Questions about Adopting

[mothfish]

I am an aspiring tortoise owner currently researching as much as I can before I take the plunge. The idea of adopting from a rescue or taking in an adult pet in need of rehoming has always appealed to me, but are there any concerns I should be aware of in doing this vs buying a young animal from a reputable breeder?
I'm looking to compile a list of questions to ask any prospective owner or rescue before I adopt a tortoise; things like what is it's current diet, has it had any health problems, age, and its comfort level around humans spring to mind. Are there any other issues you would want to bring up while looking for a pet tort? Also, should I expect any tortoise from a rescue to have had a vet exam or is that something reserved for animals with clear problems?
Sorry for the long post, I just want to be thorough.

 

[SinLA]

Hi there, welcome to the forum and being smarter than most to do research before you get one. I’m one of the dumb ones, when I took in a rescue not even knowing what species I was getting!

I’ll let others talk here about getting one from a breeder. There’s good information on that and people will be able to give you recommendations of good ones if you go that route. Here are some of my observations which are still fairly novice when it comes to torts but is built on 30 years of doing rescue with dogs and cats. And comes from the perspective that I probably would not ever buy one so I’m biased in that regard but that’s just personal preference not that that’s the way it needs to be for everyone.

The main things with rescue that I have seen is that especially given the numbers game of how long torts live and at least in some cases how prolific breeders they are or are so readily available at pet stores - The number of people trying to get rid of them is massive, but also the number of people who have kept them pretty poorly is also massive. That also sad they can live a very long time in bad conditions and still make good rescues

The other thing to be wary of if you go to the craigslist route, which is probably one of the more common ways to get a rescue unless you live near a bona fide rescue organization, which will also have zillions available to a good adopter, is 90% of people who have have ever gotten a tortoise and decide they don’t want any longer will list it on craigslist for a “rehoming” fee of a ridiculous amount of money. In LA most Tortoises are at least $500 even if literally near death. occasionally you find people genuinely trying to find a new home and this forum also has an adoptions board I would look at.

Ideally ask the former owner if it was soaked, the variety of food it got, what its enclosure was like, and what kind of lighting it had. You’ll be able to tell from that if the owner was knowledgeable, and if the tortoise was well-kept, mostly the answers will be bad, but that doesn’t mean the tortoise won’t make a perfectly good pet and be healthy enough for you to give it a better life. Example - I am currently trying to convince my neighbor to give her a California desert tortoise to a rescue group, and I am failing miserably in part because the Tortoise she has had for 12 years who has lived in her smoke-filled living room in a 3‘ x 4‘ box with no light and a substrate of towels, eating mixed greens, who goes outside for a few hours a day when the weather allows and is never soaked, actually superficially “seems” quite happy. He moves well, he eats decently, and he has sort of a “happy” look on his face. She is *convinced* that he is a happy Tortoise, and is better off with her as than being placed with a rescue group or an another home, who can give him appropriate care. This Tortoise has been living for 12 years in pretty bad condition but his health has held out and I think he would make somebody a wonderful pet even though everything would point otherwise as to how he is even still alive.

For me, I would probably most importantly look at the shell and see how bad the pyramiding is, but if it’s an adult the damage may have been done young and it’s recovered. I’ve seen some on craigslist that are clearly at the very end stages of their life and rescuing would be probably heartbreak, but if you could turn them around, you really did a great thing! the other thing I would see is, are they eating, are their eyes open, and do they seem to walk around uninhibited. Any of those things would be the biggest concerns for me.

One potential con I will say about rescue with tortoises is that some people have tortoises on this forum who seem very well socialized and enjoy the company of their people - mine does not. He tolerates me at best, but I still very much enjoy caring for him and watching him live his life and knowing that I was able to give him a home when so many come to a bad end makes it worthwhile.