Should I get her?

[keiraliang]

Hello,

I been watching this Female Russian Tortoise in a local Petco.

She is huge! about 8 inch long. very light yellow.

I like her alot.

I got some pictire of her.

Should I get her?!

Everytime I go in that Petco, she's in that dish sleeping..



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[Yvonne G]

Man oh man...you're asking the wrong group if you're expecting to get a common-sense answer!

Of course you should get her!!

 

[Tom]

There are two sides to this coin. On one hand, you don't want to encourage the wild caught pet trade any more than you have to. Especially with a species like the russian where there are lots and lots of captive breeders around.

On the other hand, ALL captive animals originally were wild collected. This is a very nice looking tortoise and it needs a good home.

I say buy it. Check it for worms/parasites. Breed it. Sell off your babies to help meet the demand for the pet trade.

 

[Isa]

I agree with Yvonne, you really should get her and you can call it a rescue The poor little baby deserves a second chance.

 

[GBtortoises]

Gotta' agree with Tom 100% on this one!

 

[keiraliang]

How old do you guys thing she is?

Every time I go there, she is always sleeping.. Not Active?

I am kind of worry about that. She looks healthy to me though

 

[Tom]

Well, she's in a much too small, glass cage, with the wrong substrate and although I can't see it in the pic, I'm sure there is no basking light, so inadequate heat. She's just sitting there in survival mode waiting for better weather and accommodations. The problem is, if you buy her, they will use your money to buy more and put them in the same inappropriate cage. At the very least, the manager ought to get a care sheet, but it probably won't do any good in a corporate run, "cookie cutter" pet chain. They don't have a lot of leeway to change things because "corporate" won't let them. At least they could hand out the care sheets with each tortoise purchase. Even though it might not make a difference, I still try to do the right thing. If nothing else, I sleep with a clear conscience.

 

[Jacqui]

I say, get her!

She looks healthy from what you can see. Have you handled her? Is her weight good (the heavy like a rock weight guess)? Does she respond when picked up (move even if it's further into her shell)? Can you up close see or hear any signs of respiratory issues? (Such as wheezing, nose or eye discharges.) Have them place her some where else in the cage and see if she has moved herself by the next day. Or ask if they could give her a warm water soak while your there and notice if that seems to "wake" her up.

I think if you fail to get her, your going to be beating yourself up about it. Even if she dies, they will no doubt get another to replace her, so in my opinion your not saving a future tortoise. It's kinda a thought along the lines of the bird in the hand, rather then the one that might be in the bush. I would rather see an attempt made to keep this beauty alive. Especially, if you may try to breed her and keep her genes going with future hatchlings.

I can honestly say if she were in my local store and I had the money, she would be coming home with me.

 

[dmmj]

Normally I say avoid petco russians for several reasons, but in my own experience females don't get imported nearly as much as males do for some reason, and if you ever plan on breeding you need to snatch up a female whenever you see it. don't call it a rescue you wanted a tortoise and you bought it, nothing wrong with that.

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BTW has anyone else seen a price increase of petco russians? I have 2 in driving distance and they both raised there prices to 100$ a piece for their russians.

 

[Yvonne G]

If she IS wild caught, she is a long time captive. If you'll notice the wide band of new growth. They don't do that in the wild. That's a captive tortoise thing.

It would be hard to guess her age because if she's really as big as you've said she is, that's a full grown size. But because of the accelerated growth she might not be as old as her size dictates.

 

[terracolson]

Are you sure she is a she?

did you check?

and as far as I know all petco and petsmart torts are at 100!!

 

[nancydrew88]

Well, she's in a much too small, glass cage, with the wrong substrate and although I can't see it in the pic, I'm sure there is no basking light, so inadequate heat. She's just sitting there in survival mode waiting for better weather and accommodations. The problem is, if you buy her, they will use your money to buy more and put them in the same inappropriate cage. At the very least, the manager ought to get a care sheet, but it probably won't do any good in a corporate run, "cookie cutter" pet chain. They don't have a lot of leeway to change things because "corporate" won't let them. At least they could hand out the care sheets with each tortoise purchase. Even though it might not make a difference, I still try to do the right thing. If nothing else, I sleep with a clear conscience.

Cute tortoise !

Petco and Petsmart aren't very open to suggestions. I tried that after I purchased Misty in April. I purchased her before finding this website and other information regarding RT's. I tried to go back in with proper care information and they told me that nothing can be done about it becasue they are goverened by their corporate headquarters. They even hand out caresheets for them. The caresheets have some correct info, but otherwise they are total junk for what foods to feed them and proper habitat conditions to house them in. It is really unfortunate for the tortoises if they get someone who buys them and doesn't bother to check the facts like I did.

I would totally get that tortoise. At very least they have a two week policy giving you enough time to take the tortoise to a vet to be checked out. I think they would reimburse you for care if there was anything wrong with the tortoise according to the vet (ie parasites or worms or something).



Randee )

 

[Kayti]

Oh no, I feel so bad for her

But if you buy her, Petco will only create more supply in response to your demand.
But if you don't buy her, she will continue to live in these bad conditions, or be bought by someone who will only make it worse.

I think it truly is a trade-off; you can save this tortoise, but it will be at the expense of others. That might be worth it though, and I'm sure it's different from case to case.

All of Petco's Russians seem to come from the same source, as with all the reptiles they carry. And they were all obviously wild caught at some point in their lives.

 

[keiraliang]

Are you sure she is a she?

did you check?

and as far as I know all petco and petsmart torts are at 100!!

Oh yeah! Her tail is like short and small. haha~

---

I got HER!

Today I went to Petco again...
And she is not in that dish , she is very active and eating very well!
When she come to my house, she walk arounda little (in the enclosure) and went into the log to hide.
I thought she would just hide under the log but she didn't!
she dig a hole and went under the ground.. and sleep in there now. (I can't see her..)
The enclosure subtrate is top soil(1feet deep)and cypress mulch.
I hope she feel better now.
I like her a lot! She is active, eating well and strong!

Thanks for reply!

 

[Kristina]

If she IS wild caught, she is a long time captive. If you'll notice the wide band of new growth. They don't do that in the wild. That's a captive tortoise thing.

It would be hard to guess her age because if she's really as big as you've said she is, that's a full grown size. But because of the accelerated growth she might not be as old as her size dictates.

I was going to say the same thing. The light band of color either shows that she is captive bred or long term captive. I have also notice that CB and LTC Russians that are kept outside have a darker color, while the strictly indoor ones seem to be much lighter, almost white/off white.

It looks to me like she had a growth spurt, so someone must have been feeding her well at some point.

If it was me, I would get her. To be honest, if I find an animal that I want, or connect with, I buy it whether it is healthy or sick. If it is sick, I treat it and/or take it to the vet. If it passes, at least I gave it my best. I know it is "cleaning up other people's messes" but I can't help it. I would feel worse to sit by and watch an animal die. They are going to get more if it dies anyway. In a way it feels more justifiable to buy an animal to make it healthy than just to buy it to have it. I don't know, maybe I am odd, lol.

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Congrats on getting her!!!

 

[sammi]

I got my Ernie (Russian male) from Petco...well, my boyfriend did for my birthday/anniversary gift. We didn't know any better, (it was before we joined TFO), but now I think of it as a rescue. It took a pretty great deal of work, time, energy, and money, but Ernie is thriving, and we love him despite where he came from. It was worth everything we did. I will however say now it is hard if we ever drive by Petco, not to run in there and but every single Russian they have

 

[ChiKat]

Aww congrats on your new addition! Definitely post pictures