Southern Reptiles

[ATHiker17]

While enduring a bad experience with hatchling failure syndrome in an Eastern Hermann's from another breeder, we were very nervous about getting a new tortoise. Our anxiety turned out to be completely unwarranted. Ryan at Southern Reptiles spent nearly 30 minutes on the phone with me and after I told him about some of the issues with our Hermann's, he perfectly described the symptoms and explained the ins and outs of failure syndrome. We discussed a well started Russian and after I committed to the purchase he made the process very easy. While we waited for the new arrival, the Hermann's passed away overnight. He was only 9.6 grams when we received him and just over 10 grams at close to 8 weeks of age, but Ryan had discussed our current husbandry with me and he was confident we weren't doing anything wrong. Additionally, we had visited with a local exotic vet who said he was unable to find anything obviously wrong and stated that sometimes they just don't get through those critical early few months. Multiple emails to that breeder had gone unanswered, but since he died 4 days outside of the guarantee window provided I've just written it off as a bad experience.

Yesterday I picked up our exceptionally well packaged new tortoise from the FedEx hub and we were shocked at what an active little tank he was. At 43 grams he was definitely well started and after a 30 minute warm soak he almost ran to the food bowl. He (or she?) devoured Sow thistle, Dandelion greens and flowers, Opuntia, Escarole, Radicchio, and Turnip greens. Definitely NOT a finicky eater. We got to experience how a healthy tortoise behaves and it brought us a great deal of joy. Throughout the process Ryan has been communicative, helpful, and he fulfilled his promise to provide a healthy animal. We couldn't be happier and I recommend Ryan and Southern Reptiles without reservation.

 

[zovick]

While enduring a bad experience with hatchling failure syndrome in an Eastern Hermann's from another breeder, we were very nervous about getting a new tortoise. Our anxiety turned out to be completely unwarranted. Ryan at Southern Reptiles spent nearly 30 minutes on the phone with me and after I told him about some of the issues with our Hermann's, he perfectly described the symptoms and explained the ins and outs of failure syndrome. We discussed a well started Russian and after I committed to the purchase he made the process very easy. While we waited for the new arrival, the Hermann's passed away overnight. He was only 9.6 grams when we received him and just over 10 grams at close to 8 weeks of age, but Ryan had discussed our current husbandry with me and he was confident we weren't doing anything wrong. Additionally, we had visited with a local exotic vet who said he was unable to find anything obviously wrong and stated that sometimes they just don't get through those critical early few months. Multiple emails to that breeder had gone unanswered, but since he died 4 days outside of the guarantee window provided I've just written it off as a bad experience.

Yesterday I picked up our exceptionally well packaged new tortoise from the FedEx hub and we were shocked at what an active little tank he was. At 43 grams he was definitely well started and after a 30 minute warm soak he almost ran to the food bowl. He (or she?) devoured Sow thistle, Dandelion greens and flowers, Opuntia, Escarole, Radicchio, and Turnip greens. Definitely NOT a finicky eater. We got to experience how a healthy tortoise behaves and it brought us a great deal of joy. Throughout the process Ryan has been communicative, helpful, and he fulfilled his promise to provide a healthy animal. We couldn't be happier and I recommend Ryan and Southern Reptiles without reservation.

Best of luck with your new (and healthy) tortoise.