Newbie check in

[adamninja]

Hello everyone. Newbie here. Long time ago I took care of a few fish within a good large aquarium. Then after getting to university and what so ever (not taking care anymore), then I left the aquarium with tons of dust.

Then I feel that maybe I could use that old aquarium and turn into tortoise habitat. So I joined this forum to learn about tortoise (monthly cost to maintain or anything) and before making any good decision whether to take care of tortoise as a pet, or just want to let go that aquarium.

Sorry if my English is not good.

 

[Ben02]

Having a tortoise is a big commitment. If you have a very busy lifestyle it may be difficult. But there are some people on this forum who manage those things. To start of you need to read all you can about their husbandry and diet and what kind of tortoise you would like.

 

[adamninja]

Thank you Ben for your advice. My day job kind of normal hours, 8 to 5. Maybe the most time that I could spend during weekend and also weekdays only at the night

 

[Yvonne G]

You don't speak English in Melborne?

Go ahead and sell your aquarium. It's probably not big enough to house a tortoise.

With the lights and heat, your monthly electric bill will be higher. You'll be buying more food than you need for one tortoise, so if you don't eat greens the extra food will go to waste. The cost of a UVB light is high. If you don't build your enclosure, you can probably get by with a very large plastic tub - they don't cost too much, but it needs to be BIG.

Besides all that, it is illegal to have a tortoise other than native species, in Australia, and there are no native species of TORTOISE in Australia:

This is a cut/paste from Queensland Government site:

Prohibited reptiles and birds - All reptile and amphibiban species introduced to Queensland are prohibited pets. Reptiles include snakes, lizards and turtles, including: • American corn snakes • red-eared slider turtles • boa constrictors • all tortoises. Certain exotic birds are also prohibited