Ec•lec•teri Tortoise & Reptile Rescue/Sanctuary

23/10/2026

Picture Rocks/Avra Valley, AZ Friends 🐢

Found: Adult Sulcata Tortoise

Nearest Cross Streets: Found near Van Ark

Finder info in comments section

23/10/2026

UPDATE: This tortoise has been picked up and is with a foster. Thank you Wendy Weltsch-Griffith for stepping up to take care of this lost tortoise until the owners are located

Phoenix/Glendale, Arizona Friends 🐢

Unsecured Large Male Sulcata in someone's front yard at 43rd AVE & Union Hills.

Finder not responding to requests for more precise location

23/10/2026

23/10/2026

Excuse My Rant

We've been doing this work for decades at this point and we've noticed a shift in the communities attitude towards tortoises, specifically Sulcata's.

In years past when someone would find a tortoise in their yard they thought it was cute. Most people knew their neighbors and would knock on doors and check to see if the tortoise belonged to them.

They would hang signs reading "Found Tortoise" and their contact info and might even post online in their local community message board groups.

This year the calls are coming in at break neck speed for Lost & Founds and the sentiment has been less than kind. Here are a few examples:

"Come get this f'ing tortoise or I'm going to dump him in the canal"

"Another one of those G Damn tortoises is in my yard tearing it up, come get them now"

"You have 30 minutes to come get this tortoise out of my yard or I'm dumping it somewhere"

Etc..........

A lost dog might 💩 in your yard, a lost 100 pound Sulcata is going to do what they are designed to do, which is dig and that is not welcomed by non tortoise owners

Please make 2027 the year you secure your gates, repair enclosure walls and ID tag your tortoises.

The backlogs that every single tortoise rescue in this state are experiencing this year are ridiculously long.

Lost & Founds bump owner surrenders back weeks and weeks. Our enclosures fill up with tortoises we have to hold while we look for their owners.

Fosters are few and far between and quite honestly the biggest percentage of people willing to foster are backyard breeders looking for free tortoises to exploit.

Get to know your neighbors, let them know you have a tortoise and please ID tag your tortoises

How to ID Tag your tortoise:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19vVLXtEXG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

23/10/2026

UPDATE: The owners have come forward and we gave them the phone number of their neighbor who put the tortoise in a wash. Will update when the tortoise is home with his family

San Tan Valley, Arizona Friends 🐢

Found: Sulcata Tortoise

Nearest Cross Streets: Chandler Heights & Gantzel

This tortoise is currently roaming the neighborhood and is being placed in the Queen Creek Wash as none of the neighbors want him in their yards

If there is anyone in the area that can secure this tortoise, please comment on this post.

23/10/2026

Hidden Valley/Maricopa Friends 🐢

Lost: Adult Female Sulcata (the one in the burrow in the picture)

Nearest Cross Streets: Javelina & Amarillo but last seen on Dune Shadow & Hickory

If found, please contact Ramon at 1-520-557-4257

22/10/2026

Awatukee/Maricopa, AZ Friends

Found: Sulcata Tortoise

Found on the 347 Highway

This tortoise is currently with the Finder. Info in comments section

22/10/2026

Meet Bodie & Riptide Everyone ❤️🐢

22/10/2026

Today Keli, the ground transporter who took some of our tortoises to a Wildlife Sanctuary in Texas was also transporting this sweet girl 😬

She is a Caracal Cat, also known as a Desert Lynx. They are a medium-sized wild cat known for its long, black-tufted ears and incredible leaping ability.

Size: Stands 16 to 20 inches tall at the shoulder and measures 24 to 42 inches in length (excluding its tail).

Weight: Females typically weigh 13–35 lbs, while males can weigh 18–44 lbs.

Appearance: Features a sleek, reddish-tan or sandy-brown coat and striking long black tufts on the tips of its ears, derived from the Turkish word karakulak ("black ear").

Agility: Possesses powerful hindquarters allowing it to leap up to 10 feet (3 meters) straight up into the air to swat birds mid-flight

*Excuse the F Bomb in the video, Michaela swears like a sailor

22/10/2026

Got the Ryegrass seed for two more winter enclosures today and some soil for container grass 🌱