What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 6pm Wednesday 8am - 6pm Thursday 8am - 6pm Friday 8am - 6pm Saturday 8am - 6pm

Central Texas Tortoise Rescue

Home
United States
Pflugerville, TX
Central Texas Tortoise Rescue

Website

We operate out of our home by appointment only.

Our website details adoption and surrender information, and you can contact me through Facebook if you have any questions.

11/01/2026

We had some fun with a fall photo shoot yesterday here at the main location in Pflugerville. Just look at these great personalities. Borris was too busy enjoying his pumpkin to stop for a photos. Ellie May, who is usually very active was startled by the odd pumpkin in her midst. Phoenix wouldn't stop coming to me. They are all so fabulous!

Lumpy and Borris are Greeks. The rest are sulcatas. Adoption fees are listed in their profiles on our website.

www.texastortoiserescue.com

10/30/2026

Big THANK YOU time.

I want to thank all our supporters who came out to the Pet Extravaganza to see us. I also want to welcome all our new followers from the Pet Extravaganza. We appreciate you all for helping encourage proper tortoise care, education, and adoptions. Thank you to all our new donors who are also helping our efforts.

I also want to thank all our fosters who are the only reason we can take in so many animals every year. A special thanks to Zoe and Jean for helping me at the Extravaganza and bringing one of their fosters. Your help enabled us to talk to more people, have additional eyes on the animals while we talk to attendees, and keeps us all from running out of energy. Zoe and Jean are also going to care for Hulk, the tiny hatchling in photo 2. Hatchling care is a big job. Thank you also to Rose G. who took an additional box turtle with MBD to care for over the winter. Thank you to Rose K. for taking in big Jed who needed medical attention after severe neglect (photo 1). Their caring for these high maintenance animals gives me more time for the daily care needed for our 10 in rehab.

Here is our largest adoptable friend at the moment, Jed, in the Houston area and our smallest Hulk in Round Rock. Both sulcatas. Jed is 170 lbs of pure joy. Hulk is the tiniest hatchling we have had. Both are looking for new homes. To adopt and to see other adoptable tortoises, see our website.

www.texastortoiserescue.com

10/29/2026

It's been a busy couple of days. Yesterday, we took in a sweet red foot who was attacked by dogs. She is doing well and will recover with daily rehab for the next several months. We expect she will be available for adoption in the spring.

With help from Austin Wildlife Rescue, we helped our friends from Texas Parks and Wildlife weigh and take medical samples form 41 box turtles. These are box turtles that were confiscated by USFW and placed in our care. They will go back to the wild in the spring. This has been a wonderful learning opportunity for us, and an honor to help so many of our native wildlife. We are humbled and honored to be working with so many animal-loving professionals.

To help us continue our conservation efforts like this, you can donate at https://donorbox.org/cttr

10/23/2026

Come see us at the Rescue Magazine Pet Extravaganza at the Cadence Bank Center, Belton. We will have tortoises to meet, shirts and caps for sale, and lots of information. If you are a foster and can bring a tortoise or two to this event, please contact Brenda.

10/22/2026

Working is rescue has it's rewards, but sometimes it's just hard. This week we've been dealing with illness in one quarantine enclosure of box turtles from US Fish and Wildlife customs seizures. This is ongoing medicating, monitoring, cleaning, and disinfecting. We reunited a stray with their owner who was simply ungrateful and then we had a no-show appointment today, wasting our time. Just not a week of smiles. So I'm posting some smiles.

These are Speedy (in Bandera), Jed (Houston area), and Phoenix (Pflugerville). To adopt or learn more about them or any of the over 60 tortoises in our care, (and to make my day) go to www.texastortoiserescue.com

10/21/2026

The foster family named this friendly guy Russell Crowe because he is big, strong and handsome! Russell likes shell rubs, soaks, and his food. He comes running for food and is always ready to eat. He is content to roam the yard and graze as he pleases. He fancies himself a rock climber and goes up and over low rocks to get where he wants to go. However, he is not a digger or climber.

Russell seems to like to supervise. When the foster parent drove rebar into the ground to anchor the corner blocks of his enclosure, Russell came over to inspect the work. Armchair supervisor! When the lawnmower is out, (not running of course), Russell circles it and checks it out. I swear he'd operate it if he could!

To adopt Russell or any of the many tortoises in our care, go to our website at www.texastortoiserescue.com

10/20/2026

Is your sulcata tortoise male or female? How old will it be before you know?

It's impossible to tell until they are large enough to develop the physical characteristics. It's physical development, not age. Until then, they all look female.

This is a male sulcata. The a**l scutes create an acute angle (in green) and point away from the tail. This makes room for his long tail to reach the female for procreation. The cloaca or opening in the tail is near the end and beyond the shell. On a female the angle of the scutes is obtuse, the scutes curve toward the tale, and are often more curved than straight. Females have shorter tails with the cloaca closer to the body and usually within the shell area.

The gular scutes (in blue) are much larger on males. This is for fighting and flipping of other tortoises. The plastron or bottom shell is concave on male sulcatas and gets more concave as they age. Females are very flat. This gives them more space inside for egg development.

The characteristics for other turtles and tortoises vary by species.

If you appreciate this information and the other educational information we share on our website and on social media, please consider donating.

If you want to adopt, and please do, go to our website for all the details. www.texastortoiserescue.com

10/19/2026

This is Shelline Dion. She is a lovely juvenile sulcata awaiting adoption. She is very social - she likes to come say hi when we have guests over and get her shell scratched. She's a busybody and loves to explore and graze. Collard greens are her favorite food treat so far. She is at a foster home in Austin.

If you would like to adopt Shelline, see our website for all the details. www.texastortoiserescue.com.

10/18/2026

Brumation season is upon us. Are you ready?

If you have a box turtle, Hermann's tortoise, or a Russian tortoise you need to know about brumation since they should brumate outside. We have a video to teach you how to help your turtle or tortoise do it well. To see the video https://www.texastortoiserescue.com/video-pages

These two little box turtles won't be brumating this year. They are still recovering from MBD. We will keep them inside in a setup similar to the photo so they can continue to eat and get the UV they need. They are available for adoption. Their names are Tom Thumb and Lucy. You can adopt them at www.texastortoise rescue.com

10/16/2026

This is Prince Maui. He's a BIG BOY. The owner took him in from an older coworker just a few weeks prior to bringing him to us. The coworker could not care for him. His age was reported as 6 years but he may be a few years older. Maui is friendly and active. He loves people and attention. This 80 lb boy needs a home. He is at our foster home in Ector. Foster parent is willing to meet an adopter part way.

To adopt this big boy, go to our website www.texastortoiserescue.com

You can find other tortoises available on our site as well.

Address

Pflugerville, TX

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	8am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 6pm
Saturday	8am - 6pm

Website

https://www.texastortoiserescue.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Central Texas Tortoise Rescue posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.