Tortoise adoption workshops slated in Carson City, Sparks

Tortoise Group, which operates a tortoise adoption program in Northern Nevada, is holding an adoption workshop from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 25, at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, 2621 Northgate Lane, Suite 15. Another workshop is planned from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the same day at Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. in Sparks.

The free workshops feature sections on tortoise care, appropriate diet, burrow creation, backyard preparation and safety, veterinary care and the tortoise life cycle. A question and answer session follows.

Registration is not required. Refreshments are served, and free informational materials are available at each workshop.

Tortoise Group began adopting tortoises in the spring of last year; since then, adoptions have taken place in Hawthorne, Yerington, Carson City, Reno, Sparks, Fallon, Minden and Gardnerville. Adoptions in Northern Nevada are supported by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The group will staff an information booth about tortoises at Reno Earth Day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 26 at Idlewild Park in Reno.

For more information about desert tortoise adoptions, call 702-739-7113, or go to www.tortoisegroup.org, or email info@tortoisegroup.org.