Tortoise?

Hi everyone,
Does anyone own a tortoise?

does anyone know anything about them and could give me some help and advice?

thanks kelly

I never had one, but I grew up with a girl that did.

Tammy the tortoise was pretty low maintainance. Fed on veg and cottage cheese. I don't know if that is the natural diet

She would wander free in a pen in the garden in the sun in the summer. And into the summer house when it got cooler. Then she would hibernate through the winter!

You know, I think they may still have her, I wouldn't be suprised!!

Are you thinking of getting one?

hiya, yeh my partner has always wanted one and was going to surprise him for his birthday just wanted to find out everything possible first.

There is more too it than you would think, as different species require different things.

I would advise really researching them before buying one, as they can live a LONG time and have specialised requirements!

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/articles.html

http://www.tortoisecentre.co.uk/index.htm

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/cheloniauk/care.htm

RSPCA CARE SHEET

http://www.tortoiselife.co.uk/Index.htm


A few useful links

there was another thread about this recently. I put my view on there:

http://www.dogweb.co.uk/talkdogs/tortoises_30817.html

I think that they're not a good idea unless you really know what you're doing. They're not easy animals to look after. My mum has had tortoises all her life and is a bit of an expert on them and she still has trouble with them. We lost one recently, completely out of the blue.

Hi Molly I would say don't get one ...they can be very expensive to keep and a real hassle. This country really isn't suitable for them.

Not sure if it is so now but the importing of tortoises was stopped because so many were dying in transit, the only ones available were bred here making them very expensive and you needed a sort of licence to own and move one .

If the summer is cool and the tortoise doesn't eat enough it will die during winter hibernation or require vitamin injections to start it eating in the spring . If the winter is mild and the tortoise wakes up you may have to keep it indoors under a lamp and feed it (not easy in the winter if you have a fussy one that likes strawberries and dandelions ).

The ones that do best are those that have been here for many years and are acclimatised. Mine was also an escape artist, he dug under fences climbed wire, ran fast on his little legs and was generally a pain in bum I loved him but would never have another..he went to join a 'wife' on the south coast....