Daily Reptile News | Runaway tortoise gives David the surprise of his life

A RUNAWAY reptile found ambling across the driveway of a Burton man’s home could have been ‘looking for a mate’, an expert has said.

David Butler and tortoise

The adventurous tortoise was discovered by David Butler, outside his home in Berry Hedge Lane, Winshill.

Mr Butler said: “I was just heading out of my drive when all of a sudden I saw this thing just walk out across the drive. It was as big as my head.

“I thought to myself ‘A tortoise! How often do you see one of those on your driveway?’

“I’ve been keeping it in a box in my garage and feeding it dandelions and peaches. It must be okay.

“People think tortoises are slow, but when I let it out to exercise in the garden it doesn’t half move.”

The tortoise is the second reptile escapee to be reported in the Burton area within recent weeks.

Last month, the Mail reported the news of the disappearance of ‘Torty’ the tortoise, who had gone missing from his home in Anslow.

Fortunately, the shelled creature returned to owners Ben and Miranda Theobold within a week, calming fears he may have been ‘carried off by a bird of prey’.

Jackie Stevens, chairman of the Leicester Tortoise Group, said the spate of fugitive reptiles had a simple explanation.

She said: “They get randy in the hot weather and go looking for a mate. You have to remember that a tortoise is a Mediterranean creature and it’s only around this time of year it gets up to the right temperature for them.”

Mrs Stevens praised Mr Butler for feeding the tortoise dandelions, but cautioned that peaches should only be offered as an occasional treat, while lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes were other suitable foodstuffs.

She said he should leave the tortoise out on his lawn in the sunshine as often as possible, but ensure it was secured from foxes and rats, which are potential predators.

Meanwhile she advised him to give the tortoise a hot bath, with the water up to its shell, as this would help to raise its temperature to a suitable level, and also had the added bonus of encouraging it to pass solids, therefore ‘cleaning out its system’.

Anyone who thinks the tortoise could belong to them is asked to telephone Mr Butler on 01283 547874.

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