Roaming Lady’s Island tortoise trying to find her way home — but very slowly

Shannon Salazar wasn’t exactly shell-shocked, but she did get quite a surprise when her 15-year-old son went outside to clean up after their dogs Friday afternoon.

He returned holding a tortoise.

“He asked what kind of turtle it was, and I said, ‘Son, that’s not a turtle, that’s a tortoise,’ ” Salazar said.

Her son had, in fact, found a female Russian tortoise in their fenced-in backyard on Lady’s Island near Middle Road. According to Eric McBeth of Lowcountry Exotics LLC, the animal is not native to the area and can live for 40 years with the proper care.

“It’s kind of baffling to us how it got into our backyard,” Salazar said. “It had to have dug a hole to get in, but we only found a small one that I don’t think it could have fit through.”

The pair didn’t name the tortoise for fear of getting too attached.

Salazar reached out online to try to find the tortoise’s owner but had no success. Since Friday, she’s had several offers to take the turtle but wants to make sure the animal, a female, ends up in the “right hands.”

The animals require special UV-A and UV-B lighting along with heat lamps, McBeth said. They also need access to fiber on a daily basis and a good supply of calcium.

“They also escape if they don’t have the proper enclosures,” McBeth said. “They are captive bred. They aren’t wild caught and don’t know how to survive even in an area like this.”

Misinformation between an owner and seller can cause owners to abandon their exotic pets, McBeth said. An uninformed chain pet store employee may state that an animal will stay small, and it could grow larger than expected, he said.

Beaufort County Animal Services will take custody of the animal, and it will be moved to foster care on Wednesday.

According to Tallulah Trice, the group’s director, anyone who recognizes the turtle may call the shelter at 843-255-5010.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Roaming Lady’s Island tortoise trying to find her way home — but very slowly."