New Addition...

Mitica100 · Aug 6, 2008

...to our pet family!

We have applied for raising an endangered Desert Tortoise several months ago and recently we were approved and got one little tortoise (name is Onyx or Little O), two years of age. It has arrived a few days ago and since I'm not home (my wife told me all about it), I can hardly wait to return and see the little critter.

Since they live between 80 and 100 years of age, we had to put it in our will. Seriously! That is a requirement. It sort of shocked me at first but it makes sense.

We'll have to keep it (don't know the gender yet) indoors for the next two years and then I'll have to build a small area for it, to burrow in.

I'll take some pics when back home and I'm sure the subject won't move too fast! :lol:

MissMia · Aug 6, 2008

Congrats on the new addition! They are such cool critters. I had one that we found on the street in San Diego when I was a little girl. We had it for 10 years before we moved and found a new home for it. Can't wait to see photos of it.

Hawaii Five-O · Aug 6, 2008

Thats neat you go a desert tortoise, do they require you to breed him? In FL we have gopher tortoises which are also endangered, but i'm not sure if they have programs that let a person raise one.

Corry · Aug 6, 2008

Very cool, Mit! Can't wait to see pictures!

Luminosity · Aug 7, 2008

Congrats Miti! I love tortoises and turtles (I pronounce it toyl-tels) haha!

Interesting about the will factor, wouldn't have thought of that but it makes complete sense eh!

Pictures!

Puscas · Aug 7, 2008

Great! (I'll be honest, I had no idea what a tortoise was, but looked it up). Looking forward to the pan shots...

So, how big do they get?

pascal

Mitica100 · Aug 7, 2008

I'll try to answer to all questions...

Gopher tortoises and Desert tortoises are very close. I think there are 4 or 5 varieties that are very closely related. There are certain requirements that need to be met (here in AZ) in order to be awarded a Desert Tortoise. First of all, one needs to have a backyard and also be willing to modify it, at least in part, in order to accommodate the tortoise. Arizona has a good program for raising Desert Tortoises, their numbers were down like 90% (in the urban area) due to over expansion and killing their habitat.

As for their size, at two years of age, the Little O is about 2 to 2.5 inches long. When they mature they can go up to 15 inches long, so it's not a huge tortoise.

And here is a snapshot taken by my wife:

spiffybeth · Aug 7, 2008

aww, its cute!

terri · Aug 7, 2008

awww......he's beautiful! What a cool and fun addition. :thumbup:

I hope you are able to determine the sex of the little bugger, so no one has to keep referring to him as "it". Any kind of exotic-animal vets that could help you?

Antarctican · Aug 7, 2008

Hey, how cool is that? Good on ya for taking in the little hardshelled long-lived one.

Mitica100 · Aug 7, 2008

terri said:
awww......he's beautiful! What a cool and fun addition. :thumbup:

I hope you are able to determine the sex of the little bugger, so no one has to keep referring to him as "it". Any kind of exotic-animal vets that could help you?

Well, the females have a flat or slightly convex lower carapace and the males have a concave one. But that develops later in life. Their sexual maturity reaches at around 15-20 years of age.