Where did you get your tortoise from?

[terryo]

I got Pio from Tom (Crutchfield) and Solo from Carl (CDMAY). Most all my boxies were rescues, except two that people gave me.

 

[Yourlocalpoet]

Esmeralda was from a tiny independent reptile shop in my home town of Yorkshire, called Tanks a lot.

 

[Kristina]

Let's see... 6 I adopted from others that had rescued them. One was dropped off at my house. Five I bought from a Kingsnake ad (not going to say who, it was an AWFUL experience. I will give the name by PM, and I have emails and pics as proof.) Two I bought off Faunaclassifieds.com, one from Danny (egyptiandan) and one from Terry Kilgore (redfoot NERD.) (Both great to work with!!!) And the last two I bought from Outback Reptiles, again from a Kingsnake.com ad. (Also great guys to work with!)

 

[ChiKat]

I purchased Nelson from a breeder that I found on Kingsnake. Great couple, I would definitely buy from them again.
Nelson was shipped from Florida to Illinois.

 

[Angi]

Mine were given to me by a lady that lived across the street and was being evicted. Now that I know more about CDTs I wonder why she had them. They were tiny babies and she was not a tort keeper. I wonder if she found them......She was gone a few days later. I have no way to know and it drives me crazy wondering. I guess I should just be happy they found me.

 

[grundalowtortoises]

Okay so Egyptian Dan, Cory, Tom, and Carl, since you all seem to be experts and people keep getting tortoises from you, where do you suggest we get our tortoises from? We want either baby Russians or baby Hermanns.

 

[John]

i got one from a show in pennsylvania,one from lllreptile and one from richard fife,will be adding two more not sure where from yet i want them all too come from different sources

 

[scooter27]

We know that Petco and Petsmart have wild caught tortoises and not to buy tortoises there. We have one really nice pet store kind of near us that says they use a breeder. I don't think they are lying because they have 8 different species of tortoises. And then there is mail order. Where did everyone else get their tortoises? If you got them mail order what website did you use? Thanks!

is that true? i got mine from petsmart....

 

[motero]

Two from local breeders, the other three were given to me for more space and better climate.

 

[BethyB1022]

Ich is from Captain Nemo's aquarium superstore in PA. The guy who sold him to me had 4 sullys himself and said that they came from a local breeder. I would love to check out a reptile expo for my next tort.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

My darling Jennifer came from a local (100 miles away IS local in Texas! ) hobbyist/breeder.

Ptolemy, I bought from a rather clueless individual who shall remain anonymous...he was a pity buy, but a charming little dude.

Looking to buy at least 4 more female E. Hermann's torts in the near future, one of which will likely come from Tyler Stewart, who is considered, by many folks that I respect, to have a sterling reputation as a square dealer.

Not sure where the others will come from, as there are several other breeders of excellent E. Hermann's torts to consider. Prefer they each be of different bloodlines.

 

[lincoln3313]

Scutes, a GPP, came from Jeff Gee in Arizona (Captive Bred Wildlife).

 

[APBT_Fanatic]

First, I adopted Mojave (CDT) from one of my local CTTC Chapters. Sherman (my first Sulcata) was next, from a rescuer/breeder; he was 2 months old when I got him. Then I got The Russian from somebody who though he was a Box Turtle. They gave him to be because he was not as "friendly/social" as their hatchling. I then got Echo and Euclid (about 1-2 months old probably), from somebody who did not know they were CDT, but bred for them. I actually got them from a friend of the person I got The Russian from. Next it was Cricket (Sulcata), from an idiot off Craigslist in FL who was not keeping him properly. SouthFL Katie (here on the boards) got Cricket from the person and shipped him to me (in CA). He was also around 2 months old. Last was Keita (Sulcata) from the OC Shelter.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

We have purchased so many from so many sources over the years. Some are Glades Herp, Strickly Reptiles, Parrot Jungle, Bush Gardens, Life Fellowship, Tom Crutchfield, Wayne Hill, Richard Paul Carey, Several Shows, and several private keepers. I will say some I would never recomend. Based on many years of searching and dealings, I would venture to say that purchasing direct form the breeder is way more better for so many reasons if possible.

 

[Mao Senpai]

I got mine... from kingsnake adds. The greeks I got from TheTortoiseMan's website and sent a personal check (kinda freaky) but he followed through and was good. The two leopards I got were from Geraldo on kingsnake... he let me choose the one I wanted from the pictures which was nice of him.

 

[GBtortoises]

Since my main emphasis in tortoise keeping is captive breeding I purchase mostly adults. Many of the species that I keep and breed aren't commonly for sale through large scale distributors and wholesalers. I make every attempt to purchase tortoises from individuals, especially those that I have known for years and can supply some kind of a history of the animal(s) that I intend to purchase. I have purchased from both individuals and businesses on Kingsnake, Fauna Classifieds and a very few other sites too. Years ago I used to purchase from Glades Herps, Crutchfield, Strickly Reptiles and more.

 

[tameyourself]

We know that Petco and Petsmart have wild caught tortoises and not to buy tortoises there. We have one really nice pet store kind of near us that says they use a breeder. I don't think they are lying because they have 8 different species of tortoises. And then there is mail order. Where did everyone else get their tortoises? If you got them mail order what website did you use? Thanks!

is that true? i got mine from petsmart....

unfortunately yes if you ever see an adult Russian for sale, it was very likely wild caught.)

 

[GBtortoises]

grundalowtortoises---I've seen and heard of stores claiming that they get their tortoises from a breeder. First of all, tortoises have to have an SCL (straight line carapace) measurement of at least 4" in order to be legally be sold by a pet shop. The below legal size "for educational" bit doesn't fly when the animals are being sold out of a retail pet shop. Second, no breeder that I am aware of, myself being one, is going to keep and maintain their tortoise offspring long enough for each one to reach 4" SCL. It simply isn't cost effective or feasible to do. True many breeders, again myself included, keep a few of the offspring here and there to have as future breeders and to sometime sell later on, but no one is going to keep whole clutches year after year just raise them up to legal retail size and then make half as much on them.

I have occasionally seen obvious captive born adult tortoises occasionally for sale in a pet shop but it's a rare occurance. Most captive born and raised adults often go from one breeder to another and are rarely offered for sale in a pet shop.

 

[grundalowtortoises]

The ones thaey have that they said they got from a breeder are babies.

 

[Nofx]

I got both my Russian and my Leopard from the zootik..aka your petsmart.
Even tho i got the Leo from a friend, he is not an animal guy so he just gave it to me. He bought the tortoise in the same store that i got my Russian.