Best species????

[yillt]

I haven't been on for a while. With moving house and all of that. But I have been wondering.
Personally I would say marginated torts are the best species but what would you say and why??
For example,
Easy
Friendly
Pretty
or anything or that sort.

 

[Abdulla6169]

Greeks.
Because I like them I know, I know, totally unbiased answer.... I just love greeks, thats all (mainly because I own one )

 

[wellington]

Oh, there are going to be so many different answers. I love my leopards, Babcocki's. My first one stole my heart and is so cool. So cool, I got two more. I love their color, they are not destructive or climbers and he is so easy going and I can touch his head, legs, tail, he just doesn't care. If he ever had to go to a vet, he will be very easy to examine.

 

[Jodie]

I Love my Leopards. They have such amazing personalities and are so pretty.

 

[juli11]

Beat species is lobatse and spekes hingeback tortoises they are "tropical tortoises" but they are so resistant again whether and coldness that's really impressive

 

[naturalman91]

i love my red once you get it down he's generally easy to maintain,and once he trust you he's pretty friendly he loves his head rubbed anytime i open his enclosure he runs right to me and stretches his head out or if i put my hand in there he'll run into my hand which is kinda weird to me because i try not to hold him or interact with him to much i want him to live natural as possible for being in captivity, as for looks my favorite species would probably be any type of star or leopard don't get me wrong there are some beautiful red's to.

I've never seen a marginated up close or in person they aren't to common around me, if i really sit back and think about it i don't think i've even seen a full grown sulcata....

 

[tortadise]

Tis a tough one for me. Working with so many species, I see unique qualities in all of them. Each one of thee qualities I evaluate on the tortoise and it's behavior amongst its patrons it lives with, and or is mated with(not all are or can be kept together).

I am pretty partial to the Manouria emys emys the. Manouria impressa. They display such an intellectual disposition of behavior that is not atypical of other species. Most have understood the routine and recognize the "bringer of food". But they come out and eat when they feel they want to. I swear they will stare and think at things and contemplate.

Beauty I give to psammobates. They are true survivors in such harsh environments and very brilliantly painted with natures pallet.

Intelligence I give to Manouria. Such a prehistoric animal of beauty and docile intellect behavior.

Dopey happy and always smiling I give to the Redfoots. Always up to something good and just a happy tortoise species.

Peculiar I give to Kinixys. They display such a reclusive behavior that only they want to be known. Very intelligent and surviving in some extreme environments of predations and climate.

I could go on and on and on really. But yeah mine would be Manouria emys emys.

 

[phebe121]

I love my leopards their sweet and easy going and adorable

 

[mike taylor]

Red foots of course . The are always up to something . They are beautiful little guys . The are problem solvers . I watch them climb up small limbs on the hibiscus plants to pull the leaves off to eat .

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Intelligence I give to Manouria. Such a prehistoric animal of beauty and docile intellect behavior.



Kelly, I give you the utmost respect, BUT....I have spent some time with my sister's 10 or 20 Manouria and intelligence is not one of the qualities I would assign to this species....
She says her chelonia are wild animals, so they are not socialized.
I think the best species is Bob and second best is Gopherus agassizii...fun, easy keepers, outgoing and just very special species. Both of them...
(and I'm a closet RES lover)...[/QUOTE]

 

[stojanovski92113]

Red foots They are Awesome!!! They are curious, obviously stunning tortoises , lots of personality, & I love when all 4 of my red foots all lay around and rest each others heads on the others shells and just hang out together & live the tortoise life! Oh and when they eat from your hand!!!!

 

[diamondbp]

Mine is South African Leopard tortoises. I'm partial to a good sized tortoise and pattern variety. I've been hooked since the first one I got

 

[tortadise]

Intelligence I give to Manouria. Such a prehistoric animal of beauty and docile intellect behavior.



Kelly, I give you the utmost respect, BUT....I have spent some time with my sister's 10 or 20 Manouria and intelligence is not one of the qualities I would assign to this species....
She says her chelonia are wild animals, so they are not socialized.
I think the best species is Bob and second best is Gopherus agassizii...fun, easy keepers, outgoing and just very special species. Both of them...
(and I'm a closet RES lover)...

[/QUOTE]
My emys phayrei are exactly like you describe, wild and non "social". However the emys emys are just superbly different. So are the impressa. They just stare at you and contemplate things.

Bob is awesome. He is your buddy too

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

I haven't had my Egyptians that long maybe two years . And my pancakes maybe one year. .
1.marginate
2.hermanns
3.russians
4. AZ deserts
5. Leopards
6.greeks
7. Pancakes
Egyptians


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[mikeh]

My emys phayrei are exactly like you describe, wild and non "social". However the emys emys are just superbly different. So are the impressa. They just stare at you and contemplate things.

Bob is awesome. He is your buddy too [/QUOTE]

I concur. Also Emys Emys actually learn. I hide oyster mushrooms thru out the enclosure, they now go to those specific places looking for them even if nothing is there. They learned that sifting thru floor litter may reveal a red wiggler. They expect and are waiting for food in a same place same time of day. They know exactly where the water dish is, when wanting a drink they head straight for the dish even if they are on an opposite end of the enclosure. They are fascinated with observing bugs. They routinely take time cleaning inside of their shell, whatever they can reach. They will stare at you to no end. When hand fed they look at you first as if seeking approval before taking a bite. They actually hiss and hurry when they see/smell their favorite foods. Everything they do has a specific purpose.

 

[stojanovski92113]

I haven't had my Egyptians that long maybe two years . And my pancakes maybe one year. .
1.marginate
2.hermanns
3.russians
4. AZ deserts
5. Leopards
6.greeks
7. Pancakes
Egyptians


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

In 2009, I was at a pet store and I saw this cute tortoise. My long time boyfriend at the time (now my husband) kept telling me...get that tortoise...get it..come on, I'll buy it for you. Which is shocking! But I was stuck in my red foot only & still am...and wanted cherry head tortoises too (could never find them). And I eventually want a yellow foot too!! But that tortoises that was really cool at the pet store was an Egyptian tortoise & to this day my husband gives me crap how he can't believe I didn't get that tortoise! You never see egyptian tortoise ever!!! He does the same thing with me about how I should get leopard tortoises. He always says to me why do you want the same tortoises? Get a variety. He says that he likes their high domed shell & how they are so unique looking. Which yes they are. I just want a whole herd of footed species I guess, they are my thing! Pancake tortoises are pretty interesting!! Tortoises can be addicting!

 

[tglazie]

Marginated are my favorite, by far, with Hermann's and Greeks tied for third. Marginateds are enormously variable in their personalities. Some are incredibly aggressive and social, others are withdrawn and wild. My largest female, Lady Marge, is my best tortoise. She's large, good looking, and always shows up in the morning to drink from her freshly cleaned saucer and eat whatever supplemental feed I put alongside it. She is inquisitive and always grazing in the cool of the morning and waning heat of the evening. Marginateds are large, but they're not trouble makers like my sulcata Jerry (God rest him), though I often find myself missing the oversized personality of a sulcata.

Hermann's are always social and always hungry, I find. I've never seen tortoises graze as much as they do. I have two in separate eight by twenty, planted paddocks, and before the heat of high noon, they eat nonstop. All six grape vines in their respective enclosures have been stripped entirely of their lower leaves. Dandelion flowers last all but five seconds after blooming. When they see me coming, they beg ceaselessly, often stepping over whatever treat I leave them given their fixation on me. I come back a half hour later, and I always find nothing left, regardless of the treat type. For instance, Gino, my largest marginated, always devours althea flowers when they first come into season, spring and autumn. However, I find that after a few days of having them a part of his diet, he will eventually leave these flowers to the pillbugs. The Hermann's never do this. If they don't eat something, it means that they will never eat it. And if there is something Hermann's don't eat, I've yet to discover it (which isn't to say I've engaged in wild, unhealthy dietary experimentation; it is simply to say that anything I've grown that has been deemed safe by at least three authorities on the subject, the Hermann's will eat it, no exceptions). They are also incredibly busy tortoises. I mean, most Testudo that I've kept are busy, but Hermann's are very busy. They will climb anything; I often find them in the morning sunning themselves atop their evening shelters, tumbling facefirst into the dirt to beg me for an offering. They seem to simply exist in a state of constant excitement whenever the temperature is acceptable.

Lastly, my black Middle Eastern Greek Graecus, is one of the most unique tortoises I've ever known. I've described him on this forum before, but to put it summarily, he is highly aggressive and territorial, but incredibly social and energetic. He patrols his territory with a boundless energy that puts the Hermann's to shame. He's heavy as a brick, and he won't hesitate to use that brickishness to his advantage when it comes to ramming any object that even remotely resembles a tortoise. He grazes constantly, to the point that I keep two separate enclosures, one a large, barren moonscape where he sleeps and wanders most of the day, the other a smaller grazing garden to which he has access for a half hour each day. I've had him for over twenty years, so I know him well, and were I to grant him boundless access to this grazing garden, he would decimate it in a matter of weeks. I grew up alongside Graecus. He's the one constant in my life aside from my human family, unchanging, unwavering, with the stubborn nature to match such a description. I believe that were I to suffer the grave misfortune of having to choose one tortoise to keep, I would probably choose to keep him. Granted, Greeks aren't my favorite species, but Graecus is no ordinary Greek.

T.G.

 

[Abdulla6169]

In 2009, I was at a pet store and I saw this cute tortoise. My long time boyfriend at the time (now my husband) kept telling me...get that tortoise...get it..come on, I'll buy it for you. Which is shocking! But I was stuck in my red foot only & still am...and wanted cherry head tortoises too (could never find them). And I eventually want a yellow foot too!! But that tortoises that was really cool at the pet store was an Egyptian tortoise & to this day my husband gives me crap how he can't believe I didn't get that tortoise! You never see egyptian tortoise ever!!! He does the same thing with me about how I should get leopard tortoises. He always says to me why do you want the same tortoises? Get a variety. He says that he likes their high domed shell & how they are so unique looking. Which yes they are. I just want a whole herd of footed species I guess, they are my thing! Pancake tortoises are pretty interesting!! Tortoises can be addicting!

Let him start his own tortoise addiction ! He seems to like tortoises alot.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My emys phayrei are exactly like you describe, wild and non "social". However the emys emys are just superbly different. So are the impressa. They just stare at you and contemplate things.

Bob is awesome. He is your buddy too [/QUOTE]


You mean, (pause with hand pressing against chest) you mean that Bob is not his own species???? (hear thump as I faint)...

 

[Christina Chornomud]

I've only owned one tortoise a red foot. he's a little brat so far. lol. but he's still a hatchling. But my grandma had a sulcata and he was AWESOME. Very friendly. Soooo both lol.