Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, I don't have a pic, but I aquired a tortoise that was a wild rescue. I have been searching the internet for what tortoises are found in alabama, but all I find is gopher tortoises. In comparing it to a gopher- the carapace is more domed, like a box, but the bottom isn't hinged, it has skinny front legs, as opposed to the flat ones of the gopher, and has a regular size tail, also opposed to the gopher. where the gopher is kind of flat faced, this one is sharp faced like a box. almost solid brown carapace, some pyramiding with a small yellow spot in each scute and distinct growth rings. does anyone know of a site that I could go to? i have checked gophers, texas tortoise, and desert tortoise-and none of them are it. could the gopher have bred with something else that would have changed the hatchlings? I will try to get a pic soon

You did not say how large this tortoise is, so it is hard to guess what you may have. It may very well be an escaped pet tortoise which is not native to the US. It could be a Yellow Foot from your description or maybe a Burmese Brown or Black or even a Russian Tortoise. I suggest you check the photos at www.tortoisetrust.org or another site, http: www.slowcoach.org.uk

The picture galleries or Care Sheet pages of these sites may be helpful.

hey, i checked the photos here as well as everywhere else i could find, i am going to take a picture of it. he is 2 yrs old and looks like a cross between a gopher tortoise and a box turtle

CHELONIA.ORG
SOUNDS LIKE A BURMESE OR YELLOWFOOT
HARD TO SAY WITHOUT THE SIZE
YOU CAN FIND ALMOST ANY TORTOISE ON THAT WEB SITE
JEFF
PLANET REPTILES

How do you know he's two years old if he was a wild rescue? Just wondering.

Nina

the people who had him found him 2 yrs ago and he was very small then. I am sure that he is older than 2 but maybe not much

ok thanks I will check there

there are intergrades in the Terrapene group but box turtles do not cross with gopher tortoises - pictures of course would clarify and identify

Perhaps it would be helpful to know where it was found. Here I mean the town and the state to give an idea of the geographic location in case it may be something which is native to the US.

Some people I knew in CT had a Russian Tortoise escape and were unable to find it, but three years later, it was found right in their front yard. It had been hibernating under their stone wall and had survived two horrendously cold New England winters.

Adding the above just to show that you never know what you might find walking around.

well i know that it was found somewhere in alabama. the sites i found suggest that mostly there are gopher tortoises here, but he is different than them-for one thing his long tail-full size not like the gophers, and he doesn't seem to like the heat lamp like they do, he stays buried until early morning.he has no desire for the veggies that the gophers eat-he likes pellets and krill,anyway i am going to get a pic very soon,just waiting to develop the film. i appreciate everyones help

You will need a digital camera to post the photo on this site. No devloping necessary!

The only way to solve this is with a photo.

In todays day and age it could be anything what with the interest in turtles and tortoises and people just letting them loose when not desired.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Whatever it is, it doesn't sound native to AL. It may have been "wild caught" as you say, but probably from somewhere else. The only true tortoises that we have here in AL are gopher torts. The only other land-dwellers are the box turtles. Those are pretty easy to identify. Sounds like you have a tortoise from another state or country.
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0.10.0 Ball Pythons
0.1.1 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Egyptian Tortoise

he looks a little like the photo of the desert tort posted by tonyc130 but he has a long(full size) tail and the front legs arent flattened like the desert.I am going to get a pic-my computer doesnt accept the disks from my camera so i have to get another one

You may have one of the two types of Forest Hingeback Tortoises. The front legs are thin, and the males have really long tails for their size. How big is this tortoise? 6" to 8" or so is the adult size for Kinixys homeana. Males begin to get long tails at around 5". Try looking up a picture of Kinixys homeana and see what you think.

Sherrymote,

Here is a picture of some full grown adult Kinixys homeana. Could this be what you have? Keep in mind that I hand picked these from many imports and these individuals are much more colorful than most which you would see.

he looks a little like them but the edges of the carapace arent as scalloped as theirs. he is about 3 in. or so long.i tried to find a pic of some younger ones so i could see if their carapace is domed when they are little because his is as domed as a box turtle.I have got to buy a camera!

is it possable that improper nutrition, if he were in the gopher family,would affect the shape of his front legs and carapace? they were feeding him turtle pellets only-and even now he wont eat the veggies at all,he will only eat pellets and krill

Another question comes to mind from what you are saying. Are you certain this is actually a tortoise you have? Are its toes flexible or not? Does it have webbing between them? Also are its back feet elephant-like or not? Is the tail nearly as long as the shell? Does it have an orange or yellow neck?

no webbing,black head and neck, some bland spots on front leggs,toes didn't seem flexable,

his legs are elephant like,whole head and neck is black. the more i think about it i wonder if he could be a dull colored gopher with altered legs and shell due to improper nutrition. I took some pics but have to get them onto another type disk or emailed to me-i will do that tomorrow

That will be great. I am dying to see what you have there (and I am sure others are too). Hopefully you can post the picture today!

no pics till tomorrow-no one in town will retrieve my pics from the DVD-R that my camera uses and it wont hook to my computer,and my computer doesn't read them-I took new ones on a disposable and am going to get them in the A.M

i can't get the photos to upload

I cant get my pics in here-I dont know how to resize them-any help?I could email them to one of you if you like

I will try to resize them. Send via email to: zovick@bellsouth.net