WATERFORD, Mich. -- A Michigan woman has posted a $500 reward for information leading to return of her 30-pound African spurred tortoise named Oscaretta.

Angie Budnick set her pet of eight years in an outdoor pen on Sept. 23, and when she returned, the brown-patterned shell creature was gone, reported WDIV-TV in Detroit.

Budnick has posted fliers around the neighborhood, and she has asked all her neighbors to comb their yards, look under mulch piles and burrows under their decks for her four-legged friend.

The tortoise was first thought to be a male when Budnick got her in 1997. After she learned it was a female, she changed her name to Oscaretta.

The tortoise has a small scar on the center nub of the three nubs on top of her shell. She is also missing some horns on her front legs.

Budnick has stressed the tortoise is not a water turtle, and since she is cold-blooded she cannot handle temperatures below 60 degrees.

The tortoise is expensive to maintain. Budnick told the Daily Tribune that she spends between $70 and $90 a month on food, supplements, heating pads and annual vet visits.

Anyone with information can call Pupeluv, Budnick's nonprofit dog rescue service.