New to the TortoiseForum!

[Tuwamare]

Hi, just wanted to introduce myself. I do not currently have a tortoise, but am learning all about them in the event that one appears in my life when I'm ready. I live in western Oregon, so we have cold wet winters and hot summers. I have a large family (mostly adults now, but we all share a house for the most part). In the family so far we have a dog (getting trained to the utmost), 4 rabbits, a passel of chickens, 3 geese (you wouldn't believe how much fun they are!), a flock of parakeets in the house, and a horse we board elsewhere, as we live in town. We are not strangers to the commitment needed for an animal in our care.
The first turtle I remember having was when I was a tiny thing back in the '60s. We had a tiny aquatic turtle living in our fish tank. I loved that turtle so much. I recently got back on the shelled reptile obsession, so I am learning as much as I can. Lots of things have changed since the '60s! I'm thinking if we do take the plunge, a tortoise would be better suited to us than a turtle, just due to our living situation. I even have an adult child willing to take over if anything ever happened to me. I'm thinking of a Russian tortoise as the probable choice, and definitely not a baby.
In the meantime, I'm drawing tortoises and providing a drawing per year to the closest tortoise rescue to help them raise money for their vet bills. It's a way to be involved without jumping in unprepared.
I look forward to getting to know people here, and learning lots.

 

[Cherryshell]

Welcome! You've come to the best place to learn!

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
There's lots to learn but you are in the best place to find all the up to date information you'll need
If you look through the species section you'll find caresheets for the species you're interested in, and the link below is great for finding out all the do's and don'ts to help you avoid common mistakes

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Hopefully you'll be able to have everything set up before your tort arrives and if you check here before buying equipment we can help save you money which many of us have wasted in pet stores who tend to put profit before tort safety and health.

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome!

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. You are starting out the right way. Just be sure to research on this forum, a lot of the info out there is old and outdated.

 

[jsheffield]

Welcome to TFO!

Jamie

 

[Ink]

Welcome to the forum. Hermann tortoises is a good choice too.

 

[SinLA]

Welcome. Glad you're going for a rescue!

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum. A Russian is a good choice for a first tortoise.

 

[Tuwamare]

Welcome to the forum. Hermann tortoises is a good choice too.

Hermanns are harder to find here in OR. Our usual choices are Russians, Red-Footeds, and Sulcatas. I've only seen Russian and Red-footed in the local pet stores, and even they say Oregon is really difficult to work with when it comes to turtles, because they're trying to save our two native species. Tortoises may be a bit different. I will probably adopt from the rescue here in the PNW when it's time, and it will depend on what she has available.

 

[SinLA]

Hermanns are harder to find here in OR. Our usual choices are Russians, Red-Footeds, and Sulcatas. I've only seen Russian and Red-footed in the local pet stores, and even they say Oregon is really difficult to work with when it comes to turtles, because they're trying to save our two native species. Tortoises may be a bit different. I will probably adopt from the rescue here in the PNW when it's time, and it will depend on what she has available.

If you feel like traveling, there’s no shortage of them for rescue here in CA

 

[Tuwamare]

Hi and welcome,
There's lots to learn but you are in the best place to find all the up to date information you'll need
If you look through the species section you'll find caresheets for the species you're interested in, and the link below is great for finding out all the do's and don'ts to help you avoid common mistakes

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Hopefully you'll be able to have everything set up before your tort arrives and if you check here before buying equipment we can help save you money which many of us have wasted in pet stores who tend to put profit before tort safety and health.

Thank you! I just finished reading the info guide you linked, and have bookmarked it for frequent access.

 

[Tuwamare]

Thank you all for the welcomes and great info! I'm glad I found this place.

 

[Tuwamare]

If you feel like traveling, there’s no shortage of them for rescue here in CA

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome, one of the important things is enclosure size. For example a Russian should have no smaller than a 4' x 8' enclosure.

 

[Karen(pebbles)]

Welcome to the forum