Are tortoises a wise investment

[Redfootedboxturtles]

Are tortoises a good investment ? With all types of crazy things going on with our economy is it a wise investment to purchase expensive tortoises? I am of course speaking of buying animals to breed and sell babies. No buying a pet or two.

 

[Laura]

My first thought: you dont get animals and breed them to make money. That is the wrong reason.. To improve or keep a species alive and well is the reason. If you do happen to make money selling babies. Congrats!
But you see the $$$ greedy people in other animals and the animal just suffer from lack of care.
Not always.. but a large majority. There are right reasons and wrong reasons to breed.. Enjoy what you do and do it right.
But that is my two cents worth without much thought..:shy:
That said.. Dont anyone take it personally. It isnt aimed at anyone.
As for the timing... you might find a good buy now.. or not.. but lots of people also dont have the extra money to spend on it right now either.. Great time to buy a house, IF you have money to do so.. if not.. its not.

 

[Redfootedboxturtles]

Laura you kind of missed the point of the topic. What you are talking about is a whole other debate. But thank you for posting.

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't think spending money on an expensive tortoise is a good investment. They don't appreciate like real estate. Also, they tend to die. You have to feed it and provide the proper environment for it, all costing more money to add to your initial outlay of $$$. It takes most tortoises quite a few years to reach breeding age, and during those non-productive years you are putting money into one end and getting poop out the other end. After 15 or 20 or more years, if you should happen to start raising babies, you have to feed them and keep them alive until you can find a buyer, and while you are keeping them, you are spending money building them the proper environment and feeding them. Now you have to find the market for your babies. I had a heck of a time finding buyers for my leopard babies. I couldn't sell a single one here in my own city. All of them went out of state. I can't say I made any money on the deal as it all went back into the operation.

Far as I'm concerned, the only reason to buy a tortoise is to be able to enjoy the animal. There isn't any money in it unless you have a very large breeding operation. Then you've lost the one-on-one time with your pet and it is no longer a pet, but a commodity.

Yvonne

 

[egyptiandan]

I think Yvonne covered it very well , but if it was missed. Tortoises are NOT a good investment. The prices of most tortoises has fallen recently. Thats say you could afford, say an adult pair of Radiated tortoises, a fairly high end tortoise. You would have to set them up right. Than getting them to breed and lay eggs for you. Okay you've done that. With these tortoises you've limited your market to in state people if you don't have a permit, that's say you do have a permit. That gives you out of state sales and in state sales. Now you have to find people with $1,000 burning a hole in their pocket, in this economy, looking to buy a tortoise. They are few and far between and there are already established breeders that will likely get the business first.
So all in all not the place to invest money.

Danny

 

[Madkins007]

As for making money breeding them... with the slow growth rate, fairly small nest sizes, etc. the old saying is still true- "breed snakes for money and tortoises for fun".

 

[agiletorts]

Considering mortality rate, time to invest for proper care, rising energy costs, rising food costs and uncertainty in selling prices later in the future, among other things, why bother investing in tortoise? If I sit down and think more I probably could come up with 10 other risks, so I'm not sure if the overall risk is smaller than the risk in certain financial products existed in the market now. Just have tortoise for fun and don't calculate the $.

 

[Yvonne G]

Here's an example of what I meant when I said tortoises don't appreciate like real estate:

Many years ago when Sulcatas were still a bit rare you had to pay about $1500 to $2000 for an adult tortoise. They breed like crazy and you could have 50 or 100 babies in a clutch, two or three times a year. In those days you could get $150 or $200 apiece for the babies.

Now-a-days you can buy an adult Sulcata for around $200 and babies for under $50. But its really hard to find buyers for them because if you go to a rescue you can get the animal for free.

Another example is my Manouria. Eleven years or so ago I had 18 intergrade babies that I sold for $200 apiece. I haven't been able to raise any babies since that time...and this year was lucky to have just one baby, which I'll keep because its the only one. This is not a good way to invest your money. It takes too long to see any kind of a return, and if you keep good records you'll see that the minus column spends all the money you put into the plus column!!

Yvonne

 

[Itort]

Investment? As has been pointed out there is no money in breeding torts. Long time to maturity, small clutch size, expense of maintenance, and limited market. If you wish to breed herps for money go with mid size snakes, bearded dragons, or the various geckos. I keep and breed my herps as a an avocation and keep ones that I enjoy as pets. If I wanted to make money, I'd get rid torts and blue tongues (one clutch a year with 6 month pregnancy for small litter).

 

[drgnfly2265]

I wouldn't think that breeding and selling torts would be a good investment for money like everyone has stated. But I do believe that they are a wonderful investment as a part of a family. At our house now it is just me and my husband. But when my husband isn't there, I have my sulcata to keep me company

___________________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

 

[oswego tort lover]

well i disagree it depends on the species. buy a leopard for $125 keep it healthy and growing for 3yrs its, around 5 inchs its worth $350-500,on kindsnake.food can be gotten free from your local grocery store (produce dept) summer free too . my leopard makes me bout $3000.00- 5000.00 tax free each and every year the last 14 yrs. i see dan picked a tort thats hes correct about selling but im pretty sure he making mony on selling torts as well as nerd and doug. torts can be a good ivestment as well as avocation .i let all my buyers know that this tort kept healthy is worth more as it grows. .........ed

 

[Redfoot NERD]

well i disagree it depends on the species. buy a leopard for $125 keep it healthy and growing for 3yrs its, around 5 inchs its worth $350-500,on kindsnake.food can be gotten free from your local grocery store (produce dept) summer free too . my leopard makes me bout $3000.00- 5000.00 tax free each and every year the last 14 yrs. i see dan picked a tort thats hes correct about selling but im pretty sure he making mony on selling torts as well as nerd and doug. torts can be a good ivestment as well as avocation .i let all my buyers know that this tort kept healthy is worth more as it grows. .........ed

You can always tell those that have.. and those that haven't - willing to endure and learn! [ it's like anything else.. paying the price ]

You're right.. you know Danny and Doug and I and others have had their torts "pay for themselves" over the years. Anyone who denies it will lie about other things as well...........

NERD

 

[sushisurf13]

I dont think that any animal should be purchased with breeding in mind. They should be pets first and foremost, then baby makers (maybe).
I dont think investing in torts for profit is very wise at all. Its takes many years for the adults to become ready or you will buy a "proven pair" with is very expensive. Then you have 10 eggs that need to incubated and cared for. Then they hatch and become little poop factories like their parents. Then you have to find a market for them. I think that you MIGHT break even eventually. All the while you are paying for greens and getting poop. Wow. Now, if we could only find a market for tortoise poop, then we'd all be rich!!!

 

[oswego tort lover]

hello eric, i find your arguement specious and certainly very very full of poop lol. by the way tortoise pooo degrades into a nice fertializer for the herb garden. ...............ed

 

[sushisurf13]

If only someone would buy it.....

hello eric, i find your arguement specious and certainly very very full of poop lol. by the way tortoise pooo degrades into a nice fertializer for the herb garden. ...............ed

 

[davidsmith]

It’s quite expensive and time consuming. We have to fulfill all the factors like providing the right heat, food, humidity and lighting etc.
But of course you can start your investment with a 'Beginner' species that are generally cheaper and easier to care.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

My first thought: you dont get animals and breed them to make money. That is the wrong reason.. To improve or keep a species alive and well is the reason. If you do happen to make money selling babies. Congrats!
But you see the $$$ greedy people in other animals and the animal just suffer from lack of care.
Not always.. but a large majority. There are right reasons and wrong reasons to breed.. Enjoy what you do and do it right.
But that is my two cents worth without much thought..:shy:
That said.. Dont anyone take it personally. It isnt aimed at anyone.
As for the timing... you might find a good buy now.. or not.. but lots of people also dont have the extra money to spend on it right now either.. Great time to buy a house, IF you have money to do so.. if not.. its not.

Laura this is a good time to buy anything when you have the $$$$ - what do you really think this is all about?

NERD

---

It’s quite expensive and time consuming. We have to fulfill all the factors like providing the right heat, food, humidity and lighting etc.
But of course you can start your investment with a 'Beginner' species that are generally cheaper and easier to care.

David only things that DON'T fulfill a purpose are expensive!

You have to fulfill all of the factors you mentioned when keeping a tortoise anyway.. [ that's the most frustrating ( at times ) thing.. too many think they can just push a button and their tortoise is taken care of - WRONG!!! ] and none are any more difficult to care for than any other.. just different sometimes. So where is the expense?

NERD

 

[Jacqui]

I think it can be just as wise of a long term investment as anything else. I have a little bit of money in what folks would term a wiser investment then torts and yet am seeing those stocks, bonds, ect.., either making little money or in some cases losing money each quarter. That's part of life. You have to ride the ups and downs and hope you get off at the right moment. If you can afford to lose the money, invest in whatever gamble you want to take.

I never thought of my torts as investments. To me they are pleasures. However thinking about it, I guess they deep down are investments too. One thing for sure, unlike my other investments (except maybe for land) they are the only ones that give me any pleasure and enjoyment, any sense of worth. All those wonderful feel good emotions that money alone can't buy. Seems looking at it that way, they are also the only investments really paying me great dividends.

So after some thinking, I am going to side with torts being great investments if you want investments that you have to work hands on with, keep taking additional funds (and time) to manage, but can return you so much more then just money. Just remember they are high risk investments both in terms on money and emotions.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

WELL.. ONCE AGAIN.. WE [ BREEDERS ] DO IT FOR FUN AND PROFIT! OTHERWISE WE WOULDN'T DO IT [ DON'T LET THEM LIE TO YOU.. AGAIN ].

AND.. IT CAN BE VERY TIME CONSUMING SO IT IS SOMETHING [ LIKE ANYTHING ELSE ] THAT WE HAVE TO WORK AT. THE APPARENT SECRET IS GETTING THEM SET-UP SO IT TAKES LESS TIME AND OVERHEAD COST TO MAINTAIN THEM.. AND MORE TIME TO "INTERACT" WITH THEM.

JUST BECAUSE SOME HAVEN'T HAD SUCCESS BREEDING DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING OTHER THAN 'SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT' IN THE EQUATION.

THAT WAS SIMPLE ENOUGH.. WASN'T IT?

Terry K

 

[jasso2]

i like tortoises