MIAMI GARDENS – Speedy, a sulcata tortoise, has been missing from his home at Northwest 143rd Street and Garden Drive in Miami Gardens, Florida since Friday morning.
Speedy weighs about 40 pounds and has been with the family since he was about 6 months old.
The tortoises top out anywhere between 80 to 110 pounds and can live 70-plus years in captivity, Dr. Lianne McLeod, a veterinarian and epidemiologist, writes on TheSprucePets.com.
The tortoise originates from Central Africa and is known for its tendency for burrowing.
Pet owners, writes McLeod, should have sturdy fences dug deep into the ground to avoid the tortoise escaping from an enclosure by digging under it.