Hello everyone, I have kept reptiles all of my life and have been interested in tortoises for awhile now. I recently purchased one from petsmart and have been having some second thoughts regarding it. I now realize that petsmart sells wild caught animals and it is not a place I should be supporting. With that being said, should I keep the animal? They have a return policy and part of me thinks that I should return it in order to not support them. However, I am quite torn. Sorry if this is an odd post, it has just been on my mind and I could use any advice. Thanks in advance.
Seeking Advice
- Thread starter Luke.L
- Start date
RandyTortoise
Well-Known Member
You live and learn. If you care enough to ask here on this site, it means you care and will responsibly take care of this tortoise (no matter where it came from). You can return it and then some idiot will buy it for his kids, abuse it, not take care of it properly and it could have a horribly short life. As for me, keep it. Do the right thing by the animal. You have it now so put the animal first. Just my opinion.
MrEZA
New Member
I got one of my redfoot tortoises from Petco. It was getting too big for their enclosure so they put it on sale 50% off. It behaves no different than the one I got from a breeder.
My opinion ~
It is admirable that you don't want to support dishonest Corproate pet hustlers, but you are actually saving this one animal from suffering. Keep it, just avoid PetsMart and its ilk in the future.
It is admirable that you don't want to support dishonest Corproate pet hustlers, but you are actually saving this one animal from suffering. Keep it, just avoid PetsMart and its ilk in the future.
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
I would keep it personally because they are usually kept badly in store + you don't know who they will sell it to. Also, I don't know their euthanasation policy. Just don't buy any supplies etc from them in the future.
What species did you get?
What species did you get?
Thanks for the replies everyone. It actually is a hermanns tortoise. I have only ever seen them carry Russians. Despite it being wild caught, it seems to be in pretty great shape. I’m just working on getting an appropriate size enclosure for him.
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It actually appears that you managed to get a pretty nice tortoise considering the source!
I hope that you have definitely decided to keep it and wish you the best of luck with it.
Keep it and enjoy it. Don't feel guilty about it. Give this tortoise a great life.
This thread is for people new to the forum, not necessarily new to tortoises:
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
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
tortoiseforum.org
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
It’s very good of you to consider the bigger picture here, but I agree with the others, you have this tortoise now(a gorgeous one at that) and naturally you’re already probably forming a bond, so I say enjoy your new shelled companion!
Hopefully as well as toms links, you might like these and find them useful.
This one covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, I’d double check bulb types, if you were sold the set up by them you may have been given the wrong bulbs), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but the bigger always the better with tortoises) appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!
tortoiseforum.org
This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, go as big as possible
tortoiseforum.org
This one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying
tortoiseforum.org
Really hope you like them! Please feel free to ask any further questions, we’re more than happy to break things down/offer further tips&pointers if needed, welcome to the forum!
Hopefully as well as toms links, you might like these and find them useful.
This one covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, I’d double check bulb types, if you were sold the set up by them you may have been given the wrong bulbs), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but the bigger always the better with tortoises) appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!
Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors
Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...
tortoiseforum.org
This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, go as big as possible
Enclosure inspiration
Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...
tortoiseforum.org
This one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying
Common keeping errors
Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...
tortoiseforum.org
Really hope you like them! Please feel free to ask any further questions, we’re more than happy to break things down/offer further tips&pointers if needed, welcome to the forum!
