Rescuing Surrendered & Abandoned Redfoot Tortoises

Torts R Us is a Florida-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit Redfoot Tortoise Sanctuary located in Port St. Lucie, Florida We provide a safe haven for Redfoot tortoises that are surrendered, abandoned, or in need of specialized care, while also educating the public about responsible tortoise ownership and proper care.Our sanctuary is dedicated to giving these incredible tortoises a safe, healthy environment where they can live out their lives with proper nutrition, habitat, and veterinary support.

About Us: How it All Started...

Torts R Us began in the most unexpected way — with a wild gopher tortoise.

Years ago, an endangered gopher tortoise wandered into our yard in Florida and stayed for several months. Because gopher tortoises are protected wildlife, we knew we could not touch it or keep it. Every day, I would sit outside and talk to it while it peacefully explored our yard. Even without touching it, I became deeply attached to this beautiful animal. The back legs looked like little elephant legs and I couldn't get enough of seeing how adorable it was walking around all day.

One day, it started to leave. I remember standing outside saying, “Stay… come back…” while it slowly walked away. I knew I had to let it go, but my heart was broken watching it disappear. It never returned. My husband Richard never forgot how sad I was.

Not long after, Richard was working in a gated 55+ community in Boynton Beach, Florida when he noticed a tortoise with bright red markings on its legs wandering around the grounds of a building. He researched it later and discovered it was a Redfoot Tortoise — a species people can legally keep in Florida. Without telling me, he decided that if the tortoise was still there the following week, he would bring it home.

When Richard returned, the tortoise was still there. He brought a cardboard box with lettuce, asked around the community if it belonged to anyone, and nobody claimed it. To this day, we still do not know how it ended up there.

What Richard brought home to me was a cardboard box filled with poop… and one very special tortoise. We instantly fell in love.

We cleaned the tortoise up, cared for it, and named “him” Buddy because everyone believed it was a boy. Only a few weeks later, another Redfoot Tortoise was found abandoned in a park. This tortoise was skinny, weak, and needed medical attention. We took him to the vet, where we learned he was definitely male because of his concave plastron (bottom shell). Buddy did not have those same characteristics.

That was the moment Buddy became Bunny. The rescued male became Rocky. Bunny and Rocky were the beginning of everything. What started as simply loving two tortoises slowly grew into a passion for rescue, education, rehabilitation, and sanctuary work. Over time, people began contacting us about tortoises they could no longer care for, neglected tortoises needing help, and animals needing safe homes.

Today, Torts R Us / Florida Redfoot Tortoise Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to rescue, education, rehabilitation, and lifelong care for Redfoot Tortoises. What started with one wild gopher tortoise walking through our yard eventually changed our entire lives.

In our very first year, we had already successfully rehomed over 90+ tortoises. Now, only a year and a half later, that number has grown to more than 130+ tortoises rehomed — all because of the love and passion we have for these incredible animals. While we personally specialize in and primarily take in Redfoot Tortoises, we have also helped rehome Leopard Tortoises, Russian Tortoises, Hermann’s Tortoises, and even Sulcata Tortoises as well.