Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I'm doing research on what type of tortoise to purchase for a pet. I'm hoping to find a species that can become friendly and fairly active. This is my first tortoise so I don't want anything too exotic for a beginer. Please let me know what species you would suggest. Thanks for your help!

Where do you live and how much outside/inside space can you provide?

Thanks for the quick reply. I live in TX. I have a huge privacy fenced yard as well as an inside enclosure 4 ft long 2 ft wide.

If you live in a dry or semi-arid area I recommend the following affordable tortoises:

Greek tortoise ($100-150)
Russian tortoise ($50-100)
Hermann tortoise ($80-150)

Tropical area I recommend these:

Red-foot tortoise ($100-200)
Yellow-foot tortoise ($100-200)

I have a russian in an outside pen that's 4x8. I'm in California. He likes romping around his little home, even though i've been having problems with him (he's an import). Russians seems to be pretty cool. Try to get a captive bred as hard as possible, vet bills are way expensive.

Sorry about the wait, we all lost power.

Thanks for your info. If I get a Russian does it have to be a baby or is it okay to purchase one that is around 5-6 inches in shell diameter? I recently saw one in a local pet store but more than likely it's a wc. Can you suggest a cb breeder? Thanks!

The last show I was at had TONS of babies, so i'm not entirely sure about fully grown ones. You're welcome to post about it on here, as there are many that are more experienced in the buying and taking care of tortoises on this forum.

I recomend that with everything except the large tortoises, and the only reason I recomend getting the large tortoises as adults is that you can easily find them at rescues, and they need homes.

The russians tend to have a lot of problems with parasites due to the importation process. It's best to get captive bred babies from a reputable breeder. They will be healthier and you'll get the enjoyment of watching your pet grow. Just don't leave them outside unnattended unless you have a fully enclosed pen (sides top and bottom), because a baby tort as small as a russian or other mediterranean tort could make an easy snack for any variety of animals including birds.

I keep russians and they are great. They are actually quite under-rated in my opinion in terms of personality. Such a nicely sized tort (females very rarely exceed 10" shell length) with such a great personality.

I haven't kept greeks, hermanns, etc. but I hear similar great things about them.

Another reason to buy captive bred: Buying from small breeders encourages captive propagation, which discourages the import trade, and if you've ever seen pictures of how torts are kept during importation, you'll feel a need to help the cause.

Hi, thanks for your help. Out of the three you listed for dry areas is there one species that is usually more friendly with handling?

All three are very personable. Russian make great choice because it is less expensive and smaller than the other two. They also are more cold tolerant than the rest.

I called a exotic reptile shop yesterday and one of the owners suggested a baby Sulcatta. Does anyone have an opinion on the species? Thanks for your help. I'm trying to learn as much as possible before I take the tortoise leap.

>>I called a exotic reptile shop yesterday and one of the owners suggested a baby Sulcatta. Does anyone have an opinion on the species? Thanks for your help. I'm trying to learn as much as possible before I take the tortoise leap.

We adopted a 9lb sulcata 4 years ago, she has grown much faster than I thought she would.
She now weighs 65lbs, she's a very powerful animal. She's sweet, docile, personable, friendly, but powerful & it's difficult to make her do what she doesn't want to do.
If you want one, you have to think about the future- where & how will you be able to keep it year round.

The day our girl went through our flimsy "ranch" fencing and then tore up her cactus patch, we knew then that we had to get rid of our chain link fence to construct something stronger. We have cinder block now & it wasn't cheap. Now because it is difficult to make her do what she doesn't want to do, we are planning to fence off our backyard so that in fall/winter when the temps fluctuate dramatically from day to day and we have a hard time getting her out from under our vehicles & into her heated home.. we need to fix things so that in fall/winter she cannot leave the backyard. For summer she can have the front & back. In summer she can sleep anywhere she wants with no health risks but cold temps are really dangerous for her.

They are wonderful animals, we adore her, we wouldn't even consider giving her up, but you really have to put a lot of time, thought, & money into keeping them.
Here's her most recent pic with her new pet puppy that she totally ignores.

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PHRatz

I just read the other posts & saw that you live in TX. We do too, in the west.
We built a concrete/cinder block "mansion" for our tortoise, wired it for electricity so we can heat it for her.
Even at her large size she still can't take lower temps. She spent the night outside a month or so ago when the temps were supposed to stay in the upper 60s.. well the "weatherman" was wrong, it dropped down to 50 that night & it did make her sick.
She's ok now but that episode made the decision absolute that we need to block the backyard off from the frontyard & allow her in front only in the warm months.

She's a great organic lawnmower so if you do decide to take the plunge with a giant, just keep in mind that medical problems will arise from time to time... our vet does house calls thankfully!
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PHRatz

Thank you for your help. You have a beautiful animal. We live in Pleasanton approx 45 minutes from San Antonio. I would have no problem making a large enclosure for a sulcatta in the yard with a warm heated shelter for cold days. My biggest concern for the large size would be that I have two boys that may try to pet the tortoise and I would not want a finger bitten off. Do you notice any aggresion with your Sulcatta? My boys are gentle and supervised when near any of our reptiles but I have heard turtles/tortoises can be very quick when they choose to be.

>>Thank you for your help. You have a beautiful animal. We live in Pleasanton approx 45 minutes from San Antonio. I would have no problem making a large enclosure for a sulcatta in the yard with a warm heated shelter for cold days. My biggest concern for the large size would be that I have two boys that may try to pet the tortoise and I would not want a finger bitten off. Do you notice any aggresion with your Sulcatta? My boys are gentle and supervised when near any of our reptiles but I have heard turtles/tortoises can be very quick when they choose to be.

Our girl has never been known to be aggressive and has never tried to bite anyone.
I do though know people who have males & they have said that sometimes those males do get more aggressive... but they've never hurt anyone.
I pet our tortoise on her shell, she loves a vigorous "shell rub" but she really does not like fingers in her face.
If someone frightens her she's more likely to try to ram them than bite them. She rammed toward me once a couple of months ago but that's because a stranger working in our yard wheeled a wheel barrow near her & that scared her.
She did ram a kid in the shin once but frankly that was my fault. I took her to a classroom & all the kids were sitting on the floor in a circle. Destiny, our big girl could not get out of the circle so she decided to ram her way out.
She didn't really hurt the kid but I learned my lesson & have never put her in a situation where she feels trapped again.
I've let the neighborhood boys come in to pet her before but I did tell them do not put your hands around her face, pet her shell but don't scare her & they understood me. They were happy to pet the shell.

Oh something I just remembered on ramming:
I read a post from a yahoo group once, a women got her ankle broken by her sulcata male. Actually that was her fault in a way.. she was wearing a blouse with a flowal print & I think bright colored socks.. not sure about the socks.
Anyway she had her back to the tortoise & he just walked up & rammed her & that broke her ankle.
That doesn't sound like true aggression to me, that was more likely the tort thinking there was food for him, the floral print probably confused him.
I never ever wear red, green, or bright pink colors around our tortoise.
She's just a big gentle giant.
by the way.
Thank you for saying she's beautiful.. we took her in because someone had found her after someone else had dumped her out in the country then shot her with a .22.
We had such pity for her that we decided we'd take care of her for the rest of our lives and we have never had any regrets.
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PHRatz

>>a blouse with a flowal print

uh-hem,
FLORAL print lol
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PHRatz

Thanks for all of your help and input. I think I'll start with a species other than the very impressive sulcatta for my first tortoise. There are so many different types of tortoises that it is hard to make a decision on which one would best fit into our family. Everyones advice is greatly appreciated.

>>Thanks for all of your help and input. I think I'll start with a species other than the very impressive sulcatta for my first tortoise. There are so many different types of tortoises that it is hard to make a decision on which one would best fit into our family. Everyones advice is greatly appreciated.

One thing about a red footed is that you have much more humidity in your region than I do, that'd be good for a S. American species.
Frankly I think any smaller than sulcata species that you choose will make you happy. They all (even box turtles) seems to be alert, intelligent, curious, friendly, interactive animals.
While some may be more shy at first, once they get used to you & recognize you, most of them do come out of their shells..(pun intended)
some take more time to become comfortable in their surroundings than others just like any other type of pet.
I have one box who has taken much longer to relax around me, it's odd that she's skittish because for a box she's huge. 1 & 1/2 lbs of large box turtle who is skittish while the rest of them charge after me for food if they're hungry.
That's a thought for you.. a box turtle. They're happy outdoors, they're smaller but they're tortoise like in many ways.
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PHRatz

thanks for sharing -- and i agree, she is very beautiful (and you dachsie is a cutie, too)!

>>thanks for sharing -- and i agree, she is very beautiful (and you dachsie is a cutie, too)!

Thanks so much for the kind words.
The new puppy doesn't quite understand Destiny but he's been here 3 months now. I caught him kissing her head the other day. First time he saw her had no idea what that thing was, he spent a lot of time bunny hopping around her but he's gotten to the point now that he sniffs her then leaves her alone.
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PHRatz