Move Fast! Baltimore Family Offers Reward For Missing 150 Pound Tortoise

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—A Homeland family is offering a reward for the return of their missing pet. But this is no average animal. Tortley is a 20-year-old, three feet long, 150 pound tortoise!

Meghan McCorkell reports he's been missing for weeks.

A prehistoric-looking pet is now missing in Baltimore City.

"We haven't had one single report of a person seeing him," said Alexandra Roosevelt.

Roosevelt believes her African spur thigh tortoise may have pushed his way through her fence.

Roosevelt says the 150-pound gentle giant named Tortley has gotten out before but is usually found by neighbors right away.

"I miss him very much. He wasn't the kind of creature  that responds the way a dog does wagging. But there he was all the time. And he knew when I was feeding him, and I kind of knew what he was up to," Roosevelt said.

Now she's in a race to find him before the weather turns colder.

"They need to have a house that they can go into where they have a heat lamp overnight, especially when the temperatures drop below 50 degrees," said Dr. Emily Reger, Falls Road Animal Hospital.

Reger says Tortley can't survive in cold weather.

She says these types of tortoises are apt to escaping and can move pretty fast.

"They will dig through even cement. I mean these guys have hard, tough nails and skin, and they will burrow, burrow, burrow, burrow," Reger said.

Roosevelt says her beloved pet is friendly to most people.

"If he saw you he would come toward you hoping he would get something to eat," she said.

She just hopes someone spots him soon.

The family is offering a monetary reward for his return but will not disclose the amount.

The tortoise does have the family's phone number written in permanent marker on its left leg.

If you spot him, you can also call Falls Road Animal Hospital at 410-825-9100.