Tortoise Terrace

Resources

Taxonomy

Vital Stats

• Weight: 8-15 lbs. (heavier in captivity)
  • Length (carapace): 9-15"
    • Height: 4-6"
• Sexual Maturity: 15-20 years
• Mating Season: Aug.-Oct.
• Incubation Period: 90-120 days
• No. Of Eggs: 4-8
• Birth Interval: 2-3/year
• Lifespan: 80-100 years
• Typical diet: Herbs, grasses, wildflowers

• "Introducing the Desert Tortoise" Desert Dispatch, 12/12/2006
• Living Desert
• Desert Tortoise Council
• Conservation Management Institute
• Nevada Wildlife Federation
• Nevada Fish and Wildlife Organization
• National Wildlife Federation
• National Park Service
• Fact Sheet ~ Southwest Wildlife Rehabilitation and Educational Foundation
  
  
• Desert Tortoise Preservation Committee
  • Desert Tortoise, Gopherus agassizii
  • Desert Tortoise Life Cycle Diagrams
• General information
  http://www.desertusa.com/june96/du_tort.html
  http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/gopherus/g._agassizii$narrative.html
  http://www.ca.blm.gov/palmsprings/DesertTortoiseC.html
  http://www.ca.blm.gov/cdd/tort.html
  http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sandiego/pdfs/tortoiseaccount.pdf
• http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/reptiles/tortoiselizard/desert_tort.html

• Outside List of Tortoise Related Links
  http://www.theturtleranch.com/Bookmark.htm
• How Old is My Tortoise? & Other Desert Tortoise Questions
  
• From taxonomy to basic care
  • http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/Gagassiziicare.htm
  • http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymountain/RMHPages/RMHpr03.htm
• Desert Tortoises in the News
  • Desert tortoise in deep decline. Population down to 10 percent in some SB County study areas
  • Slow and Unsure (Daily Press, June 2, 2003)
  • Nothing to Crow About (Daily Press, June 2, 2003)

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Law:

• Desert Tortoise Council
• California Fish and Game.com

• The Law and the Tortoise
  • http://www.tortoisegroup.org/thelaw.html
  • http://www.tortoise.org/general/permit.html
• Splitting Hairs Over The Desert Tortoise
• Tortoise and Desert Development
  • Guidlines for Handeling Desert Tortoises During Construction Projects

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• Desert Tortoise Council
  California Department of Fish and Game
  Desert Tortoise Preservation Committee
  • Habitat and Food PreferenceAlien Annual Plants and the Desert Tortoise
• DesertUSA
  • The Desert Tortoise
• Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area
  • Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) Facts
• BLM
  • Desert Tortoise in the Arizonia Stri

• Tortoises in the Local and Regional News
  • http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12585%257E1107882,00.html
  • http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2001/05/nr/grazingdecisions_051501.html
  • http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2001/04/nr/cdd_grazing_decisions.html

• Grazing and DT Ecology
  • http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/ca/Public/IMs/1997/CAIM97-008-P.html
  • http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/biology/tortoise1/#threat
  • http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/d284.htm#13017
  • http://www.peer.org/publications/wp_tortoise.html
    
• Desert Tortoise Life Cycle Diagrams
• Biogeography of Desert Tortoise
• Common Ravens in the Southwestern United States, 1968-92
• Reducing Predation by Common Ravens on Desert Tortoises
  In the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.
• Dry, Dry Again To survive in its desert home, the Desert Tortoise of the American Southwest must tolerate immense swings in its body chemistry. By Kenneth A. Nagy
• As If the Desert Weren't Stress Enough . . .
• A Natural History of Desert Tortoises
• Nesting Ecology of the Desert Tortoise in the Colorado Desert
  

• Turtle Anatomy
• Turtles in the Past
• Tortoise Phylogentics
• The Sonoran Desert Tortoise (about the book)
• The book
• Tortoise Reproduction Biology

• Studies of reproductive output of the desert tortoise at Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave National Preserve, and comparative sites http://www.werc.usgs.gov/hq/pdfs/parksci.pdf
• Desert Tortoise Burrows
• Potential Impacts of Captive Pet Tortoises on Wild Populations
• Field Survey Protocols for any Federal Action that may Occur within the Range of the Desert Tortoise
• General description of DT biology and ecology (detailed) PDF

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• Care, Husbandry, and Diet of the Desert Tortoise, Gopherus (Xerobates) agassizii Cooper

• First you must be legal!
  • The Permit System for Desert Tortoises,

• Tortoise, Teacher and Student Friendly "Tortoise in the classroom" Set-up.

  Materials for the classroom "set-up" at left can all be purchased at "WalMart. All you need is a four handled white Rubbermaid laundry basket, one small kitty litter box with snap-on litter guard (test and see if it fits in the laundry basket), an 18" "under cabinet portable light" bar, an 18", 15w GE "Sunshine" Full Spectrum Light fluorescent light bulb, an incandescent "clamp" light, one 65w indoor reflector floodlight, a shallow terra cotta pot plate, substrate of your choosing, wax paper for newborns and some wire to fix the light bar across the basket's narrowest dimension. A shelter can be added as needed. This set-up is well ventilated and can be easily moved outside or from class to class. It is designed to not easily break and to put the occupants within easy view and reach of students when placed on the floor or a student's desk.

• Setting-Up House
  • Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
  • Tortoise Trust ~ Understanding Vivarium Substrates
  • Hatchling Haven, Basic Set-up
• Daily Routine
  • World Chelonian Trust ~ Tortoise Hatchling Daily
• From Egg to Hatchling
  • Incubation of Turtle and Tortoise Eggs
    Hatchlings
    Rearing Healthy Hatchlings ~ Tortoise Trust
  • Basic Housing for Hatchlings ~ Tortoise Trust
  • Pictures of Eggs and Hatchlings (1)
    Pictures of Eggs and Hatchlings (2)
    Desert Tortoise Life Cycle, Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee
    Hatchling Haven
• The Essentials
  • Sunlight
    • How a Tortoise Works ~Tortoise Group
      Understanding Reptile Lighting Systems ~ Tortoise Trust
  • Food & Water
    • Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
      Article 1 , Article 2
    • Prepared Food ~ Tortoise Group
    • Foods to Avoid ~ Tortoise Group
    • Desert Tortoise Diet ~ San Diego Turtle & Tortoise Club
    • Tortoise Feeding and Nutrition ~ Tortoise Trust
      Article 1, Article 2, Article 3 , Article 4
    • Diet: recommended plant list
    • Known plants that can poison captive tortoise
    • Diet and Growth
  • Hygiene & Health
    • Do’s and Don’t about DT’s
    • Turtle and Tortoise Shell Repair
    • More about caring for shell injuries
    • California Turtle & Tortoise Club’s Tortuga Gazette
    • Medical Problems ~ Tortoise Group
      Article 1, Article 2,
    • DT Summer Care ~ Arizona Veterinary Medical Association
    • Health Care for Desert Tortoises, Desert View Animal Hospital, Arizona
    • Common Diseases in Tortoises ~ Tortoise Trust
    • Disease Prevention in Tortoise Collections ~ Tortoise Trust
    • Should I Give my Tortoise a Bath ~ Tortoise Trust
    • Recognizing Dangerous Situations ~ Tortoise Trust
    • Air Conditioning Dangers ~ World Chelonian Trust
  • Hazards & Enemies
    • Reproduction and Hatchling Care ~ Tortoise Group
    • General Hazards ~ Tortoise Group
    • Annual Danger Warnings ~ Tortoise Trust
  • Outdoor Enclosures and Burrows
    • Enclosures
    • Predator proof enclosures
    • Burrow Location ~Tortoise Group
    • Digging a Burrow ~ Tortoise Group
    • So ... How should a tortoise or turtle be housed?
    • Seed Mixes
      • Tortoise Foraging Mix ~ Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
      • Desert Tortoise Mix ~ Theodore Payne Foundati
  • Hibernation
    • California Turtle & Tortoise Club’s Tortuga Gazette
    • Hibernation ~ Tortoise Group
    • Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
    • Safer Hibernation and your Tortoise ~ Tortoise Trust
    • 18 Hibernation Hints ~ Tortoise Trust
• General Interest
• Answering questions about desert tortoises
• How to Measure a Tortoise ~ Tortoise Trust
• Joshua Tree Desert Tortoises Photography Project
• Gopherus GalleryInfrared Heat Signatures for turtles and tortoises (NASA)
• General Care Sheets
• California Turtle & Tortoise Club’s Care of Desert Tortoises
• World Chelonian Trust’s Desert Tortoise Care Sheet
• Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
• Arizona Sonora Desert Museum ~ Care Sheet
• San Diego Turtle & Tortoise Club ~ Care Sheet
• Care Sheet for Desert Tortoises ~ Felice’s World of Turtles
• Desert Tortoise, Wild and Captive, The Vivarium
• Desert Tortoise Council
• California Turtle and Tortoise Club
• Arizona Game and Fish
• Health Care Sheets (misc)
• Tortoise Care (work in progress)
• Care of a Captive Desert Tortoise, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Tortoise Adoption Program, 1997 Edition

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• Medical Help:

• Health issues
  • http://www.tortoise.org/general/vetchat.html
  • http://usfweb.usf.edu/news/2002/2002.12.30.tortoise.html
• Pathogens
  • DT Diseases
  • Mycoplasmosis of TortoiseDesert Tortoise Council
  • URTD
    • http://www.tortoise.org/general/urds2.htm
    • URTD Brochure
    • http://www.sandiegozoo.org/conservation/fieldproject_desert_tortoise.html
    • Mycoplasma agassizii sp. nov., isolated from the upper respiratory tract of the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus).
• Shell Rot
• Herpesvirus Infection

• First Aid
  • Turtle and Tortoise Shell Repair
  • More about caring for shell injuries
  • Veterinary Practice and Husbandry
  • Vets that treat DT in California
  • Protocols for Drawing Blood from the Brachial Plexus of Desert Tortoises
• Recommended Southern California Veterinary Clinics
  • Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital, 4871 W. Rosecrans Ave., Hawthorne, CA 90250 (phone) 310-679-0693

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• FAQ's, Foreums, Question, Answers & Observations
• Frequantly Asked Question sites...
• The Tortoise Group
• Tortoise Trust
• Reptile Care-Givers Forums, places where you can ask you questions and check back later for an answer...
  • Reptic Zone
• Observations
  • A Recipe to Combat URD Outbreaks in Hibernating Desert Tortoises
• Search Engines
  • HerpSearch

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Tortoise in the Classroom: Curriculum