Are you thinking about getting a pet? Are you considering a California desert tortoise? While tortoises are great pets, they are not for everyone. One primary reason is that a desert tortoise can live anywhere from 60 to 80 years. Adopting a California desert tortoise is likely a lifetime commitment for you and the person you designate to care for the tortoise after you have left this Earth.

Tortoises require a good amount of specialized husbandry. In order to thrive, adult desert tortoises must be kept outdoors in a large area. They should be provided with shelter from the sun and cold, and a place to retire at night. They need plenty of room to exercise and browse. They are climbers and diggers; make sure that wherever you leave them unattended, they will not be able to escape.

They also have enormous appetites. The best foods for the desert tortoise are those it would encounter in the wild such as native grasses and plants. A typical desert tortoise parent will constantly be growing native grasses and flowers, dandelions, prickly pear cacti, mallows and other healthy and tasty food for their desert tortoise. Tortoises may occasionally eat some greens and vegetables from the grocery store, but they should be an extremely limited part of their diets.

Obtaining veterinary care for your desert tortoise can be challenging. There are a limited number of vets who treat tortoises. Those who do typically charge more for treatment of what they call “exotics” than they would for dogs and cats.

On the other hand, tortoises do not need to be brushed and do not shed. They hibernate during the winter, requiring minimal care during that time. They have great personalities and are a lot of fun to watch “running” around (they move much more quickly than you would think) munching on grass and weeds.

California and federal laws make it illegal to buy, sell, take or harm desert tortoises in California, or to move them out of the state because of their rarity in the wild. As recently as the early 20th Century, tortoises were thriving in California’s deserts. However, by the end of the century, the population dropped dramatically due mostly to livestock grazing, urban development, habitat destruction and disease. It was placed on the California and federal Endangered Species Act lists in 1989 and 1990, respectively, as a “threatened” species.

So, you may now be wondering, with all of those restrictions, how it is possible to get a tortoise for a pet? You can adopt one from an organization such as the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. This organization works with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to rescue and help place hundreds of abandoned, lost, seized, injured or diseased tortoises and turtles. In 2014, they took in 116 California desert tortoises and placed 47 of them.

The California Turtle and Tortoise Club helps to maintain a database of captive desert tortoises and processes and issues permits and tags for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s program that allows for the legal possession of the desert tortoise. It is illegal to possess a desert tortoise without this permit, but there is no fee to obtain the permit. The permit does not authorize captive breeding.

Although the population is rare and threatened in the wild, there is a large captive population. This program keeps track of captive desert tortoises, in an effort to forestall their illegal taking. It is also an important part of preventing individuals from returning long-term captive tortoises to the wild. Sadly, this was once a common practice that is believed to have been a major contributing factor to the spread of the upper respiratory tract disease epidemic that has devastated the wild population.

If you would like to adopt a California desert tortoise from the club, visit their website to find out more: http://www.tortoise.org/cttc/adoption.html. The website also provides a list of local veterinarians who treat tortoises.

Linda Castro is a nature enthusiast and animal lover.  She is the Desert Field Organizer for the California Wilderness Coalition and serves on the board of the SCV-based Community Hiking Club.  Her commentaries relate to California’s deserts.