Care comes first.
Sulcata Keeper is an independent education and adoption-support initiative based in Los Lunas, New Mexico. Our goal is to help keepers make informed decisions for animals that need a long-term commitment.
How we approach information
Articles link to their sources, with veterinary and institutional resources preferred for care information. Our practical checklists are suggestions for planning. Content can be prepared with AI assistance and is not represented as reviewed by a veterinarian. If you see an error, please email hello@sulcatakeeper.com.
This site does not diagnose or treat animals. Individual needs depend on age, health, housing, and local conditions. Contact a veterinarian who treats reptiles about your tortoise’s care.
Adoption and images
We support fee-free placements without a required donation. Educational adoption content does not establish an active rescue intake or guarantee a placement. Illustrative tortoise imagery is labeled and does not represent an animal available for adoption.
Privacy
Updated October 18, 2026. You can read public care articles without a keeper account. Creating an account uses ChatGPT sign-in. Sulcata Keeper receives a website-specific user identifier and signed-in identity information, including your email, to provide access to your records. We do not collect your ChatGPT password.
Your saved records
When you create a keeper account, we store your display name and care records with your account identifier. Records can include tortoise profiles, resized photos, checklists, observations, growth measurements, ZIP codes and weather preferences, saved veterinary contacts, and private rehoming drafts. These records are not public and are not shared with other keepers. The hosting service stores this information to operate the app. Adoption submissions are separate records. Reviewed listings show tortoise details and general location; applications, contacts, references and video links remain private to the applicant and Sulcata Keeper owner. See the adoption privacy notice for review, retention and removal details.
Your records stay in your account until you remove them or delete your keeper account. You can download a JSON backup, restore a backup, or delete your account and its active saved records in account settings. Downloaded backups remain on your own device. Deletion does not delete your ChatGPT account or copies you previously downloaded. Hosting providers may retain operational logs and backups according to their own retention practices.
Services and links
When you request weather, your browser sends your selected ZIP code to Zippopotam.us to find an approximate location, then queries the U.S. National Weather Service. When you open a vet or rescue search link, the search provider receives the search location and terms. These providers have their own privacy practices. Weather checks run while the app is open; background phone alerts are not available.
Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts. Hosting and authentication providers process technical information needed to operate the website, including access logs and sign-in cookies. We have not added advertising pixels or marketing analytics, and do not send account records to retailers through our resource links.
The contact form prepares a message in your email application. It does not submit or store your message on this website. Information you choose to email is handled through the recipient’s email service. Avoid sending home addresses or sensitive personal information in an initial inquiry. Adoption forms submit to this website and retain screening records separately from keeper care records. Deleting a keeper account does not remove adoption records. See adoption privacy for withdrawal and deletion requests.
Product links
See our resources and link disclosure for the current status of commercial links. Purchases are never required for adoption or care education.