OT - Tortoise
- Thread starter Spiffyguy
- Start date
superfirefly
New member
When I had my iguana herpcenter.com helped me out. Here is a link o their tortois section. http://www.herpcenter.com/tortoises/
I hope this helps.
I hope this helps.
chadfarmer
Premium Member
fazgood
Not Quite Right
Not many will be happy in the midwest.
Not many will be happy in the midwest.
http://www.turtlesale.com/
There is only one type that can survive winters here in Stl. I think it's called a golpher tortoise. They can dig huge trenches in your yaard and tunnel under fences to escape.
Turtles and tortoises are pretty dirty animals. Keeping larger beasts indoors is a lot of work and they should live a LONG time. The lady that got me interested in box turtles was 60+ years old and had a 3 toed box turtle that she had when she was a kid.
Don't get me wrong, they are very cool beasts. We have had several clutches of babys that have wandered free in hte yard. But when we kept them indoors, they were not as healthy and had a mighty fine odor. We have red ears, 3 toe's and yellow bellys.
You might check out Andy's. He almost always has a Russian tort up there. They are very cool and can be tamed out.
Good luck.
Faz
Not many will be happy in the midwest.
http://www.turtlesale.com/
There is only one type that can survive winters here in Stl. I think it's called a golpher tortoise. They can dig huge trenches in your yaard and tunnel under fences to escape.
Turtles and tortoises are pretty dirty animals. Keeping larger beasts indoors is a lot of work and they should live a LONG time. The lady that got me interested in box turtles was 60+ years old and had a 3 toed box turtle that she had when she was a kid.
Don't get me wrong, they are very cool beasts. We have had several clutches of babys that have wandered free in hte yard. But when we kept them indoors, they were not as healthy and had a mighty fine odor. We have red ears, 3 toe's and yellow bellys.
You might check out Andy's. He almost always has a Russian tort up there. They are very cool and can be tamed out.
Good luck.
Faz
latazyo
New member
excellent information faz
I, too, am well versed in the world of turtles and tortoises and couldn't agree more with Faz's opinion that tortoises should be kept outside
they have large lighting demands and need tons of space - I read (at the zoo) that they actually roam for miles everyday (you would want to let it roam free throughout your house like a dog)
only problem is that they dont potty train and the lighting demands (need that UV for digestion)
to be honest with you, I think that you'd be better off and your kids would be far more entertained with a turtle and a pond/turtle tank
if you're a DIY'er you can get a "pond kit" cheap or stock tanks and build it into a nice cabinet
here are my red-eared slider tanks that I have setup now
please note that this lighting setup in no way meets their demands and has since been upgraded
since we used nice material (oak, etc) this cost about $200, but it could easily be done for half price if you used normal wood and just painted it
those are dual 40g stock tanks, which would be plenty of room for most turtles (bold the most)
I, too, am well versed in the world of turtles and tortoises and couldn't agree more with Faz's opinion that tortoises should be kept outside
they have large lighting demands and need tons of space - I read (at the zoo) that they actually roam for miles everyday (you would want to let it roam free throughout your house like a dog)
only problem is that they dont potty train and the lighting demands (need that UV for digestion)
to be honest with you, I think that you'd be better off and your kids would be far more entertained with a turtle and a pond/turtle tank
if you're a DIY'er you can get a "pond kit" cheap or stock tanks and build it into a nice cabinet
here are my red-eared slider tanks that I have setup now
please note that this lighting setup in no way meets their demands and has since been upgraded
since we used nice material (oak, etc) this cost about $200, but it could easily be done for half price if you used normal wood and just painted it
those are dual 40g stock tanks, which would be plenty of room for most turtles (bold the most)
fazgood
Not Quite Right
Spiffy
Spiffy
ALl turtles and tortioses have salmonelle in their poo. It just gets more concentrated in an enclosed environment. If you have kids you need to teach them that if they touch the beast or its food, water or tank, they have to wash up with antibacterial soap. AND GET UNDER TEH FINGER NAILS. Keeping some antibacterial lotion or wipes right by hte habitat makes it a bit easier too.
Keep an eye on craigslist. I see torts on there quite often or contact teh st louis herp society. They can help you adopt one and like this group, folks are quite generous with making sure you succeed in keeping it healthy.
latazyo: THat is unreal. Something like that is what I have always wanted but the divorse lawyers would be here in a flash. When I first had a RES I had one f those 8 foot fold up swimming pools in the basement. THat got me in hte dog house until I dug a pond in the yard.
Faz
Spiffy
ALl turtles and tortioses have salmonelle in their poo. It just gets more concentrated in an enclosed environment. If you have kids you need to teach them that if they touch the beast or its food, water or tank, they have to wash up with antibacterial soap. AND GET UNDER TEH FINGER NAILS. Keeping some antibacterial lotion or wipes right by hte habitat makes it a bit easier too.
Keep an eye on craigslist. I see torts on there quite often or contact teh st louis herp society. They can help you adopt one and like this group, folks are quite generous with making sure you succeed in keeping it healthy.
latazyo: THat is unreal. Something like that is what I have always wanted but the divorse lawyers would be here in a flash. When I first had a RES I had one f those 8 foot fold up swimming pools in the basement. THat got me in hte dog house until I dug a pond in the yard.
Faz
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