Comments on: Desert Tortoises: Lucy and Ethel

By: Paula from the DTCC

Paula from the DTCC — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:32:16 +0000

Joy, how wonderful to hear that you’ve got such an old tortoise! Be sure to go easy on the broccoli and grapes because they can cause bladder stones in pet tortoises – you should check them periodically to make sure they don’t have them because if left untreated, they can lead to mortality and we certainly don’t want that! Go heavy on dark leafy greens, like collard and dandelion greens (no spinach), and give prickly pear fruit as a sweet treat. You might want to start watching out for your 10 year olds because if they are different sexes, they will likely start mating in a few years, and since females store sperm, even after a single mating, she could give you hatchlings for 5 years or more, even if she never mates again! While the hatchlings are very cute, they can become a handful, and you could end up with an entire herd of tortoises in just a few years! But it sounds like you’re doing great with them, and they’re lucky to have such a great home!

By: Joy in Yuma

Joy in Yuma — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:04:18 +0000

Great article and pictures. I have three Desert Tortoises, the old guy is in his seventies, given to us by a friend who rescued him on a highway, a dozen or more years ago. Also two younger ones, now 10 years old, who were given to us by someone who suddenly found herself with a couple dozen newly hatched ones. They are fun to watch – slowly – and really easy care. They eat ALLOT of Romaine, broccoli, grapes, etc., but are getting ready now to hibernate ’till next spring, in the underground tunnel they built, inside their enclosed area in our yard. Super easy and fun pets! Our cat sometimes watches them eating, but really thinks they are quite boring!

By: Paula and Rachel from the DTCC

Paula and Rachel from the DTCC — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:40:20 +0000

Vicki,
It’s great that you rescued the four tortoises that you legally obtained as pets! I hope the ones with upper respiratory tract disease are seen regularly by a vet because they can be treated for their symptoms, which can make them much more comfortable. It is important to know that the disease can only be transmitted through face-to-face contact or by sharing a water source among infected tortoises, since the bacteria die in the air and sunshine, so no worries, dogs cannot transmit the disease to tortoises. However, they may prey on them, which is infinitely worse! If your two other tortoises that appear healthy are in contact with your symptomatic tortoises, they too may be infected, but are able to ward off symptoms. You are correct that disease can spread among tortoise populations if symptomatic tortoises are dumped in the desert, so that’s a good reminder for all tortoise owners: if you decide to give up your tortoises, please turn them in to a responsible turtle or tortoise group, or if you are in southern Nevada, you can call the Tortoise Hotline at 702-593-9027 to have them picked up and brought to us.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:59:50 +0000

I have 4 of them as pets – acquired thru the Turtle & Tortoise rescue society. I didn’t realize the raised scutes was due to lack of sun/heat but that makes sense. One of my males, Anthony (of Cleopatra fame) has that – he’s very healthy tho and eats like a pig. My other male, Popeye, I’ve had for 20 years. My females, Big Momma and Swee’ Pea, both have the URI – one is doing much better than the other. The reason so many of them are out there with this is dogs…let loose in the desert, reptiles released back into the wild to infect the others…if they weren’t rescued and kept as pets, they would die. Or, worse yet, infect others around them and they would all die. There are probably more of them in captivity than in the wild and, with the BLM striking again – moving them off of Ft Irwin with no new holes to go to nor familiarity with their new areas – we’ll probably lose a lot more them ‘in the wild’.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:11:51 +0000

I’m late in commenting on this post, but thanks so much for a wonderful success story! I admire your work with the desert tortoises and know that successes such as these must make your day. I love the names that you picked out for your special girls.

By: Susan (UK)

Susan (UK) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:08:38 +0000

How lovely to hear a happy story about the tortoises. Good luck to Lucy and Ethel, they are so lucky to have been taken to the SDZ.

By: zoodog

zoodog — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:47:37 +0000

Thanks Rachel… you and Paula really exude passion and enthusiasm for your ‘charges’ and you do a great service to the species by writing these informative blogs. I hope people will wise up and quit trying to take them as pets.