The
Very Heart of TortoiseAid
Welcome to TortoiseAid's Rescue and Rehabilitation
pages.
Every year, we are honored to assist tortoises,
turtles, and other creatures who find themselves
in trouble through abandonment, neglect,
exploitation, habitat degradation, cruelty, or loss of caretaker.
A Western Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata) confiscated from a pet store by State Humane Officers.
This turtle was suffering from renal failure, advanced
dehydration, pneumonia, bilateral eye infections, a heavy parasite load,
and bot-fly infestation. This species is collected by the thousands
yearly to satisfy the pet trade.
Each incoming animal has specific needs,
and it is always our goal to not only meet, but surpass the
needs of these special beings by providing
them with expert veterinary care and husbandry.
A California Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizzi), front legs "skinned, " and found unable to walk and nearly dead, left to fend for himself.
You may read about
his struggle to return to a normal life HERE.
No animal has ever been turned away in
the 19 years we've been here to help.
Where there is a will, there is always
a way. We feel that all animals deserve a chance
at a humane, healthy life.
The TortoiseAid Sanctuary and Rehabilitation
Center is located in the Mojave Desert
of Southern California. Many turtles
and tortoises come to us in dire need of veterinary care.
TortoiseAid strives to find many of these
rehabilitated animals wonderful new homes with
people qualified and committed to giving
them proper care for the duration
of their lives. For those animals
with special needs or chronic medical problems,
they will be welcomed to live out their
lives in sanctuary.
A female Red Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
found wedged between tree branches and rocks in a stream during El Niño
floods, 1997.
Released non-native aquatic turtles by people who become
bored with them are commonplace, and are often in need of help..
This male California Desert Tortoise was found wandering in a neighborhood after breaking free from being tethered by his right front leg. He'd been kept illegally.
He was extremely dehydrated, thin, and his legs had been badly injured by embedded (jute) rope in his skin. His scales were worn off from years of abuse, leaving his skin exposed and injured.
Due to our desert location, the species
needing assistance most commonly is our state
reptile, the California Desert Tortoise.
Other species do come in, most of which are victims
of the wild caught pet trade. Others
are strays which have been abandoned in the desert,
left to fend for themselves.
This is a 50 pound Geochelone sulcata (African Spurred
Tortoise) who was dumped in the Mojave Desert during a snow storm.
When she arrived, she had an advanced case of pneumonia, was badly malnourished,
and had nearly frozen to death. You may read her story HERE
Our aim is to replicate the wild environments many of these
animals once called home, provide them
with humane care, and to return them to peak health.
You can help us make a difference in an animal's life in many ways.
We have purchased over 2 acres of land, which we are in the process of turning into wonderful tortoise, turtle, and lizard habitat!
This is a very expensive undertaking, and materials donated help us to help these animals.
Be an active voice in helping to keep their
native habitats pristine and undisturbed.
Tortoises and turtle world wide face a
critically unstable future do to collection for food
and pets, as traditional medicine, and
habitat loss.
Support for rescue and rehabilitation is
always needed and is greatly appreciated.
Please read our wish and needs list by
clicking HERE.
Thank you for visiting our web site.
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Poem for a Rehabber
I shall be a believer of all that is good in man
and all that is deserving in animals.
I shall plead for their lives, campaign for their safety,
and uphold their right to a natural death.
I shall seek out the injured and the maimed,
the unloved and the abandoned,
and tend to them in their last days.
I shall not forget their place in the hierarchy of
life,
nor that we walk in each other's paths.
I shall bear witness to the wonder they bring into
our lives,
and to the beauty they bestow on our souls.
I shall restore their spirits when they are waning,
bind their wounds when they bleed,
cradle them when they whimper
and comfort them when they mourn.
I shall be near them in their hour of greatest need
-a companion and a friend when their time has come.
I shall watch over them and console them
and ask that the angels gather them in their arms.
From the creatures of the earth
I shall learn the fruits of compassion
and undying love.
In their company, I shall indeed be blessed.
-AUTHOR UNKNOWN
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