Megrmccabe
New Member
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.