Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[rhac_addict]

hi
i dont actually know anything about turtles or tortoises( if thats how you spell it so im not one to preach) but i recently went round a friends house n she has a pet tortoise and its in her garden. it lives in a small dog house type thing, and the only time its in dooors in durin winter, even then its left in the garage. so as if this didnt shock me enough (again have no idea bout tortoises so may be completely wrong) its food is never dusted with any suppliments or calcium. now i have a fair few geckos n a couple of newts so no how important calcium n supliments are, especially as this tortoise is female n does occasionally lay eggs.

so i was just wondering if its just me that is shocked by the fact it lives in the garden in 'sunny' essex or is this normal keeping behaviour?

[Ailurus]

well that doesn't sound to good. But some tortoise species could probably survive that. it all depends on the tortoise species i believe. For instance russian tortoises could possibly be kept like that but red footed tortoises couldn't.

someone with a greater knowledge of chelonia will probably answer you query better than i can
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Tom

Snakes: :Pantherophis: :Coelognathus: :Lampropeltis: :Heterodon: :Antaresia:
Lizards: :Rhacodactylus: :Pogona: :Goniurosaurus:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Ailurus27

[rhac_addict]

thanx for the reply. As i said i dont actually know much about tortoises myself and would want to hazzard a guess as to what type it is. i will try and find out if it helps.
just thought it was odd keeping it in your garden.
thanx

[Ally]

We get customers in all the time asking for 'Garden Tortoises'...

A few years ago (some of the older members on here will remember!) you could pick up a tortoise (usually a Spur Thigh or Hermans) for about 50p at the local pet shop or market. Generally they were kept how you describe this one.
They were all wild caught, and shipped over in such huge numbers that it put them on the endangered list. I believe survival rate after the first year in captivity was less than 10% for these guys.

The ones you find being kept like this are almost certainly from these original imports, and have been kept the same for the last 20 or 30 years...
A lot of people have changed how they keep them, a lot of people haven't.

Nowadays, the tortoises that you see in shops are captive bred and much more expensive than they used to be. Care is very different now we understand more about these animals - and the cost puts off the people who remember a cheap tort running around the garden.

Breeding age female torts are worth a lot of money these days...

[Scott W]

[stubeanz]

my tortoise is one of the ones that was brought over in the old days my grandad kept it in his garden and hibernated it in winter.
It now lives with me and i keep it in the garden durning summer and early autum but during spring n late autum i keep it inside and it is hibernated in winter this hasnt had any effect on the tortoises health or growth but his food is dusted with calcium now he lives with me but wasnt for the first 40 years of his life and he has grow fine.
But it does depend on the species as mine is a spur thigh and can cope well in the summer over here but as ailurus said species from areas with very differnt climates such as red foots probably arent best to keep outside.
stu
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if you cant afford the vet, dont get the pet!

[rhac_addict]

wow didnt know they could be kept in the garden. thats pretty amazing considering our weather, not exactly the sunniest of place.
neway thanx for the replys

[Central Scotland Reptiles]

I keep my Horsfield, Hermanns, Spur-thighed and Marginated Tortoises outside year round. Only bringing them indoors to hibernate. ( Admittedly they do all have access to a heated green house, for the most part though they enjoy spending their days outside in their pens ).

I rarely supplement their diet ( apart from egg laying females ), a diet of dandelions, clover, sow thistle and kale provide all the nutrition they need.

There is no need to over complicate things and I suppose as the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it!!!"
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Fraser Gilchrist
Central Scotland Reptiles - "Finding Beauty in the Beasts"

[terrific tortoise]

I would encourage any tort owner to give their torts as much time in their gardens as possible, its the very best place for them. You cannot beat mother nature, the sun is to be worshipped People think torts require very hot temps all the time, but infact through the hottest part of the day, a tort will be cooling off (dug in) shading from the heat.

My adult torts are outside 24/7 from April through to late October, they instinctively cool themselves down each Autumn ready for hibernation, the only time my adults receive extra heat/light is for approx. I month (after hibernation) March till April.

Of course with young torts, you have to give more additional heat/light (in an appropriate enclousure) and also security from predators must be used, but even so, I still give my hatchlings as much outside time as possible. I even wait till its dark before I secure them for the evening, this way the hatchlings are allowed to cool down much like they would in the wild.

Ally, Isnt it a shame that even though some species have been on the endangered list since 1984, yet still they are being imported into the uk in large numbers. As for shops selling cb torts? the question is cb/cf/potentially wc, but from which country??? ...T.T.
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[Ally]

I know what you mean, it's very difficult to get hold of UK cb babies - Slovenia appears to be a big supplier of 'cb' tortoises...

Do you have temperature guidelines as to when it is ok.not ok to have the torts outside?
Thinking of this spring, where it warmed up dramatically, then cooled, then warmed again. (messed my Ratsnakes brumation that did!)