Owning a Tortoise........

[Brighton till i die]

....does anyone have any experience of owning a Tortoise as a pet?

We have been offered one by my mum-in-law as her friend is a breeder.

I think my kids will love it as a pet, but am aware thats its not as easy as just bringing it home as plonking it on the sofa!

Does anyone have any experience of owning one that could offer some words of wisdom?

I love the idea of it, but need more info first!!

Tar muchly

 

[mr sheen]

I had one as a child. It died during hibernation, and when I opened it up it had partially rotted, eyes eaten and everything. One of the abiding, and less fond memories of my childhood.

 

[Skint Gull]

I had one as a child. It died during hibernation, and when I opened it up it had partially rotted, eyes eaten and everything. One of the abiding, and less fond memories of my childhood.

Did you know it had died before opening it up? YUK!

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

Quite a good pet to own if you have young ones as they don't have to go through the trauma of a pet like a Hamster dying after 2 years. It'll probably outlive you.

Relatively inexpensive and easy to keep/feed too.

 

[Jesus Gul]

I had one as a child. It died during hibernation, and when I opened it up it had partially rotted, eyes eaten and everything. One of the abiding, and less fond memories of my childhood.

...had exactly the same experience with my lil friend 'Ord' - those bstard maggots chewed his head off. Many happy memories such as when it used to mate my dads gardening shoe and attacked a much bigger visiting tortoise showing his nasty streak. I thought selling/owning tortoises was restricted these days.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

A fairly passive sort of pet for kids I would have thought - not much interaction there. But then again I grew up surrounded by dogs, cats, horses and chickens.

 

[Brighton till i die]

.... I thought selling/owning tortoises was restricted these days.

i thought the same, but apparently not.

 

[Brighton till i die]

A fairly passive sort of pet for kids I would have thought - not much interaction there. But then again I grew up surrounded by dogs, cats, horses and chickens.

we do have 2 dogs also, but i wanted tropical fish and the misses fancies a tortoise..... i'm kinda warming to the idea.

 

[readingstockport]

.I thought selling/owning tortoises was restricted these days.

Tortoise Faq - Pet Tortoise .co.uk

 

[cardboard]

we have one only 4 years old
My little un love it and spends loads of time with it, a great pet for a kid

 

[clapham_gull]

My parents have got one - had it for almost 30 years. Someone found it and gave it to my aunt, but she had to pass it on because her dog thought it was a bone.


Low maintenance - but there are certain things you can do to extend it's like make it happier etc...

 

[Brighton till i die]

but there are certain things you can do to extend it's like make it happier etc...

ha ha - you not gonna tell your secrets!!

 

[Brighton till i die]

we have one only 4 years old
My little un love it and spends loads of time with it, a great pet for a kid

Thats good to know - do you let him/her in the house all the time?
do you need an outside pen at all?

 

[Lush]

They really like dandelions and are ALL called Shelley.

 

[Stoichkov]

They need a far bit of space to roam around as they can cover quite a large distance during the course of a day. If there is a way out of your garden - they'll find it. Some can climb a bit (yes, really) and manage to get over things you wouldn't think possible.

They also, oddly, have quite a lot of individual character and will have different feeding habits, times of day they like etc.

Their diet is very healthy and easy to cater for - salad stuff, dandilions, brocolli etc. Each will have their own preferences.

I like the fact that they are quite independant - they get up when they like and then put themselves to bed once they've had enough. The only things really that they need are somewhere where they can warm up when they emerge from hibernation (eg a greenhouse until the weather gets warmer) and then a decent cool place to hibernate - if they'll too warm, their metabolism keeps going and they sometimes don't make it through.

I've had mine about 30 years - almost a family heirloom

 

[cardboard]

Thats good to know - do you let him/her in the house all the time?
do you need an outside pen at all?

We had to tortoise proof the garen and it has free range in the day. Likes cauliflower leaves, apples, etc

We take her in at night at the mo, she is very small, she has a place to sleep and keep warm etc.

 

[Brighton till i die]

yeah our garden is dog free but woul dneed to check small gaps under fence i guess for the little man if we go for it - so they dont need a hutch for sleeping in?

do they have a sofe bed like cats/dogs or do they just kip where-ever?

 

[Lush]

do they have a sofe bed like cats/dogs or do they just kip where-ever?

 

[Brighton till i die]

great - thanx. sorted!!

 

[NMH]

Try to feed it fresh organic veg, and if you let it roam in the garden you must never have a fire to burn the garden clippings or compost.