# Tortoise suggestions for Maryland?



## anm1221 (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi I live in Maryland and am looking to buy a tortoise, i"ve always been a fan of the little (and Big) guys since i first discovered them. Contrary to many of my friends i find their faces just too irresistible they are too cute and their shells are awesome. I live in Maryland and for those of you not familiar with the place look it up lol, (not being a smart *** just don't really know how to explain it) all I can think of is we usually have really cold and dry winters and we have moderate to very hot and humid summers. I'm looking to have a tortoise small enough to stay inside, even though I find Sulcata's very attractive i know I cannot own one at this point in time or even hope to own one for a while because they grown very big. I am a beginner i guess is what you would say. I have always admired turtles and tortoises but never got the opportunity to have one until last summer when I bought 3 red eared sliders from TurtleShack which proved to be bad because they died really quickly However I'm looking to buy a tortoise and this will be my very first one. I Love seeing people post pictures and video's of their pets on youtube. I enjoy Tortoises very much.


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## Yvonne G (Mar 15, 2013)

Do a little research into Russian tortoises. I think that would be a good fit for you. Here's a good care sheet:

http://russiantortoise.net/care_sheet.htm


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## Cowboy_Ken (Mar 15, 2013)

Read, read,read. The forum is the best place to start. Most books and yes, even websites are sadly out of date and the forum offers you thousands of active keepers sharing knowledge in the now. 
So, my suggestion for you would be one of the Mediterranean tortoises, like a russian or Greek. These are smaller tortoises that are good for beginners. That said, you still need to study! I would go with a captive bred tortoise in that they have a better track record, health wise, than wild caught. Use the search bar at the top of the page to get a large range of people's feelings concerning wild caught verse captive bred.


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## anm1221 (Mar 15, 2013)

Cowboy_Ken said:



> Read, read,read. The forum is the best place to start. Most books and yes, even websites are sadly out of date and the forum offers you thousands of active keepers sharing knowledge in the now.
> So, my suggestion for you would be one of the Mediterranean tortoises, like a russian or Greek. These are smaller tortoises that are good for beginners. That said, you still need to study! I would go with a captive bred tortoise in that they have a better track record, health wise, than wild caught. Use the search bar at the top of the page to get a large range of people's feelings concerning wild caught verse captive bred.



Thanks so Much I have been looking at the Russian and Greek tortoises I have also been loooking at Hermans tortoises as of late. I have been studying and even took some what are called cornell notes off of a care page site for tortoises and have been trying to study up as much as possible. I've been studying alot for sizes because like i said I want to keep the tortoise inside except for the occasional outing in my yard with me when i am out in the summers, it's too cold in the winters to have one outside of course.




emysemys said:


> Do a little research into Russian tortoises. I think that would be a good fit for you. Here's a good care sheet:
> 
> http://russiantortoise.net/care_sheet.htm



Thanks for the help I have been looking into russian and greeks and hermans I also thought the idian stars were interesting but i do not think they will be an option for me. they are interesting to look at though


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## Cowboy_Ken (Mar 15, 2013)

Hey, I just read your introduction and I wanted to let you know that although I would love to be a keeper of water turtles, I am not willing to deal with all the specialized care requirements, (filters and dealing with nasty water) water turtles intel. I've got 12 tortoises now, and although that seems like alot, I know I can, and am willing to properly care for them. On a side note, 7 of those tortoises are russians.


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## Turtulas-Len (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi Ashlynn, I have turtles and tortoises in Md and Va, Are you anywhere near Southern Maryland ? And Welcome to the Forum


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## anm1221 (Mar 15, 2013)

Hey Len I Live in Baltimore Maryland. In the Dundalk Area. You know where the Patapsco HighSchool is I Live around that area


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## Turtulas-Len (Mar 15, 2013)

Don't know exactly where it is, But I believe it is on the same side of town as Lever Brothers (I know where it is) In fact the last time I was up there was when the Ravens were going to the Super Bowl years ago, I remember all the purple lights everywhere. We are about 2 hours apart. I spend most of my time and have most of the torts in Colonial Beach Va.


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## anm1221 (Mar 16, 2013)

Hey that's cool. I go to norfolk virginia every here and there. Plan on going again soon. I Live in the Dundalk area of baltimore. More like the 21222 zip code. I've been trying to do research and see what kind of tortoise can do good out here. I wanna keep it in doors for the most part because we have some really cold winters but in the summer I plan to take it out in the yard every so often. I've had some suggestions and people are saying that some good ones would be russians, greeks, hermans, and indian stars but indian stars seem like they aren't for beginners


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## Turtulas-Len (Mar 16, 2013)

I have, Indian Star, Yellow Footed, Red Footed, Leopard, Russian, Mee, MEP, Impressed, and Sulcata Tortoises, 2 Sulcatas that stay outside all year, they are both larger which makes it easier to keep them outside in cold weather, all the rest go out when the weather warms up and come back in when it is cold even if it only going to be cold for a few days and then they get to go back out when it warms up again.The bigger they are the more cold tolerant they seem to be.I can't offer a choice of a first tortoise for you but what ever you choose can be kept in Maryland with some effort on your part. Maybe one day on one of your trips south you can stop by and meet everyone.


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## anm1221 (Mar 16, 2013)

That sounds super cool. Yea I stop by in Virginia and might be going to college there too.


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