West Texas Tortoises

02/22/2025

Look at these cuties! Somebody is about to go to a new home today! 🐢❤️🐢
Text 325-665-6325 if you are interested in one.

02/21/2025

02/21/2025

02/18/2025

And so it begins!!
Text 325-665-6325

02/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ESqMc8BW8/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A Friendly Reminder 🐢

A 100+ pound Male Sulcata is monumentally different to house than a hatchling, yearling or juvenile.

They require a large, fully secured enclosure with a sizable heated shed/barn/house for the winter.

They p**p like a cow, they rearrange furniture, they dig, they eat a lot (A LOT), they will try to mate with inanimate objects, they can be destructive.

You HAVE TO spend the time and resources to set them up properly or it’s a recipe for disaster and you will end up rehoming him.

With the right setup they are amazing and very rewarding pets. Please do not listen to anyone selling them as an “easy” or “starter” pet.

You wouldn’t put a cow in your living room, or a horse in your laundry room, just like livestock they need to be outdoors.

Sulcata’s are grazers, they want to eat grass, lots of grass, they want to explore and roam a large enclosure, they need shade to escape the searing sun, they want to play in the mud and soak on hot days, they will plow through inadequate fencing and escape.

When you hear people in FB groups say “Do your Research”, this is what they mean. Is it cool to have a giant tortoise roaming your backyard? ABSOLUTELY!, but you owe it to him and yourselves to set him up for success.

01/06/2025

Look at these beautiful Sulcata tortoises! Some are yearlings some hatchlings. This is the first time they have eaten collard greens and they love it!! PM if interested !!

12/24/2024

Check out The_Shoppe_AbTx’s video.

12/23/2024

Still need a last-minute Christmas gift for your loved one? We are offering a special price this week! We have yearlings and hatchlings available.
PM or contact Darryl by text at 325-665-6325.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
🎄 ❤️🐢❤️🌲

12/19/2024

Let me see photos of your other pets. This is Dalton and he loves his toys!!

12/04/2024

These babies are eight months old and ready to be rehomed at a special fee for Christmas. We are located in Abilene Texas. Please pm if interested. 🐢🐢

12/01/2024

While they are readily available, many people underestimate African spurred tortoises (Centrochelys sulcata), frequently referred to as “sulcatas.” These tortoises are native to Africa, south of the Sahara desert, in the transitional grassland savannah area known as the Sahel. They are the largest extant species of tortoise from a mainland area anywhere in the world; the only larger tortoises alive today are from insular (island) habitats.

How large are we talking? This is important, because they breed easily under human care, and as babies they are little, and mighty cute. Adults can easily reach over 200 lbs. Over the first several years of their lives, they grow rapidly. That tiny baby tortoise doesn’t stay that way for long at all. Additionally, this species can easily live for more than 70 years. These reptiles are no short term commitment.

While there are many reptile species that do quite well in an apartment, sulcatas are not one of them. An unfortunate surprise for many, sulcatas are in fact adept burrowers. They may view drywall as their unmissable opportunity to role play as the iconic Kool-Aid Man. They may view that porcelain toilet in your bathroom as a temporarily annoying speed bump. They have been known to burrow under a fence far faster than you might imagine. They are also stunningly intelligent.

Sulcatas are herbivores, and their best diet should include lots of high fiber, low protein greens and grasses. That said, some of the trouble these tortoises can get into includes eating “anything.” Spaces for housing these tortoises need to be very carefully checked over to prevent them being able to escape, harm themselves, or your home. Sulcatas also require UVB lighting to properly support their health.

If you think you have what it takes to provide a good, safe home for one of these intelligent and needy tortoises, please be sure to talk with people who work with this species often, learn what people often get wrong about them, and keep an eye out for tortoises near you which may have grown past being cute babies and need a new home. Definitely do a lot of research on this species before bringing home that wee baby sulcata!
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The photograph used in this post is © Hillary Chandanais, and used with permission.