Southern Reptiles

Megrmccabe

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Boise, ID
Ryan and Southern Reptiles was recommended through a tortoise Facebook group. He messaged me right after he was tagged in a post recommending him. I submitted a request on his website and he called me within an hour. We talked for at least 30 minutes and he answered any and all questions I had. We had purchased a tortoise locally that was so sick that we ended up having to return it and it ended up having to be euthanized. We told Ryan of this incident and told him that this tortoise was a gift for our son and that we didn’t want to put him through another loss. He assured us that we would not have that experience with him. A week later we purchased a 4 month old leopard tortoise from him and had it overnighted. After it arrived we noticed that it had sunken scutes, “dry spots” along its scutes, bubbles from its nose, and a small appetite. We had and still have to hand feed it in order to get it to eat. We immediately let Ryan know our concerns and he assured us that these were all normal and advised us against going to the vet. In the beginning, Ryan quickly responded and made a few suggestions on food items and changes we could make to the enclosure, which we immediately changed. Our 4 month old arrived at 40 grams and it consistently has weighed 35-40 grams. Now, a month and a half later, at almost 6 months old, is at 35 grams. We have confirmed with other reputable breeders, rescues, and our veterinarian that these issues are not because of the care it is receiving on our end. Ryan has quit responding to our messages despite us offering to ship this hatchling back.
 

Megrmccabe

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Boise, ID
We follow Pitres guide as close as possible with the exception of top soil and coco coir as substrate over his preferred paper towel method. We use a closed chamber. T5 10.0 bulb 4 hours per day. Heat lamp is around 90 directly underneath. Entire enclosure is 80-85 degrees thermostat controlled.
Humidity is always at least 80 but closer to 83-85.

Food is romaine, wheat grass, endives, dandelion, Mazuri, occasional squash. We also have a tortoise grass seed mix growing on one part of the enclosure for grazing although poor guy has never grazed and only eats when handfed.

We soak once per day 20-30 minutes in warm water.
 

Megrmccabe

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Boise, ID
98F05B7B-82AA-464D-96A1-EA8206BD424E.jpeg
230395A5-EC4D-4C05-AF48-2893758005CF.jpeg


I had these pics on hand. The heat light is not pictured as it’s hanging on the right side above the enclosure
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,388
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Atth: Vendor reviews is limited to posts made by members who have experience with the vendor being reviewed. This keeps the thread clean and easy to see others' experiences with the vendor. All other posts are removed.
 

Megrmccabe

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2023
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Boise, ID
Ryan is known to me personally and I can and do vouch for him.
He's honest and professional and I'll bet this turns out well.
I've sent him this post on FB MESSENGER
I have texted him, messaged him on southern reptiles fb page, AND his personal fb page. This isn’t how you run a business , period. Even if he were to respond and say “hey, there’s nothing I’m willing to do for you” I would appreciate that over completely ghosting me.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Update: Ryan has contacted me and is making it right.
I've also spoken with him.
He had some medical issue I was unaware of.
I'm happy that your issue is resolved. But I had no doubt that you'd be taken care of.
He's a great guy.
 

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