I Can't Imagine Life Without a Tortoise - Best Sources List?

omhoge

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Hello everyone,

I've been meaning to ask this for at least a year ( and please forgive me - I don't want to appear premature - but really have been meaning to ask).

I'm sure it's on this forum somewhere and I may just not be searching right (I've looked in the Market Place and perhaps that's the spot but it can't sort by "best reviewed"), on this forum is there a list of good (or "vetted" or "they were great for me") sources to purchase or adopt a tortoise?


We adopted from the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society a long time ago, and though we're big fans, it would be nice to know sources that members here had good experiences with.
 
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Yvonne G

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Have you checked out our vendor review section?
 

omhoge

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Hi Yvonne G thank you for the quick reply. Yes, I am looking at it, but it is hard to tell which vendor is the "highest rated". It's handy if I already know a vendor name that I want to see if someone posted feed back on, but I haven't figure out how to find the vendors that are ranked highest by the members (e.g who "has the most stars").
 

Yvonne G

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Ah, I see. No, I doubt we'll ever have a rating system. Most of the time folks self-nominate, so, in my opinion, it wouldn't actually tell the true story.

What species are you looking for?
 

omhoge

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Thanks so much, Vladimir and Yvonne. Yvonne, that makes sense for user suggestions.

It's still really early (the whole process is going in turtle-time), and we're just barely starting to think about it and haven't settled on a species. Hingebacks fascinate me most of all (and we do have experience with one), but red foot and yellow foot have come up too when we've thought about it out loud. The Spekes Hingebacks are very cool, I like them a lot, but they also look so much like The Turtle did, it's odd to think of getting a Spekes and calling it "Turtle #2". But that feeling may change over time too.

A species that we wouldn't "have to hibernate" for sure. (that may not be a real term, I just saw it on a vendor site)

If you buy a tortoise from one of those vendors online, do they actually put the animal in a box and mail it to you?
(The Turtle was handed to us directly and carried home so we've never had to deal with a store, in person or online, before.)
 

Yvonne G

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Yes, turtles and tortoises are shipped successfully every day. They are put into some sort of small container, usually with a moistened paper towel, then that container is nestled into a box full of packing peanuts, and holes are punched in the box. They are shipped overnight, if the weather is ok.
 

Tom

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Thanks so much, Vladimir and Yvonne. Yvonne, that makes sense for user suggestions.

It's still really early (the whole process is going in turtle-time), and we're just barely starting to think about it and haven't settled on a species. Hingebacks fascinate me most of all (and we do have experience with one), but red foot and yellow foot have come up too when we've thought about it out loud. The Spekes Hingebacks are very cool, I like them a lot, but they also look so much like The Turtle did, it's odd to think of getting a Spekes and calling it "Turtle #2". But that feeling may change over time too.

A species that we wouldn't "have to hibernate" for sure. (that may not be a real term, I just saw it on a vendor site)

If you buy a tortoise from one of those vendors online, do they actually put the animal in a box and mail it to you?
(The Turtle was handed to us directly and carried home so we've never had to deal with a store, in person or online, before.)

I would read conversations and treads in the sections of the species you are interested in. See who is active there and see who has the species you are looking for. Then, send them a "conversation" (Private message) and ask them who you should buy from. There are some people selling tortoises that I would never buy from. People that are "in to" a given species will know best where to find them.
 

omhoge

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Tom, thank you very much, I hadn't thought of using the forum that way, great idea.

Yvonne that is very reassuring to hear, can you purchase torts during the winter?

Still just putting out very initial feelers, but when I've looked it often seemed like a vendor often has only one animal of a particular type,
so there could be a short window of time to acquire it. At some point soon I'll check in with the NYTTS too, but that feels like a long shot
and I certainly don't expect that we'd be so lucky again.

much appreciated!
 

Toddrickfl1

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If you decide on a Redfoot I can point you in the direction of some good breeders.
 

Yvonne G

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Tom, thank you very much, I hadn't thought of using the forum that way, great idea.

Yvonne that is very reassuring to hear, can you purchase torts during the winter?

Still just putting out very initial feelers, but when I've looked it often seemed like a vendor often has only one animal of a particular type,
so there could be a short window of time to acquire it. At some point soon I'll check in with the NYTTS too, but that feels like a long shot
and I certainly don't expect that we'd be so lucky again.

much appreciated!
No, I wouldn't ship a tortoise until good weather - not too hot. . . not too cold.
 

omhoge

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Hi All, am just poking my head out to check in on my favorite forum.
It's been seven months and I can attest that life without The Turtle is pretty sad.

We finally feel ready to bring another tortoise into our home, but so far, have not been able to find him yet.
The sources we've contacted have have not responded at all. (NYTTS, and Arizona Tortoise Compound)

Any suggestions are welcomed.
 

Chubbs the tegu

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Hi All, am just poking my head out to check in on my favorite forum.
It's been seven months and I can attest that life without The Turtle is pretty sad.

We finally feel ready to bring another tortoise into our home, but so far, have not been able to find him yet.
The sources we've contacted have have not responded at all. (NYTTS, and Arizona Tortoise Compound)

Any suggestions are welcomed.
Do u have an idea of what species and age ur looking for?
 

omhoge

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We love hingebacks, but are also very open to other species, and definitely want a male animal.

If you have suggestions for other species to consider, and that might be more available than a hingeback,
here are some qualities of The Turtle that we would hope for in another tortoise:
- His full adult size was perfect for our home: about 2 lbs, and roughly 7.5" long, 5" wide, and 3.25" tall.
- He was very personable, often sitting near our feet if he didn't feel like hiding, or following us around.
- He would let us handle him without pulling in, and put up with most grooming and medications.

We adopted him as an adult from the NYTTS in 1987 and he lived with us for 32 years.
Our best guess is that he was around 10-15 years old when we got him, unfortunately they don't keep any records.

I'd really appreciate any ideas and suggestions.

much appreciated!
 

vladimir

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We love hingebacks, but are also very open to other species, and definitely want a male animal.

If you have suggestions for other species to consider, and that might be more available than a hingeback,
here are some qualities of The Turtle that we would hope for in another tortoise:
- His full adult size was perfect for our home: about 2 lbs, and roughly 7.5" long, 5" wide, and 3.25" tall.
- He was very personable, often sitting near our feet if he didn't feel like hiding, or following us around.
- He would let us handle him without pulling in, and put up with most grooming and medications.

@Markw84 @Yvonne G do you guys have any suggestions for a good species for @omhoge ? :<3: thanks!
 

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