# I have a question.



## Marty333 (Dec 29, 2010)

I was wondering if captive born tortoises are domestic animals? I really never think of them as exotics because they are sold at large name pet stores like Petsmart. You know how dogs are domestic animals and probably wouldn't survive if released isn't that the same with tortoises. So my main question is. Are tortoise wild animals or domestic animals when they are in the pet trade?


----------



## Kenny (Dec 29, 2010)

There are feral sulcata roaming around out here doing just fine.

No torts are not domesticated.


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 29, 2010)

Far as I'm concerned, tortoises are not domesticated. They are still wild animals. They haven't undergone years and years of human intervention.

As for a sulcata or a hingeback being a domestic animal because it was hatched here in the states? No. Its still an African animal.


----------



## DeanS (Dec 29, 2010)

They are exotic...no ifs, ands or buts. In the 70s and 80s we said, if they originate in the wild, that makes them exotic. Raccoons, opossums and ferrets are all considered exotics even though they're indigenous to the states. It would make more sense to label pets as domestic or wild. I never considered my wolves exotic, but they were definitely wild...tame but wild!


----------



## Madkins007 (Dec 29, 2010)

"Domesticated" means bred until undesirable wild elements are bred out and beneficial (to humans) characteristics are reinforced.

Other than domestic livestock, cats, and dogs, I would suggest the only 'domestic' vertebrate animal is the white rat, and MAYBE ferrets.


----------



## moswen (Dec 29, 2010)

oh yes, it takes, like, forever to breed instincts out of animals. dogs have been losing their genetic instincts since the cave man days...

turts and torts and all the cold blooded creatures will never be domesticated i believe, they are born with their instincts to survive... they aren't taught anything by their mothers. i think crocodiles are the only baby reptiles that even see their mothers, and they're not taught by her, she just protects them. so, to have a domesticated tortoise would mean to have a tortoise that has no natural instincts on how to survive, it's born and it relies solely on you to provide all of it's needs.

which just isn't natural or logical in any sense, since they are born WITH this knowledge, it isn't taught to them. 

well okay i have to amend that, even human babies have the instinct to breathe and blink and drink milk, but beyond that, they rely on us to PROVIDE it to them. dogs could survive in a city with trash cans and such, food being provided. but a dog that had to hunt on it's own for live prey would more than likely starve to death. cats aren't even fully "domesticated" in every aspect, as they are still able to catch their own food and survive if let loose. they were beginning to be "domesticated" hundreds of years after dogs were. the first cat "pets" that were seen in history are by the egyptians, which were obviously waaaay later than cave men. and they were their gods back then, not their pets.


----------



## Tom (Dec 30, 2010)

Don't forget pigeons and possibly Dromedary camels. Does "livestock" include chickens and horses?


Its unanimous. Torts are definitely NOT domesticated in any way.


----------



## Balboa (Dec 30, 2010)

As Tom keyed into, there are many domesticated animals, but no tortoises are not among them.

Unless you count redfoots based on my wild theory about them having been domesticated by the vanished civilizations of the Amazon


----------



## matt41gb (Dec 30, 2010)

If you think about it, we're still pretty wild ourselves. At least our bodies haven't caught up with our brains. 

-Matt


----------

