Hello,

I went to a reptile shop today and saw a gorgeous wc golden Greek. He/she (don't remember which..) was about 5 inches. I am so tempted to get this one, but I am concerned about it being wild caught. I have two other species (still babies). The problem with parasites, and also the ethical issues of buying a wc tort. Although, most of the parents of cb babies are wc I suppose.. Anyone knows about the status of these guys in the wild? Also, I saw a bubble on the nose.. possible infection?? It was in the same enclosure with Russians and another but different Greek.

But it was such a beautiful tort. And I swear it had my name on it... I been thinking about it all day..

Any suggestion or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Em

Good Luck in your decision.

Well ethically only you can decide, but if it were me and I were totally in love, I'd get him... AND if you chose to breed one day, you would be HELPING to provide quality CB Greeks in the future...

So sad that they mixed breeds! That's so bad for them!

Good luck!

In your shoes I'd buy it - it's never going back to the wild now - whats done is done etc. The only thing that would concern me is the runny nose but because I particularly want a Golden Greek I would get my Vet to have a go at getting it healthy.

If you decide to buy it, make sure you take it to the vet for a complete check up just to be sure of any possible health issues (parasites, infections, etc). Normally some parasites can be de detected from fecal samples, but others aren't. Fecal samples work well when a parasite is distributiong eggs (since that is how they can detected them) but if the parasite isn't laying eggs, it will go un-detected.

tough one indeed, but like it's been said, leaving it were it is will only make it worst...
how much were they asking for it?
keep us posted on your decision

Do wc torts usually have parasites? How hard is it to get rid of them? Is it easy to treat respiratory infection?
They were asking $99.

Thanks guys.
Emi

Emi, Yes most WC Torts have parasites, worms or bacteria or protozoa, a culture and fecal test will tell. I have Greeks that I just finished treating for an RI recently. It was shots daily and 5 days of ventolin used by an humidifyer. I spent over 2 months time and around $400+ to get mine well. But I feel it was worth every penny, well once I found a good vet and got them on the right meds. Had I done that from the start it would have cost me less than half what I spent. Where are you located. Can you take a pic of it and post it? $99 isn't bad for a Golden. But a lot of Greeks are sold as Goldens that aren't. So if you Post the pic maybe Danny could have a look and let you know.

Yep the Greeks around here go for $99, so that's average!

Wow.. Robyn. $400 and 2 months.. that was only for RI, right? I read somewhere that when a tort has worms, it can take years and years to treat it. Does that happen often? If I get it, I will take him to the vet right away. Are meds for deworming expensive?There is a pretty good reptile vet close to my house. I have been lucky that all of my torts have not had any serious health problem.
The shop is kind of far away from me so I won't be able to go there just to take pictures. I'm pretty sure it was golden because it was really yellow except a small dark spot in each scute. The carapace was kinda long, oval, I'm not sure if that indicates any locality..

I hope he/she is still there. I might go this weekend to see if it's still there..
It sounds silly, but it was like love at first sight. Never happened before..