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PORTSMOUTH HERALD NEWS (New Hampshire) 22 September 06 An unexpected guest (Beth LaMontagne)
Kittery, Maine: The staff of the Piscataqua Animal Hospital and Pet Supply are hoping to find a home for a domesticated sulcata tortoise that wandered up to their offices on Route 1.
Katie Langille, the receptionist at the animal hospital, said the tortoise is not found naturally in the Maine environment and was likely kept as a pet. The staff believes someone either lost the tortoise or abandoned it.
"By her condition, she was well taken care of," Langille said.
The female sulcata tortoise was first spotted on Monday in the parking lot next to the veterinary clinic. At first, the staff thought it was a large snapping turtle, but when it reappeared the next day trying to get in the back door of the animal hospital, the staff thought there was something odd about the reptile, Langille said.
A veterinarian took a look at the tortoise and told the staff it wasn't a snapper, but a sulcata. They took it inside and have been searching throughout the week for anyone who may be missing her.
Langille said it was fortunate the sulcata tortoise found the clinic when she did.
"On a cold night like (Wednesday) night, they can't survive," she said.
Sulcata tortoises are native to Africa and must be kept in a warm, sunny room or outside in the summer. They eat primarily grasses and leafy greens and do not drink water like other pets. Instead, they sit in water to stay hydrated and need to either be regularly soaked or have a soaking dish to use periodically. Sulcata tortoises live extremely long lives, and owners are encouraged to stipulate in a will who will care for the tortoise if they die, said Langille.
The clinic has been letting the tortoise roam around the office, and the staff takes her out during the day to graze. It will keep the tortoise for a week, said Langille, and then will try to place her in a home.
"She's the sweetest turtle," she said. "It would be great if it was someone's pet who was lost."
An unexpected guest

PORTSMITH HERALD (Maine) 27 September 06 Stanley finds his way home (Beth LaMontagne)
Kittery, Maine: The lost sulcata tortoise has gone home.
Kittery resident Mickey Syverson was walking through the Fox Run Mall Friday when he passed a news stand and noticed Stanley, his pet tortoise, had made the front page. Later that day, he realized everyone he knew had seen Stanley, too.
"My phone kept ringing," he said. "Everyone was calling me up saying Stanley was in the newspaper."
That afternoon, Syverson brought some photos of Stanley to the Piscataqua Animal Hospital and Pet Supply to prove the 25-pound tortoise was his.
"He's happy to be back in his own house, let me tell you," said Syverson.
Last Tuesday, the Piscataqua Animal Hospital took in the 2-year-old sulcata tortoise after it attempted to go in the clinic's back door. After calling all its clients who own sulcata tortoises to see if Stanley belonged to one of them, the hospital called the Herald, asking for help in locating the owner, or another home if the tortoise was abandoned.
Syverson said he lets Stanley outside on days warmer than 60 degrees and the tortoise will bang on the door when he wants to come back in. Sulcata tortoises like to graze on grass, lie in the sun and burrow into the ground. Monday evening, when Syverson went out to Stanley's burrow to bring him in for the night, he realized the tortoise was missing.
"He stays out sometimes and comes home the next day, (so) I wasn't too worried, but by Wednesday, I was concerned," he said.
Syverson, who lives along the water behind the Piscataqua Animal Hospital, guessed that Stanley wandered to the water and burrowed in the mud. Tortoises navigate by following their own scent, Syverson said, and the mud may have masked his tracks and caused Stanley to get lost.
Stanley finds his way home