Tortoises grow at varying rates depending upon forage availability. The number of growth rings in a given year may be zero to several; hence, one cannot determine a tortoise's exact age by counting those rings. Sexual maturity is a function of size rather than age, approximately inches mid-carapace length in females. Generally, desert tortoises don't reach sexual maturity for 15 to 20 years. Ravens, gila monsters, kit foxes, badgers, roadrunners and coyotes are all natural predators of the desert tortoise.
They prey on juveniles, which are inches long with thin, delicate shells. In recent years desert tortoises of the Mojave Desert have been federally listed as a threatened species. State and federal wildlife and land management agencies and local jurisdictions are actively involved in conservation programs to help the recovery of the desert tortoise throughout the Mojave Desert. It is unlawful to touch, harm, harass or collect a wild desert tortoise.
There are programs run by tortoise clubs in Arizona, California and Nevada through which legally acquired captives may be adopted. For children Dusty the Desert Tortoise stuffed puppet. DesertUSA Newsletter -- We send articles on hiking, camping and places to explore, as well as animals, wildflower reports, plant information and much more. Sign up below or read more about the DesertUSA newsletter here.
It's Free. Enter E-Mail address:. Enter Email:. Are you interested in the temperatures in the desert? Click here to see current desert temperatures! Vital Stats Weight: lbs. After foraging, tortoises may plop down in a limp, spread-eagle posture with limbs and neck extended, possibly to increase body temperature and help digestion.
Desert tortoises are herbivores, dining on grasses, flowers, fruit, and cactus. These foods contain a lot of moisture, and desert tortoises can go for up to one year without access to fresh water! Tortoises do not have teeth; instead, they have a beak and grind their food. Examples of preferred tortoise forage are prickly pear cactus, primrose, beavertail cactus, white clover, hibiscus, globemallow, desert dandelion, and desert marigold.
Desert tortoises need about 20 to 30 days to digest their food, spreading the seeds from their meals across their habitat as they poop.
This aids in the repopulation of native plants and grasses in the Mojave Desert. During the active season, males spar for the privilege of breeding , using their gular horn part of the plastron lying beneath the extended head to hook other males and overturn them during aggressive interactions. Female desert tortoises do not mate until they are 15 to 20 years old. They can store sperm until conditions are right, eventually laying 2 to 14 eggs the size of Ping-pong balls in a shallow nest they dig near their burrow.
They typically lay eggs between May and July, and hatchlings emerge from eggs from mid-August to October. A mother does not defend the nest or raise her offspring; instead, after 90 to days of incubation, the young hatch and fend for themselves. Hatchlings may lunge forward and hiss if disturbed. Few young tortoises make it to adulthood. Their shells remain soft for the first several years of life, and coyotes, roadrunners, Gila monsters, and ravens prey upon them. Even domestic dogs attack these reptiles, often injuring their limbs before the tortoise has a chance to retreat into its shell.
Chin glands on a desert tortoise become active at sexual maturity. They serve as chemical and visual signals to other tortoises. Desert tortoise vocalizations include hisses, grunts, and moans, and the males vocalize during mating. They stay in these burrows in a light hibernation through the coldest part of winter, occasionally emerging if the weather is nice.
Desert tortoises also use their burrows for temperature control when it gets too hot in the summer. Desert tortoises are usually solitary, but sometimes they share burrows. When males come across each other, they might fight for dominance by trying to flip one another over. Males are larger than females and can be identified by curved horns on the lower shell, beneath the neck.
Once they reach adulthood, desert tortoises can live between years in the wild, and sometimes up to 80 years. Unfortunately, due to habitat destruction desert tortoises are struggling for survival. The desert tortoise was listed as threatened in an emergency action by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the early s. The Nature Conservancy joined with local governments and other partners to create Habitat Conservation Plans that protect desert tortoises.
One plan resulted in creating the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, a 60,acre protected area north of the city of St. By protecting this area for the desert tortoise we also protect other rare and sensitive species—the Gila monster, sidewinder rattlesnake, chuckwalla and peregrine falcon.
This, along with two other land acquisitions in the area, brings the total acres preserved by TNC in the Piute Valley to , Support our work protecting desert habitat in Utah and Nevada. Places We Protect. The losing tortoise can turn right side up by wiggling its body back and forth until it flips over. Sounds like a tortoise's shell isn't the only thing about it that's tough! All rights reserved. Personality Quizzes. Funny Fill-In.
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