Got my little tortoise at last

[Tidgy's Dad]

And a jolly warm welcome to TFF from Morocco.

 

[tortluvr]

Hello every one , so happy researched my whole life studyied all UK wild flowers and read loads about tortoises, only ever managed to love them for afar and never felt settled enough to own one .my wonderful husband knew this and came home with a little tiny egg one day and told me he had got it from a good sourced breeder (I decided I did not want one from a pet shop , not happy with the way they were keep ) we hatch little tarquin or tarquinnie out and boy I love that little thing so much and happy to say it is thriving, dredding the day he has to go off and registered and micro chipped , my little dab , oh it is a spur thighed and I think he is a boy , reading things and he is acting like a male and is 5 months old now

Welcome! This is a safe and respecting place to talk the tort talk.

 

[Lyn W]

Do you have to get him microchipped? I was under the impression that it was only if he was going to be sold at some point in the future. Our boy has an indoor conservatory, and when he is outside, we are always with him, so I think he is pretty safe, and I have never felt he needed being microchipped, but he is 21 now, and I suppose the rules may be different now.
Angie

I don't think it's compulsory, some do just in case their tort goes walkabout.
I believe it has to be put under the skin of one of the back legs. I'm not sure how comfortable that is for them when they pull their legs in tightly.

 

[Well love my tortoise]

I don't think it's compulsory, some do just in case their tort goes walkabout.
I believe it has to be put under the skin of one of the back legs. I'm not sure how comfortable that is for them when they pull their legs in tightly.

 

[Well love my tortoise]

As long as you do not paint a letter on his back with tipex or nail varnish or enamel paint , like our parents back in the 60s and 70s, anything to identify the poor things . I'm definitely going with the microchip , I want all the paper work on him x

 

[Lyn W]

As long as you do not paint a letter on his back with tipex or nail varnish or enamel paint , like our parents back in the 60s and 70s, anything to identify the poor things . I'm definitely going with the microchip , I want all the paper work on him x

My tort was found in a field by a colleague and she had him for 3 weeks trying to find the owner. She couldn't keep him any longer so I brought him home and carried on the search, a microchip would have helped a lot.
Sadly no one claimed him but a vet I spoke to said that tortoises and turtles are often dumped when the owners are bored or can't afford to keep them - and leopards are quite high maintenance
Anyway in spite of tortoises not ever being on my list of desired pets, he now rules the roost in my house.

 

[Well love my tortoise]

My tort was found in a field by a colleague and she had him for 3 weeks trying to find the owner. She couldn't keep him any longer so I brought him home and carried on the search, a microchip would have helped a lot.
Sadly no one claimed him but a vet I spoke to said that tortoises and turtles are often dumped when the owners are bored or can't afford to keep them - and leopards are quite high maintenance
Anyway in spite of tortoises not ever being on my list of desired pets, he now rules the roost in my house.

I know people are so horrible, so pleased you kept him , we used to find them roaming around when we were kids x

 

[Lyn W]

I know people are so horrible, so pleased you kept him , we used to find them roaming around when we were kids x

We had one for a while that was found wandering in the gutter on the high street, I was quite young so don't remember much about him except that he was called Noddy - he was probably a Russian. Sadly he disappeared again one day.
I don't think he would have had anywhere near the level of care torts have now - so little was known about them then.

 

[Well love my tortoise]

We had one for a while that was found wandering in the gutter on the high street, I was quite young so don't remember much about him except that he was called Noddy - he was probably a Russian. Sadly he disappeared again one day.
I don't think he would have had anywhere near the level of care torts have now - so little was known about them then.

I agree ,our parents knew nothing about reptile light ,Mercury lamps ,ceramic heaters, or even how to hibernated them, God knows how any have managed to survive. I asked my old mum what species of tortoise she had the other day, she does not even know that .they were horrible to tortoises in the 50,60,70s, hopefully we can all put things right in the 21st century,.x

 

[zolasmum]

We take our little Zola out with us a lot, and meet lots of people who have stories about their parents' or grandparents' tortoise - it is horrifying to hear what they were fed, how they lived, etc, but they were usually much loved, and - amazingly - some of the tortoises survived to a great age, despite everything - which proves what wonderful creatures they are !!
Angie