Desert Tortoise

Chukwa is perhaps 30 years old and was adopted through the Arizona Game and Fish Desert Tortoise Adoption program (see link below). Possession of Desert Tortoises is only legal through this  program with limited exceptions. Chukwa could live to be up to 140 years old; the adoption program therefore requires that care for the tortoise be included in the adoptee's estate plan. The tortoise enclosure is planted with tortoise food sources in mind including grasses and species such as spreading snake herb, snapdragon vine, frogfruit and globe mallow. Tortoises also relish the fruit of the prickly pear (called Tuna's) and his diet is supplemented with organic kale. While warm-blooded animals hibernate, cold-blooded animals such as snakes and tortoises go through a similar process called brumation during periods of cold, and estivation during periods of high heat. His burrow is a half a large metal barrel topped with a large quantity of dirt which acts as insulating thermal mass. He usually goes to bed for the winter by Thanksgiving and first comes out around Mother's day, but he can make an appearance earlier during periods of above average temperatures.