Not a good outside for Tito.

[NotBudule]

No Fee for adoption! Have to meet the AZDGF or Sonoran Desert Museum requirements. See their webpage..left side click on Tortoise...Basically escape proof area. Enclosure from the sun and freezing low temps. Source of water even though they can go for over a year without taking a drink of water. Escape proof is more difficult that you might imagine. Many folks try chainlink fence. Being little earth movers they are under the chainlink in the blink of an eye. Fix...bury the fence 6" below grade...however...the tortoise will figure out how to climb the fence and escape anyway...so chainlink is no good. Finer mesh fencing might work, but masonry wall is best with a 8" footing, which is what we have with spring closing gates. Tito knows the gates but he is not strong enough to push the gate so he ignores it.

Being curious and loving to explore new things, we also use vision block on the gates to keep him from peering through the gate at the greater expanse of our backyard.

Here are some pix of two male tortoise fighting

Grunting and hissing

Oh no...

Winner ambles off. Defeated tortoise may be able to flip himself back
over, but if he can't for some reason...a slow but certain death.

Can you take back the last part ? make it where the other tortoise helps him back over ?

We have some NASTY freshwater turtles here in WV , just mean and nasty ... A little back story , hahaha thats right , your in hell and you gotta read MY backstory ! My neighbor up the road several years ago had a big pond built and him and his brother start going out and trapping these monsters and keep adding them to the pond , something to do with Japan and the eggs or maybe they hatched them first but they couldnt send enough , not sure what they did with them and didnt really want to know , i do remember many golf cart trips to the pond , (which used to have fish in it but they made quick work of that ) because we threw all kinds of scraps in there for them , Man you could tell how damn strong this guys were and i believe i even commented that they gonna get out , "nah , they like it here , they wont go anywhere " fast foward a few months later and im outside looking out over the field where the creek runs through it , noticing how damn high the grass was and needs cut , then i realized those clumps of grass were MOVING !!! JAILBREAK !!! i look up towards the pond (probably 200 yards from pond to creek) , not single file , but a good line of at least 15 that were on their way and half a dozen that were gona make it , some of these guys came out of that very creek ! neighbor and brother finally came out and wrestled a few , i got one buy the tail but he stretched his neck WAY the hell out of his shell and was coming at me , so , he made it also...these damn things were as big as car rims , mean and hissy , i think there were 6 or so left and brother put them in burlap sacks and went to Flordia , no more turtle farm..

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[P. A. Schilke]

Can you take back the last part ? make it where the other tortoise helps him back over ?

We have some NASTY freshwater turtles here in WV , just mean and nasty ... A little back story , hahaha thats right , your in hell and you gotta read MY backstory ! My neighbor up the road several years ago had a big pond built and him and his brother start going out and trapping these monsters and keep adding them to the pond , something to do with Japan and the eggs or maybe they hatched them first but they couldnt send enough , not sure what they did with them and didnt really want to know , i do remember many golf cart trips to the pond , (which used to have fish in it but they made quick work of that ) because we threw all kinds of scraps in there for them , Man you could tell how damn strong this guys were and i believe i even commented that they gonna get out , "nah , they like it here , they wont go anywhere " fast foward a few months later and im outside looking out over the field where the creek runs through it , noticing how damn high the grass was and needs cut , then i realized those clumps of grass were MOVING !!! JAILBREAK !!! i look up towards the pond (probably 200 yards from pond to creek) , not single file , but a good line of at least 15 that were on their way and half a dozen that were gona make it , some of these guys came out of that very creek ! neighbor and brother finally came out and wrestled a few , i got one buy the tail but he stretched his neck WAY the hell out of his shell and was coming at me , so , he made it also...these damn things were as big as car rims , mean and hissy , i think there were 6 or so left and brother put them in burlap sacks and went to Flordia , no more turtle farm..

Hi NB,

Yea...alligator snapping turtles... I used to live in Florida actually had one for a short while on our side screen porch...you are right ugly and mean...

Best,
Phil

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Can you take back the last part ? make it where the other tortoise helps him back over ?

Actually in this longer series of photos, the winner did actually help the other tortoise flip back over...they were so exhausted they both slept for quite a while...and when they woke up... They fought again and the same tortoise lost again but this time the winner did walk off...as I recall the photog rescued the loosing tortoise. I use these three photos when I teach a class on the Sonoran Desert Tortoise...

Best,
Phil

 

[JDowns]

Tortoises are amazing little guys.

My grand-parents had a pair. No joke about escape proof. They would dig under the chain link fence in no time. Grandpa was pissed when grandma made him put chicken wire underground to stop them in their tracks. I spent many a weekend tracking them down before irrigation days, but most the time if I just put some fresh cantelope rinds on the patio they would be there in no time.

One year my grandma's dog brought what she thought was little dirt clods into the house. Ended up being four babies. All four with one missing leg, due to the dog. All four went on to live at the Phoenix Zoo, probably still there.

When my grandma passed years later AZDGF found an adoption home for the parents.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Tortoises are amazing little guys.

My grand-parents had a pair. No joke about escape proof. They would dig under the chain link fence in no time. Grandpa was pissed when grandma made him put chicken wire underground to stop them in their tracks. I spent many a weekend tracking them down before irrigation days, but most the time if I just put some fresh cantelope rinds on the patio they would be there in no time.

One year my grandma's dog brought what she thought was little dirt clods into the house. Ended up being four babies. All four with one missing leg, due to the dog. All four went on to live at the Phoenix Zoo, probably still there.

When my grandma passed years later AZDGF found an adoption home for the parents.

Hi Jeff,

Tegen of AZDGF told me that she had one with only three legs...they named it Tripod....It was adopted and is still going strong...

Best,
Phil

 

[JDowns]

Hi Jeff,

Tegen of AZDGF told me that she had one with only three legs...they named it Tripod....It was adopted and is still going strong...

Best,
Phil

Might very well have been one of the babies. I remember my uncle rushing them to a specialized vet and bandaging them up. Grandma had them for awhile but was too worried about them with three legs and the irrigation. This was 30+ years ago. I seem to remember a woman from the Zoo coming over to pick them up, was a sad day for grandma, as the tortoises were her little babies. But very well may have been the AZDGF. I would assume there is some cross over there with indigenous species.

The good ole days of Ozzie and Harriet. Mom probably still has photos of them hobbling around, grandma took hundreds of photos of them.

 

[JDowns]

Fun fact. If you have a dandelion weed problem, tortoises will make short work of them..... and other flowers.

Phil's not joking about leg strength. As a kid I built many a failed iteration of brick barriers around the garden. They always barreled it over or if to short just climbed over. Mostly to burrow in the soft soil, but the roses were too much temptation.

As I got older I learned about a nifty invention called mortar. But I think grandma just wanted to keep me out of her hair while she watched her soaps.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Fun fact. If you have a dandelion weed problem, tortoises will make short work of them..... and other flowers.

Phil's not joking about leg strength. As a kid I built many a failed iteration of brick barriers around the garden. They always barreled it over or if to short just climbed over. Mostly to burrow in the soft soil, but the roses were too much temptation.

As I got older I learned about a nifty invention called mortar. But I think grandma just wanted to keep me out of her hair while she watched her soaps.

Hi Jeff,

Tito is quite picky...he was raised on Kale and won't eat anything else...we tried various flower blossoms but no interest... Dessert? Always a strawberry for him... Spoiled tortoise...

Today he was in the house on patrol...just surveying his territory inside... They are so stealth...they make no noise and we always have to be on guard for him so not to kick or step on him... He loves to amble into the kitchen when Margie and I are getting dinner or food prep...he parks on his shell next to the dishwasher with head and neck extended and watches the activity...he just wants to be part of the process...

Best,
Phil

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi NB,

Tito was hatched in September of 2007, so he is 14 years old. Life expectancy is between 80 to 100 years.

Best,
Phil

Hi folks...

Since Tito will live a very long life it is our responsibility to ensure he is going to be in captivity for his entire life....If I am to stick around I will be over 140 years old...not going to happen.... So we contacted our Trust Attorney and had a page in our Trust dedicated to Tito to be handed off to the Sonora Desert Museum to be placed in their Tortoise adoption program. He will have a $500 check taped to his shell to pay for food and care... It is very common for Tortoise in captivity to have 3 or 4 custodians during their life...

Best,
Phil

 

[Trigganometry]

Ours was Cedric a North American wood turtle. That shell was a killer. Everyone in the family had at least one black toenail ?

He was a veggie lover. Grapes, strawberries, blueberries and dandelion greens. Kale too! They are pretty smart, you wouldn’t think it ether

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Ours was Cedric a North American wood turtle. That shell was a killer. Everyone in the family had at least one black toenail ?

He was a veggie lover. Grapes, strawberries, blueberries and dandelion greens. Kale too! They are pretty smart, you wouldn’t think it ether

Hi Rick,

I told Margie bout Cedric....she said it was the cutest name for a turtle...

best,
Phil

 

[NotBudule]

Hi folks...

Since Tito will live a very long life it is our responsibility to ensure he is going to be in captivity for his entire life....If I am to stick around I will be over 140 years old...not going to happen.... So we contacted our Trust Attorney and had a page in our Trust dedicated to Tito to be handed off to the Sonora Desert Museum to be placed in their Tortoise adoption program. He will have a $500 check taped to his shell to pay for food and care... It is very common for Tortoise in captivity to have 3 or 4 custodians during their life...

Best,
Phil

Or older ? you said "80 to 100" , but im pretty sure that a pampered , hand fed , nose bumping member of the family was not included in the life expectancy control group ... Tito even gets colonics from time to time ... so i put you and the Mrs at around 200 , 220 maybe ...Tito ? 3 bills easy , oh , ill still be here to get that 500 and see him on through his golden years , so no worries sir ! We gots all kinds of time ...

 

[Gsxrdoug]

Here is Speedy, I know original but he was very fast and still is. Got him when he was about the size of a half dollar, now plate size. He's a Russian Desert Tortoise, 9 years old and like Phil said they love weeds, sometimes even better than the veggies we provide him. Call him a "him" because of his concave belly, they get so big that with out the concave belly he would slide off during mating time.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Or older ? you said "80 to 100" , but im pretty sure that a pampered , hand fed , nose bumping member of the family was not included in the life expectancy control group ... Tito even gets colonics from time to time ... so i put you and the Mrs at around 200 , 220 maybe ...Tito ? 3 bills easy , oh , ill still be here to get that 500 and see him on through his golden years , so no worries sir ! We gots all kinds of time ...

Hi NB,

It was amazing to me, but the Sonoran Desert Tortoise has not been part of a scientific study until 2016, so we really do not know how long they will live...The Desert museum thinks it is much longer than 100.

I would like to be there for Tito's passing but not going to happen...

Best,
Phil

 

[P. A. Schilke]

heres a question on life cycle of the tortoise and turtles in general. Has anyone ever found a turtle shell after they have passed away?

Of the thousands of turtles near where i live and grew up, i have never ever seen a turtle shell skeleton. I would assume its easier in the desert
found literally every other creatures skeleton, but never an elusive turtle.

Hi RP,

I have not personally found a shell but my friend and builder has one of a very large and old Sonoran desert Tortoise...it is on his workbench in his garage... He is in process of building on 4.1 acre lots in Tubac Az. He scouts each lot before the leveling process for the house footprint and has saved a few wild Tortoise which he relocates to parts of the undeveloped lot so they are not moved very far...it was on one of these surveys that he found the shell. You are correct though that it is quite rare....

Best,
Phil

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