I am writing this post because I'm tired of reading about everybodies "X" month old sulcata that has a soft shell and isn't eating. There is something wrong with being able to buy a baby animal that is at its most vulnerable when keepers are just starting to learn. Breeders should raise the price of these animals to prevent them from getting into the hands of people who dont have a clue about how to care for a reptile. It makes me sick that on some sites it even states the tortoises below a certain size dont have a guarantee for length of time they may or may not live, or that they are sold for scientific purposes... I can think of nothing scientific about dying from dehydration, poor diet, lack of proper lighting or proper care.
If you own a tortoise and intend to raise it from a baby then please for the sake of the animal get the correct setup, do your homework, and remember by the time you can tell a tortoise is sick... its probably too late.
We've all read the posts in sulcata central... User has NEWB status and there first post is... My tortoise is sick. For those people, your first post should have been 5 months earlier when you were researching how best to care for the animal, not as its knocking on deaths door.
It makes me sick to picture a tortoise the same size as mine, dying in a fake environment, under a humming flourescent light, gasping for breath with bubbles coming from its nose, as it waits for its internal organs to shut down. Please close your eyes and try to picture that, then look at your tortoise and think, what if it had gone to a home where the owner had no idea how to care for it?
Dont let your tortoise be the poster child for your idiocy. These animals are the most difficult to care for when they are young. The younger they are the harder they are to raise and the more care they require.
If you own a tortoise and intend to raise it from a baby then please for the sake of the animal get the correct setup, do your homework, and remember by the time you can tell a tortoise is sick... its probably too late.
We've all read the posts in sulcata central... User has NEWB status and there first post is... My tortoise is sick. For those people, your first post should have been 5 months earlier when you were researching how best to care for the animal, not as its knocking on deaths door.
It makes me sick to picture a tortoise the same size as mine, dying in a fake environment, under a humming flourescent light, gasping for breath with bubbles coming from its nose, as it waits for its internal organs to shut down. Please close your eyes and try to picture that, then look at your tortoise and think, what if it had gone to a home where the owner had no idea how to care for it?
Dont let your tortoise be the poster child for your idiocy. These animals are the most difficult to care for when they are young. The younger they are the harder they are to raise and the more care they require.