Central Texas Tortoise Rescue

05/20/2026

Saturday is World Turtle Day!!

In celebration, Brenda will be at PetSense in Taylor, Texas from 10-2 on Saturday May 23 with these friends and a few others. This is Bodie (female sulcata) and Yoshi (hatchling leopard tortoise). We are celebrating that more pet stores are choosing to support adoption instead of selling tortoises. Come see us.

Wear your turtle gear on Saturday, no matter where you are. We have shirts and caps back in stock. All sales benefit our rescue.

www.texastortoiserescue.com

05/15/2026

We took in 6 beautiful Greek tortoises the other day. Here are just a few photos. They are all full grown adults. (Only 4 show up on the website right now because I'm trying to decide on the one I'm keeping). They are Libyan Greeks. We don't see a lot of these in rescues. Many were imported in the late 80s and 90s and didn't survive the lack of keeper knowledge. Much of what you see now are descendants of survivors of that time. They are small and unique. Unlike most other Mediterranean tortoises and even other Greek tortoises, this subspecies must be brought inside in the winter because they do not tolerate the cold. They love well drained soil and to hide in the humidity of the underside of plants and grasses.

If you'd like to adopt one of these little darlings, see the adoption page of our website. They are at the bottom of the list, where all the newest intakes go.

WWW.texastortoiserescue.com

05/14/2026

Meet Timmy 2. He is a sweet Red footed tortoise whose owners surrendered him because they had no outdoor space for him. He has some minor pyramiding that will smooth out as he grows. Red foots need lots of plants to hide under, well draining soil and higher humidity. He is healthy and sweet. He loves to explore and sit in the sun. Timmy is 4 years old and needs a good home.

05/13/2026

People contact us all the time with questions about habitat creation. We tried to answer those questions in the form of videos on our website. We have a video for each species we take in. We hope they help.

The full Keeper Education video series library by Central Texas Tortoise Rescue for tortoise and box turtle owners.

05/12/2026

We have taken in a lot of new sulcatas lately. By far, sulcatas are the most oversold, overbred, tortoises in the pet trade in the US. Therefore, they are the most often surrendered to rescues, found, abandoned, and neglected. People often don't plan for their large size and long life. They are also often much loved well cared but life circumstances means they must be surrendered.

That's where we come in. These wonderful, curious, awesome creatures simply need multiple owners through their lives. We're here to help educate people to care for them well and we find them awesome new homes.

Help us find wonderful homes for the sulcatas in our care. Share this post, tell your friends, talk about adopting tortoises with anyone who will listen. Ok, the last one might get you labeled "crazy tortoise person". Do it anyway!

To find out who these friends are and how to adopt them, see our website www.texastortoiserescue.com

05/10/2026

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY from Gurdie and her babies and all of us here at LJ ACRES!
💐❤️💐

05/09/2026

Did we mention they love to play in the mud? Annabel, Andre the Giant, and Digger all enjoying the rainy afternoon.

See our website to adopt. Www.texastortoiserescue.com

05/09/2026

This big beautiful boy was found at an abandoned home in Rancho Sienna Community in Georgetown. A neighbor called animal control regarding an abandoned tortoise. He was found secure in a back yard with lots of tall grass, but also lots of trash in the yard. He's healthy, sweet, friendly, and likes attention. He's a gentle giant. We named him Andre the Giant.

If you know the owner, have them contact us. Otherwise, he will be available for adoption Friday May 15.

www.texastortoiserescue.com

05/05/2026

Little Miss Annabel loves to dig. Many sulcatas do. Here's the solution. We put in the blue one in less than 30 minutes. Edit: The blue barrel has holes in the back so it doesn't hold water. The black tunnel is open on both ends and drains easily.

She is available for adoption. Www.texastortoiserescue.com

05/04/2026

How to put a hatchling tortoise outside for the day

Natural sunlight is so much better than artificial UV from lamps. All hatchlings can be put outside safely to benefit from sunlight when temperatures are appropriate. We recommend bringing them inside at night until they are 4 inches long or more.

The cinderblock enclosure is about 15 square feet and covered with a chain link fence gate. This keeps most daytime predators such as birds, dogs, and cats away. The other is a trough with a homemade lid of plywood and hardware cloth. The bottom of the lid has small boards cut to fit snug inside the trough. The bottom has small holes drilled for drainage. The entire trough is elevated off the ground to keep ants out.

Model in the photo is Yoshi, the leopard hatching, available for adoption on our website. To adopt a hatchling, adopters email us photos to show us they have the space for an adult with secure fencing (1000 square feet for this leopard). The indoor habitat box can be purchased after adoption. We can guide you in that.

www.texastortoiserescue.com

05/02/2026

Anybody have the instruction to put this together? It was donated disassembled and without the instructions. I neither have the patience not the time to "just figure it out"