Tulsa Tortoise Missing For The Last 2 Weeks

Meet Scaredy, a 17-year-old sulcata tortoise. He spends his days eating strawberries and roaming the backyard. But owner Kimber Anderson said he wasn’t always alone.

"They’ve been together for so long, over a decade,” she said.

Her two tortoises were together until a series of mishaps. 

“So, my dog chewed the line out from the house, and I had to have someone come out to replace that line, and they came through the gate to replace the line,” Anderson said. 

That gate led Shell, the second tortoise, to escape out into the neighborhood after the worker forgot to close it.

“They’re a lot faster than they look. When they wanna go, they book it,” said Anderson.

Anderson said she found out he was missing after a neighbor saw a social media post about him.

“They were just like, ‘Wow, that’s really weird, what a weird looking turtle, look at this weird turtle,’ and somebody recognized and was like, ‘I think this is your tortoise, I think he’s out,” Anderson said. 

Shell has been missing for about 2 weeks. Jan Lavender with the Oklahoma Animal Alliance has been helping Anderson by putting up flyers and getting the word out.

She said he was spotted near 46th and Irvington.

 “3 different people were a part of that sighting, and it ended up being left, and there has not been a sighting since, which concerns me a little bit,” said Lavender.

Anderson said her biggest fear is that someone mistook Shell for a turtle and dropped him in water.

“They cannot swim at all, they can’t live in the water, it’s a death sentence,” said Anderson. 

Lavender is worried someone has taken him.

“People see it, and people look at it as an opportunity. It happens, it happens with dogs,” she said. 

But they both hope he’ll turn up.

“We just keep looking…I’m a ride and die, so I don’t stop,” Lavender said. 

In the meantime, Anderson will keep a close eye on Scaredy and has plans for Shell's return.

“Probably build a big brick enclosure for him," she said. 

And if you spot Shell anywhere, you can contact the Oklahoma Animal Alliance. They are offering a $1,000 reward for Shell's safe return.