU and not expected to recover. I have talked with the daughter who pretends to be worried about the tort but she has not been back to the house since Saturday. I am feeding Elvis (my name for him?) every day. tomorrow I will get rid of the nasty water bowls and put down a new bowl that is not so huge. I think I should rake the waste since his pen is so small. He has dug a pretty big burrow? which he goes into to sleep I guess. I heard from AZ Game and fish. I send him the photos. He was going to check on the legal process if she refused to give him up. So a huge wonderful thank you for all the replies, helpful suggestions. I know of one person who would love to adopt Elvis. I would prefer that a person adopt Elvis without the involvement of the sheriff's dept. I have to say that tortoise lovers are a unique group of individuals. I know Elvis would be well taken care of if someone from this group were to adopt him. I will keep all informed. And i will post pictures as soon as I know how to do that. Gail

That is sad news about the old lady and a shame the family aren't interested in helping with Elvis.
Are the huge water dishes big enough for him to lie in? Torts they like to soak to hydrate themselves in addition to drinking, if it is big enough then maybe just clean it up and add fresh water daily. Yes they do dig burrows as hides - must be pretty big.
Poor old Elvis I do hope he finds a good home and thank you for caring.

 

[mike taylor]

Welcome to TFO! It would be awesome if you could keep him . Seems to me you would be a good keeper . I warn you spend to much time with him and you will be attached .

 

[DevilDog5mom7]

That is sad news about the old lady and a shame the family aren't interested in helping with Elvis.
Are the huge water dishes big enough for him to lie in? Torts they like to soak to hydrate themselves in addition to drinking, if it is big enough then maybe just clean it up and add fresh water daily. Yes they do dig burrows as hides - must be pretty big.
Poor old Elvis I do hope he finds a good home and thank you for caring.

He is so cute. I really like watching him. I think back in the day when he was being cared for he had a pool. A child's wading pool for a soak. But it is broken and hasn't been used for some time. I am going to remove the rancid water and put down a more suitable container. Some one mentioned to me a terra cotta saucer would be a good choice. it won't turn over.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Here is an update. the owner is in ICU and not expected to recover. I have talked with the daughter who pretends to be worried about the tort but she has not been back to the house since Saturday.

Normally I would be all for calling out people who neglect their animals, but given the impending loss of her mother, I think you should cut the daughter a little slack here. These are clearly extraordinary circumstances.

Hopefully a legal adoption is forthcoming if the family does not wish to keep him. Thank you for providing food and water for this poor old tort.