A neighbor found this tortoise walking down her street today while out walking her dog. I’m fostering her until (hopefully) her owner is found. Can anyone identify? My guess is Russian or Greek, but I’m not a tortoise expert by any means. I just want to get set up and diet correct. They all seem to be similar though. I’ll do plenty of research once I figure out what I’m dealing with here lol. I’m not new to reptiles by any means, hence why the neighbor gave her to me in the interim. Thank you in advance of any info!
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If you can show us more of the front of its feet and legs in front that’d add more info, please, but I don’t know that it’s a Russian/Horsfield’s, which are the kind I know most about. The shell color and pattern don’t look quite like what I’m used to seeing from a Russian, though I could very well be wrong. It’s got such a high contrast coloration with that pale and then those blackish markings, and I haven’t seen that on a Russian myself. It might be a Greek or Egyptian tortoise.
That said, most torts appreciate some nice clean hay, fresh water, and a warmish box or hide to vanish into, so hopefully someone will know what sort you have here, and until then, you’re probably pretty safe offering a little timothy hay from a good source. (clean, not musty, not signs of mold or etc)
If I were you, I’d check with Classified ads, and all the local Veterinarians in a couple miles, especially the Exotics, and see if any of their customers have lost a Tortoise. People whose torts escape often put out Lost Pet notices because they’re pretty noticeable little dudes and there’s always that hope you can get them back.
Can you give measurements of its shell size?
Edit to add: Pesticide free clean Dandelion greens or clover are surefire foods as well.
Also, I’d take it to the nearest Vet, as you already probably plan on doing, to see not only if they recognize it but also if they can check it for parasites or dehydration, etc.
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She was running all over the place so hard to get pix lol.
I appreciate all the suggestions!
Shes already been posted in multiple places by the neighbor who found her in hopes of finding her owner. Or she was a dump. Who knows.
Shes 7 inches long and 5 inches wide. I live close to DFW Reptarium so I’m going to pop in there tomorrow for supplies and see if they sell these. They had several tortoise species last time I was there. They might recognize the pattern. I agree it is hard to tell, but I’m leaning toward Russian. I gave her a warm soak and plenty to eat. She’s eating, peeing, and active so she seems to be doing OK.
Thankfully I had an empty 36x18x18 Exo-terra enclosure for her to go into. If I end up keeping her, I’ll build her something better.
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Oh that’s great to hear! Good on you for taking such good care of this lost baby. The legs ad the full frontal view do look very Russian, so maybe she’s just got a very light shell coloring and is a Russian tort after all!
Fingers crossed you can find the owner… or if that turns out to be impossible, a great new owner!
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I’m thinking she’s a Russian also. She’s pretty outgoing and doesn’t like being enclosed at all lol. Going to take her outside for some exercise. If she ends up staying with us, I’m going to let the girl who found her pick a name. She likely saved her life. I’m glad she didn’t get run over by a car.
Thanks for all the good advice!
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Where do you live? I know some places actually have native tortoises so we have to rule that out first.
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Going by that, the only native possibility is a Texas Tortoise, which is not found in the DFW area and has an incredibly small home range. They also have a much different overall structure.
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At DFW Reptarium they confirmed she’s a Russian. I found a post on Nextdoor from a year ago by a teenager whose Russian had gotten out of their yard. I sent many pix, but they couldn’t confirm if she was really theirs. So, she’s still with me. She would have had to have traveled about 10 miles and survived the freeze at the beginning of the year. I really thought she was theirs, but they didn’t think so. The search is still on for her owner. She’s doing great and quite popular with all the nearby kids. The neighbor who found her named her Flora. She said she was moving toward a flower bed when they caught her lol. Works for me!
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