Where to buy a Greek tortoise

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mommytoeandj

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Hello! After much research, our family has decided to buy a Greek tortoise. Our local independent pet store has 1 captive-bred Greek youngster for about $260 who appears pretty healthy. S/He is about 2 inches across right now. We are planning on buying a tortoise habitat set-up from The Turtle Source online. Should we be considering purchasing a baby Greek online instead of from the pet store? I googled and didn't find any local breeders (we're in Wisconsin). Are there more-reputable online dealers we should be looking at, or should we go with the healthy-appearing little guy at the local pet store? Any help would be appreciated. We don't want to make any big mistakes.
Thanks
 

Jacob

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Thats way to much money! Every store sells them, try petsmart or petco tey sell them for 100!
 

coreyc

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Welcome to the forum :) Have you looked in the for sale on the forum?
 

rachael

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Petco and Pet smart DO NOT sell greek torts as for pricing below is a good link of sellers/breeders. Im not linking because I think you should buy from here specifically but more so you can figure out an average price.

EDIT: please google kingsnake classifieds and search for greeks there.. the spam bot wont let me link you directly

Also, if you go to the shop and take photos.. sounds tedious but Im sure someone on the forum could give their opinion on the visual health of the tort.
GOOD LUCK :)
 

Jacob

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Iv seen them over where i live!
Along with russian
 

mommytoeandj

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rachael said:
Petco and Pet smart DO NOT sell greek torts as for pricing below is a good link of sellers/breeders. Im not linking because I think you should buy from here specifically but more so you can figure out an average price.

EDIT: please google kingsnake classifieds and search for greeks there.. the spam bot wont let me link you directly

Also, if you go to the shop and take photos.. sounds tedious but Im sure someone on the forum could give their opinion on the visual health of the tort.
GOOD LUCK :)

Thanks for the info. I had checked with PetCo and PetSmart, and all they have in my area are Russians.
 

Jacob

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Nope, i live a couple cities away, and yea i seen once they had both!
But usallly all i see are russian or box turtles there!
I think there more common at reptile stores or breeders
 

rachael

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Ive honestly never heard of them selling anything other than the Russians or Redfoots. I went ahead and googled it as well and came up with nothing except this Does petco sell greek tortoises
I would check out the for sale section here and also on king snake (for reference). I dont keep greeks and I know theyre more than Russians ($100-$125) but Im not sure how much more. $260 off the bat didnt seem astronomical though when I read it. Sometimes because the tort is local to you it's better to pay a little more because you can see what type of environment he's being kept in and you know how he's been treated/fed. Plus shipping a tort is around 40-60 bucks, so if you order one online youll need to count for that too.
 

dmarcus

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I would check the for sale section here and just do some research and checkout how much one would cost with shipping. There are some very good breeders out there. Then figure out whats best for you.
 

Mao Senpai

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No petco's or petsmarts here sell anything but redfoots here... sometimes russians and that's a maybe.
 

GBtortoises

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There are plenty of reputable sources to buy Greek (and other) tortoises from online. The first place I would look to find quality animals is a breeder. There are some very reputable, experienced breeders here on TFO. You can also search on Kingsnake or FaunaClassifieds (dot coms), both of which are online reptile marketplaces. I would always ask for references if you are dealing with a breeder that you are unfamiliar with and go with one that is going to be willing to offer you care advice for the animal that they sell you. Also ask about how they will pack and ship your animal, making the details of the shipping and delivery process very clear. The majority of the tortoises owned by people on this site have been shipped to them.
I personally do not like supporting the large chain pet shops like Petco and Petsmart for several reasons, the most obvious being that they are selling freshly wild caught animals that their salespeople usually know little to nothing about and once you buy it you're on your own as far as they're concerned. Most reputable breeders that I know are willing to help people get started on the right foot with tortoise care. Breeders invest a lot of time, care and money in their animals and most want to know that their offspring are going to thrive and live long in someone else's care.
 

jwhite

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The independent store is it Hoffers? I was there a couple of weeks ago and to be honest I was very impressed with the way they were keeping thier torts. I think you would be better off buying from a breeder than from a store.

Jon
 

mommytoeandj

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Yup, it was Hoffer's. The guy there was very helpful, but through this post I've connected with another fellow named Tim who has some baby Greeks to sell. I'm thinking it would be better to go with him, as he KNOWS these Greeks well and seems reliable.
 
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