Well, we were a bit shocked to learn that Elliot is not a desert tortoise. He's an African Sulcata Tortoise which is the 3rd largest tortoise in the world. Gasp!
Elliot emerging in the morning from his rosemary turtle cave. He warms himself in this pose for about 20 minutes every morning.
I kept reading about desert tortoises and thought that Elliot's legs looked so different than all the images I was seeing. What are those pointy things on his front legs? (they are scales)
Thank goodness for google images. I finally found a site called
The Sulcata Station and emailed a photo of Elliot to them. Yep, that is what he is, they confirmed. Once Gary and I got over the shock that this tortoise is going to be over 100lbs and live 80-100 years we've been working on getting things set up for Elliot before he gets too large! He definitely has a voracious appetite. We are working on switching him to Bermuda grass hay--it is a slow process. Because he was raised on mixed greens.
May I help you?
Elliot likes to hang out most of the afternoon snoozing by the front door. It is so funny to see a tortoise at your front door staring in. He mostly likes to watch the kitties. He's a really friendly tortoise and follows you like a dog. My father-in-law thinks it is the funniest thing to watch him come when you call him.
Such cute elephant-type back leggies. Definitely a creature of habit. Retiring to the rosemary bush turtle cave around 4:00 pm.
