Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm moving to Fla from Calif and might ship 2 torts or drive with them.
First of all is there a container made for shipping by air that can be purchased?
Has anyone driven accross the US with torts in the car?
Thanks

What size are we talking about? In any case, I can't see risking shipping them.

One is a 4 yr Hermanns approx 8" and the other is a 4" star.

O.K., Cuz!!
Cardboard box, lined with styro-foam(bottom,sides & top).Place
each tort in it's own pillow case. Use shredded paper out of
your "SHREDDER" to fill the remaining voids in said box. Find
out when DHL closes their doors at Reno Aerodrome. Have the "BOX"
there at that time. Schedule arrival in FLA for 10:30am. That
should do it. Workz for me all the time!! Regardez, TATTOO PETE

from IN to AZ two summers ago with my aldabra. I drove 13 hours each day. The tort was in a large rubber made container with cypress. When we stopped at rest stops I fed him. He nibbled. By the time we got to 114 degree Phoenix, he was out of sorts. I put him in his new back yard and he sat there for a good while. The next day he was fine. In the Suburban I had My best friend, 16, 14, 12, and 5 year old sons, the toroise in the large rubbermade, 60 lb australian shepard in a kennel, my wife's lovebird, chuckwalla, my son's gecko, and my son's guinea pig. You should have seen all of us cramped in there. It was also funny to see us sneak 6 people and all those animals in a single room in Amarillo!

Some of this is a bit off topic.. Sorry... The Aldabra & Chuckwalla caught my eye.

That is an awesome story!! I would love to take a little adventure like that... Vacation the movie comes to mind.

What type of Chuckwalla do you have? I know that this is a tortoise forum.. For the record I have a Burmese Black Mountain Tortoise, M. Emys Phayrei. I also have a large male Chuckwalla, and a small male Chuck, I caught both of them here in our local deserts.. Ca.

I'm looking to purchase a few Angel Island Chucks, and possibly the very endangered San Esteban Island Chuck... If I can aquire a permit from the USFW.

I noticed in your post that you have an Aldabra Tort. I am very interested in those guys. Would you be willing to shed a bit of light on how you care for yours. I am hoping to buy a couple within five years. I may however go with Galapagos torts. I'm not sure yet. I've heard that Aldabras are a bit "flighty" and not very social unlike the Galapagos torts which seem to relish human interaction. What is the Aldabras growth rate like? How hot do the like it?

Thanks so much,
-Kory

Ok I will start by saying I only have Yellow foots - I will never have a chance to own either Galapagos or Aldabra Tort. But while looking for info on keeping my Yellow Foots I read a lot about many other species.

From what I read - Aldabra Tort is a herding animal - that is the Tort seeks out other Torts for company (Much like cattle. Where has Galapagos is very territorial (Read will bulldoze any tort in its run). So if you want to keep more than on tort in the same run - go for Aldabra or get a very big run.

Aldabra Tortoises are not all that smart (Probably a little smarter than my yellow foots - at night my UV light will come on - they will sunbath and when it goes off go to sleep at the cool end of their box. I now move them 2 feet to the heater each night). But back to what I was saying - one keeper talks about having to dolly his Aldabra Torts every night where as his Galapagos will come in every night.

Reading through the natural history you will find that both tortoises are very close to identical.

There are individuals which seem to be solitary and those that are herders. It seems to depend on the specific habitat or micro habitat.

As to the intellegence... They appear to be also identical. I think the fact that certain individuals do certain things is, just that, an individual trait.

I've seen more Aldabs behave in an intellegent manner than not. In fact, I can honestly say that I can't think of any groups where there are individuals had to be 'trucked'. This might have something to do with inadequate heat sources.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Aldabras to seem to be flighty at first but with social interaction some actually enjoy the attention as the Galap does.

I recently met a group of CB raised Galaps that were as flighty as any Aldab. They are set up in a breeding situation and do not get much social interaction.

The bottome line is that Aldabs can be just as personable as the Galap.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care