Sedgefield Island Conservancy

Tortoise Handling and Care

Please stop to help a tortoise cross the road rather than driving by in the hope that it will be OK. However, there are some do's involved:

Do help the tortoise to go in the direction it was originally going. If you turn it around, it will only try to cross the road again.
Do gently nudge the tortoise along with the toe of you shoe or by hand. Let it's shell stay in contact with the ground.
Do nudge it well off the road on the other side.

... and some Dont's

Don't pick the tortoise up. If it feels it is being picked up, it will 'wee', losing valuable water stored in its body for hot and dry weather. If you are forced to pick it up, support it under the shell, allowing its body weight to rest on your hand.
Don't put it in your car and take it to a safe place, such as your garden. It is illegal to keep a tortoise and a human's idea of a lovely garden is likely to be a nutritional desert for a tortoise.

Helping an Injured Tortoise

If you find a tortoise that's been hit by a car or chewed by a dog and

TBD TBD