Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just wondered how long everyone has had there tortoises for? I still condsider myself a beginer and have had my one russian for 5 years.

I have continuously maintained my collection of turtles and tortoises since 1953. The oldest animals I have now are a male Travancore Tortoise which was collected by my friend, Dr. Walter Auffenberg, in 1958 and a G. yniphora which was imported in 1975. Over the past few years, I have sold several Radiated Tortoises which I bought in the mid-1960's to friends of mine, and those tortoises are still producing babies today. The point is that if you keep your animals in good health, you will probably need to make provisions in your will for their continued care. None of my three children have inherited an interest in the tortoises, unfortunately.

Bill Zovickian

A friend of mine still has a female redfoot that I got in 1976 and then gave to him in the late 80s. He also has a hatchling that I produced in 1980.
Another good friend just parted with (although it looks like I will end up with)a pair of redfoots that he got as young adults in 1968. They still produce young every year.
Like Bill Z., my son has absolutely no interest in reptiles.

this one is a little off your main topic but it's ironic to see many a hobbyist and serious animal keepers were unable to pass on their interests to their next generation which make me wonder if it is because of the present condition of our planet or something else... has anyone succesfully influenced their "uninterested" offsprings to become enthusiastically involves with these fascinating animals (so we thought) since we spentso much time and efforts in finding ways to improve and better our animals wellfare in captivities over the years?
_again, theopinion is my own and was not intent to offend anyone!

My son, now 17, has never really been interested in any animals outside of our little dachshunds. I think he is just different from my wife and I.
Ever since I was a little kid, I have had a rabid interest in all kinds of animals but especially tropical fish and turtles (snakes are a close third). But I am not limited to only these things. I also grow bonsai trees, rare palms, cycads, bromeliads and other rare or odd plants.
But our son has at best only been mildly interested in such things. He does not, however resent the fact that I do have such intense hobbies. We have always made it a point to be balanced in our lives with things like these and we put the more important things first.

Tofu is about 7.5 years old now and we've had him for 7 years. We have a variety of pets which include the 1 sulcata and 2 African Grey parrots, all likely to outlive me. (My husband enjoys the pets, but is not really that interested in most of them) Both my son (almost 17) and daughter (14 1/2) have an interest in at least some of the pets. It could be the variety lets them pick and choose, but I agree that it's more likely a personality thing. Of course being raised with lots of animals around may make it more probable that they'd like animals, I don't know. Both the kids know that we'd strongly prefer that they (one or both of them) continue the care of the parrots and Tofu. If for some reason they absolutely cannot take them on, then we've talked about how they could find proper homes for them. Although taking on Tofu would be difficult, certainly at least one of them could take on the Greys. I guess all I can do is hope that my commitment to my pets, even when it's inconvenient, rubs off.
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1 sulcata - Tofu
1 CAG parrot - Clarence
1 TAG parrot - Gulliver (Gully)
1 grn chkd conure - Opus
1 cockatiel - B'Earl Grey
4 cats - Kobayashi Maru, Cosmo, Kiwi, Eddie
2 dogs - Maxxie, Sally
4 fancy goldfish - Skipper, Shrimpie, Eric, Fungiform Papillae
5 guinea pigs - Arnold, Rossini, Spike, Eunice, Talulah

I have only had my two herman's tortoises for a few months, but I have been in to reptiles all my life. I'm only 23 but I remember when I was five years old I used to go and catch anoles back in my birth country of Ukraine. When I was 8, we went to Italy for vacation and I remember catching lizards there as well as seeing wild cobras and pythons out in the countryside, my parents couldn't leave me alone for a minute before I ran off to look for reptiles. Now that I think back, I could have really been hurt wondering in front of cobras. According to my parents, I've always been drawn to animals. Unfortunately no one in my family shares my interests, my brother, who is 18, thinks that I'm crazy for keeping pets. My parents just kinda gave up on me as far as pets go, I think this happened when I brought my first ball python home. Lately they keep encouraging me to move out, there they say I can keep as many pets as I want.
No one in my family even has a remote interest in my pets. I don't even have freinds who find them interesting. I guess all my encouragement comes from reading kindsnake forums. My grandma mentioned that I remind her of her younger brother. He too was into animals just as I am. Unfortunately, at age 18 he was killed in WW2.
So, I guess you wonder what kinds of pets I have.
Well here it goes a Doberman named Remington, two Herman's tortoises, A 90 gallon aquarium with fancy goldfish, a 10 gallon aquarium with fancy guppies that I bred five years ago, about 10 ball pythons, and I breed mice for their food. I can really see why my parents think I'm crazy. Thanks, Dave.

I've been keeping tortoises for about 5 years. I know they'll all outlive me & there are no close friends who share my interest in them.

33 years. Started with Berlandier's (Texas) torts in 1971. Have had a number of Greek's (Graeca Graeca variants) for 20 years and they were adults when I purchased them. Also, have Russian's, Middle Eastern Greeks, and Redfoot's.

So funny of you to ask this question. I've always been suprised that my two boys have no interest in Animals/Reps/Fish. I mean I have had this obsession my ENTIRE life but the genes simply have not been passed on. I cringe when my 7 year old screams when he sees a bug. When I was 7 I would spend my whole day LOOKING for bugs... Makes me wonder if I should go for a third ;0)

we just had to be creative when come to term with these creepy crawlies ( issues) with our little ones...building their confident using them "friendly bugs" as foundation ... first there was the litle red ladybug who live on land...then there are "black ladybugs" (clemys guttata) who live on water...one loves aphids...the other loves night crawlers, rollie pollies....and so on...Overtime our's little ones was able to handle little goldfish (catch them in the pond and put them in the jar for a day for show-n-tell), fidler crabs, craydaddy... to the slimmiest night crawlers... I think it's a case of fascination overpower freakingnation (if there's such a word)...we are working on their arachnophobia right now as it progress...yeah, them freaky little itzybitzyspiders...even their mother would scream...

np