Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone...FIRST POST!
I have been all over this website's forums the past couple weeks looking at different reptiles. It seems ive got the reptile bug lol and have been looking for an animal i can take care of as my own. Lately i was looking at lizards, but i now am reconsidering and am really starting to find tortoises very intriguing, i love their look! I work at a pet store and we had a couple of tortoises and i think that is what sparked my interest. So i guess i am just wondering which tortoise do yo tortoise veterens think would work for me pertaining to the following criteria:

1) size wise i was thinking of something between 1-2 feet in length, 2 ft. definently maximum

2) Very personable and active, not a shy creature and one that doesnt mind human contact.

3)Relatively easy care requirements, this would be my first tortoise.

4)I live in OHIO so i need a tortoise that can be brought in side maybe in a tortoise box or something no too huge as an enclosure

Any species you think that would help my decision would be extremely welcome and any personal experiances you have had with the tortoise you described would be much a appreciated.

Sorry for the long post, thought id do my first post right lol.

You just described an Asian Mt.Tortoise. Two sizes Big and Med.Of cource there could be some bias here,but thats what I would get.Captive born is best. Vic

I too am from ohio, the browns and blacks do GREAT in ohio outside in the summer time, another great tortoise is the redfoot as well. The blacks and browns can get outstanding personalites, thanks

Andy

What do you guys do with them during the winter? Do they hibernate or if not how big of an indoor enclosure do they need?

MTN. TORTS. AND REDFOOTS ARE BOTH GREAT CHOICES FOR WHAT YOU DESCRIBED. MTN. TORTS ARE VERY PEOPLE FRIENDLY WITH GREAT PERSONALITIES, REDFOOTS ARE AMONGST THE HARDIEST.

I think ive narrowed down my search between a Burmese brown, a red foot or a leopard. Which out of these three do you think would be best suited for the past mentioned criteria?

1) size wise i was thinking of something between 1-2 feet in length, 2 ft. definently maximum

2) Very personable and active, not a shy creature and one that doesnt mind human contact.

3)Relatively easy care requirements, this would be my first tortoise.

4)I live in OHIO so i need a tortoise that can be brought in side maybe in a tortoise box or something no too huge as an enclosure

I think ive narrowed down my search between a Burmese brown, a red foot or a leopard. Which out of these three do you think would be best suited for the past mentioned criteria?

1) size wise i was thinking of something between 1-2 feet in length, 2 ft. definently maximum

2) Very personable and active, not a shy creature and one that doesnt mind human contact.

3)Relatively easy care requirements, this would be my first tortoise.

4)I live in OHIO so i need a tortoise that can be brought in side maybe in a tortoise box or something no too huge as an enclosure

Any help you guys could give would really help ive read all the caresheets i can find on these guys and need some real life experience to give me some help!

well a b.pardallis [the smaller lepard] can be another great choise. they are very beautiful. more a desart tort. i have had better luck with desert torts. indoors rather than jungle torts. like the redfoots because the high humidity requirements can become a challange to do properly (in the winter like right now). coming from somebody that has all three the mtn tort. is going to be what i would recommend to you. they have a lot of personality and are extreamly interactive and donnot have any real hard requirements. but hey get what you think you want, i have a lot of fun with box turtles too!

oh ya and there are two typse of mtn torts. emy emy and something else one is big one is small. i think the emy emy is the larger one. check which one it is first if you choose that one.

Manouria Emys Emys is the Brown Mountain Tortoise, and Manouria Emys Phayrei is the Black Mountain Tortoise. The black variety, from what I've read gets much larger than the brown type. The browns are also much more affordable... Come on Vic! post some pics here.

Below are pics of my Black Mountain Tortoise... Even though he looks really brown...Strange how the names of reptiles come to be...I've had him since July, and he has grown a lot!

-Kory