Well we rescued Shelly about 3 months ago I think we caught her just in time. She is a 6 year old African Spurred Sulcata. She was only about 8 inches, with MBD. Her shell was soft to the touch and she couldn't use her rear end much. She seems to be thriving here in Arizona. It's summer so outside is where she is dawn till dusk. She is now standing tall and running like the wind. Voracious appetite. And she has nearly reached 10" already. Some of her pyramids have smoothed out(not all), and we have officially gotten back to a hard shell. Unfortunately this is not my 1st tort rescue, although the last wasn't due to owner neglect (Tommy was attacked by his neighbors dogs), and he was a California Desert Tort, so slightly different but nearly the same care. Summer right now is hotter than Hades here, so I know she is getting her proper sun, and she has plenty of shade and water to find within her enclosure. At night we bring her in (lots of coyotes so no outside after dusk for our lil girl). Unfortunately her last owner was feeding her a bare minimum at every other day with no grazing rights allotted, she was indoors with nothing but a window and a heat light and a very small enclosure. We have definitely increased diet to at least daily sometimes twice (depending on how fast she eats round 1), we have grazers we are spreading while we establish her some grass in the newly built enclosure. Her temps are always above 75, and she always has cool spaces to retreat, although her favorite is laying on top of her food(I think she is afraid it won't be there later and it doesn't hurt that it's soft and cool). She seems to be thriving at this point. It never hurts to get info from others. I am solid in the belief that you should know the babies you are entrusted to raise and care for.The attached vid is her just prior to the new enclosure. We did choose to keep her in the small enclosure until she could really get moving. This is her graduation vid, last day in the tiny. We have been doing PT 3-4 times daily of full sun walks, once she was able to get her rear off the ground on her own, prior to that it was water walks in her soak basin.
Unfortunately it gets too cold come winter here without an elaborate heat setup, and I am in a rental at the moment. So we do what's best for her on that end, I do have a secondary enclosure inside, she actually comes Asks to go in in the evening. In all honesty, advice isn't why I am here, it's more about like minded pet caretakers. Most advice I have received has actually been directly from the Arizona fish and game that runs a very elaborate tort rescue and adoption center, as well as former info from previously fostering a CA Desert Tort. My brother also studied wildlife biology for years and has a plethora of info. She is definitely an African Spurred Tort, we made sure because she was given to us as a "Native Mojave Desert Tort" but none of her features lined up. So that was a mission all it's own, and they are heavily overbred here in AZ, and have become invasive to the natural dwellers, because most get them as babies not anticipating them becoming 110-200 lbs and they release them...
Yeah, fish and game here in AZ has a very special interest and are very helpful ensuring proper care. Even have to go through property inspections for adoption here. Anyone dealing with desert torts of any kind would benefit from their site honestly. It is amazing.
