# Most expensive turtles and tortoises?



## Moozillion (Feb 25, 2021)

A non-pet keeping friend asked me today which are the most expensive turtles/tortoises. I wasn't sure what to tell them other than maybe Aldabra.
Any ideas and price ranges? This is ENTIRELY idle curiosity on my friend's part, but hey- any time anyone wants to talk about turtles I feel duty-bound to tell them far more than they probably wanted to hear!!!!! ?


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## TeamZissou (Feb 25, 2021)

Legal or illegal? 

Yes, some large Aldabras and Galapagos can easily go for $25k+. It's highly dependent on size. 

Illegal trade in species like plowshares/yniphora have supposedly been in the $30-50k+ range, particularly to rich people in Asia. 

Maybe a better question would be what price per pound of tortoise?


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## S2G (Feb 26, 2021)

I was looking at the radiated/star pattern & they go from $700 - thousands. I'm not a fan of the designer animals, but these are the most expensive I've seen


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## Moozillion (Feb 26, 2021)

TeamZissou said:


> Legal or illegal?
> 
> Yes, some large Aldabras and Galapagos can easily go for $25k+. It's highly dependent on size.
> 
> ...


Thanks!


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## Moozillion (Feb 26, 2021)

S2G said:


> I was looking at the radiated/star pattern & they go from $700 - thousands. I'm not a fan of the designer animals, but these are the most expensive I've seen
> View attachment 319374


Thanks!!!


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## Gillian M (Feb 26, 2021)

Let's ask the experts here: 

@Yvonne G 
@Tom 

please give us your opinions. Thank you.


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## Maggie3fan (Feb 26, 2021)

Gillian M said:


> Let's ask the experts here:
> 
> @Yvonne G
> @Tom
> ...


speckled padloper?


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## Sterant (Feb 26, 2021)

You'll likely find large Galaps would generally take the prize. A ploughshare might go for more if anyone could actually buy one. There have been some $30k Radiata in past years.


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## Tom (Feb 26, 2021)

When I think of acquiring a new animal, I usually think of hatchlings. Those would break down like this:
Galapagos torotise $5000, if you can find one in your state.
Radiata $1200, if you can find one in your state.
Aldabra $1000, last I heard, but maybe more now?
Platynota $800.

Morphs and albinos are uncommon and don't interest me much, so I don't know where those would fall.

There are others that are unusual and seldom seen for sale or bred like Chersina, or the spiders, but the above listed four are the most expensive of the commonly available and regularly bred ones.


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## Toddrickfl1 (Feb 26, 2021)

I would consider selling you my redfoot for 1 million.


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## Ink (Feb 26, 2021)

All of them are expensive! The tortoise, lighting, enclosure, hides, food, and vet. ? LOL (not really).


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## NorCal tortoise guy (Feb 26, 2021)

Tom said:


> When I think of acquiring a new animal, I usually think of hatchlings. Those would break down like this:
> Galapagos torotise $5000, if you can find one in your state.
> Radiata $1200, if you can find one in your state.
> Aldabra $1000, last I heard, but maybe more now?
> ...


Aldabras are about $2000 now days


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## Tom (Feb 26, 2021)

NorCal tortoise guy said:


> Aldabras are about $2000 now days


For hatchlings? Wow. They have gone up in price then. Thank you for the info.


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## Maggie3fan (Feb 26, 2021)

Ink said:


> All of them are expensive! The tortoise, lighting, enclosure, hides, food, and vet. ? LOL (not really).


That's exactly what I was thinking!


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## pacific chelonians (Feb 27, 2021)

If we’re talking about hatchlings I would say the most expensive hatchlings would probably be a plowshare I’ve I’ve seen go for 25,000 or an albino fly river turtle at 15,000 for a baby


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 27, 2021)

That's easy!
A SICK one.


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## Moozillion (Feb 27, 2021)

Thanks for all the replies! My friend is gonna be SHOCKED when he hears some of these prices!!!????


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## Farcryjj (Feb 28, 2021)

You haven't heard the price of babies in Canada yet. $2000 for an Egyptian tortoise, and they are sold out quickly. Any tortoise babies, including Russians, are $500+


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## ZenHerper (Feb 28, 2021)

Search Fauna Classifieds for any threatened/endangered/extinct Cuora...depending on the species, they go for $2000-$10,000. 

McCord's, forex, hovers in the $6000-$8000 range. Interesting, since they are one of the wee-est turtles around. (You can pay as much for a car as for something that will always fit on the flat of your palm.)

Small clutch size as well as specificity of husbandry drives rare turtle prices, IMO.


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## queen koopa (Feb 28, 2021)

Farcryjj said:


> You haven't heard the price of babies in Canada yet. $2000 for an Egyptian tortoise, and they are sold out quickly. Any tortoise babies, including Russians, are $500+


$500 for a Russian!!? Wth.


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## Danimal (Feb 28, 2021)

My wife is wanting an Aldabra , so I was poking around the interweb looking while we were waiting to move. I remembered watching a youtube video that lead me to this site, I remembered seeing how much he was charging for breeding trio's, I got lucky and found it again.


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## Krista S (Feb 28, 2021)

Farcryjj said:


> You haven't heard the price of babies in Canada yet. $2000 for an Egyptian tortoise, and they are sold out quickly. Any tortoise babies, including Russians, are $500+


Yup! Where I am, a baby Russian or Hermann’s is usually $700.00. Redfoots are around $1000.00.


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## queen koopa (Feb 28, 2021)

Forgive my ignorance... really. But I know very little of the differences between US and Canada. ?‍?‍ So are these $700 hatchlings from private breeders? Or commercial?


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## Farcryjj (Mar 1, 2021)

queen koopa said:


> Forgive my ignorance... really. But I know very little of the differences between US and Canada. ?‍?‍ So are these $700 hatchlings from private breeders? Or commercial?


Commercial. Private breeders sell them slightly cheaper, but not by much. Because there are very few private breeders. The main reason that the tortoises are expensive in Canada is because the custom rules forbid any form of tortoise importing, not even to bring them in as your existing pet. Only Canadian born captive bred tortoises are allowed to be sold.


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## queen koopa (Mar 1, 2021)

Farcryjj said:


> Commercial. Private breeders sell them slightly cheaper, but not by much. Because there are very few private breeders. The main reason that the tortoises are expensive in Canada is because the custom rules forbid any form of tortoise importing, not even to bring them in as your existing pet. Only Canadian born captive bred tortoises are allowed to be sold.


Oh I see. Thank you! I like the mitigation of importing tortoise. And maybe $700 may make people think twice about getting their kid a baby tortoise on whim.


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## Farcryjj (Mar 1, 2021)

queen koopa said:


> Oh I see. Thank you! I like the mitigation of importing tortoise. And maybe $700 may make people think twice about getting their kid a baby tortoise on whim.


I agree on the non-importing part to protect the wild population. Even the turtles are subjects to the same rule, which is why the turtles are very expensive also. Common turtles like redear sliders are $150+. Mud turtles are $350+


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## ZenHerper (Mar 1, 2021)

Farcryjj said:


> I agree on the non-importing part to protect the wild population. Even the turtles are subjects to the same rule, which is why the turtles are very expensive also. Common turtles like redear sliders are $150+. Mud turtles are $350+



Yeah, OK - that's just crazy!


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## Danimal (Mar 1, 2021)

I went to a buddies wedding in LeDuc, AB and they took my 2 contraband apples I had for snacks.  FYI foreign apples not allowed in Canada, eh!


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## Farcryjj (Mar 1, 2021)

Danimal said:


> I went to a buddies wedding in LeDuc, AB and they took my 2 contraband apples I had for snacks.  FYI foreign apples not allowed in Canada, eh!


Vice versa. US border agency doesn't allow any veggies, fruits, even firewood to go into the States also. ?
I always suspect some Canadian breeders of trafficking baby tortoises/ turtles from US to Canada for sale... Some particular individual seems to have a lot of babies of different kind comparing to the size of the operation he/she runs...


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## Kapidolo Farms (Mar 1, 2021)

I would argue going to jail/prison for an illegal animal is the most expensive - into 100's of thousands of $$. I know of a few people who have experienced this kind of cost.

Large well proven Galops or Aldabras easily $100K each.



TeamZissou said:


> Legal or illegal?
> 
> Yes, some large Aldabras and Galapagos can easily go for $25k+. It's highly dependent on size.
> 
> ...


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## JeffR (Mar 5, 2021)

Moozillion said:


> A non-pet keeping friend asked me today which are the most expensive turtles/tortoises. I wasn't sure what to tell them other than maybe Aldabra.
> Any ideas and price ranges? This is ENTIRELY idle curiosity on my friend's part, but hey- any time anyone wants to talk about turtles I feel duty-bound to tell them far more than they probably wanted to hear!!!!! ?












Former Oklahoma City Zoo employee sentenced after pleading guilty to trafficking endangered Galapagos tortoises


A former employee of the Oklahoma City Zoo was formally sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to a wildlife trafficking charge for selling Galapagos tortoise hatchlings from the Herpetarium.



kfor.com





There is certainly a black market for galapagos
This Former Zoo employee there is going to jail


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## Relic (Mar 5, 2021)

Depending on what additional costs you usually incur to placate your wife, i.e., new furniture, new jewelry, a remodeled kitchen, or perhaps a new car, even run-of-the-mill sliders can be prohibitive. I find that turtles and torts that camouflage well in their habitats are the cheapest...


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## TeamZissou (Mar 5, 2021)

JeffR said:


> Former Oklahoma City Zoo employee sentenced after pleading guilty to trafficking endangered Galapagos tortoises
> 
> 
> A former employee of the Oklahoma City Zoo was formally sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to a wildlife trafficking charge for selling Galapagos tortoise hatchlings from the Herpetarium.
> ...



Looks like he got probation, community service, and a fine:

"United States District Judge Bernard Jones sentenced Lucas to serve three years of probation, perform 100 hours of community service, and pay $32,500 in restitution to the Oklahoma City Zoo."


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## Moozillion (Mar 5, 2021)

TeamZissou said:


> Looks like he got probation, community service, and a fine:
> 
> "United States District Judge Bernard Jones sentenced Lucas to serve three years of probation, perform 100 hours of community service, and pay $32,500 in restitution to the Oklahoma City Zoo."


I think he should have gotten a stiffer sentence- but unfortunately the judge didn't phone to ask my opinion...


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