File :-(, x, )
Pet Tortoise? Maybelle !Xe0eUYi8yM
Any tortoise owners here? I think they are absolutely adorable!

I've been considering getting one as a pet, but haven't been able to find much information about them online. I know that they live for a long time, and need a fair amount of indoor and outdoor living space.

Any advice? I've been looking at Sulcata and Leopard tortoises in particular.
>> Anonymous
Sulcatas don't seem like good pets unless you have huge amounts of space to devote to them and are willing to clean up dog shit. And have someone you can will them to. And maybe someone they can will it to.
>> Anonymous
I am a proud tortoise owner and I must say that I love them. They do need lots of room when they are bigger. If you get a baby Sulcata you can have him live in an aquarium with some sand for awhile because it will take him a long time to get really big. I have six of them currently one of them I got as a little guy and I have had him for at least a year now. He has gotten twice as big now but he is still too small to go outside.
>> Anonymous
it would be so badass to have a tortoise in your backyard... are they OK when it rains and whatnot? or do they have to live inside at night or when it rains?
>> Geoff the brilliant
my girlfriend has a sulcata. Idk about one of those. They get huge and you have to will them to someone.
>> Anonymous
I have family friends who owned a few leopard tortoises. One of them CRASHED THROUGH THE FUCKING FENCE AND RAN AWAY.
>> Maybelle !Xe0eUYi8yM
>>241728
Lol, this makes me want to own one even more.

I have a fair bit of space I can devote to a habitat for one of these guys, both indoors and out. If I decide this pet is right for me, I think I will look into adoption of an abandoned (likely older) tortoise through a rescue organization. I know of a few that operate in my area.

One thing I'm wondering about is, how will I move him, from his home on a lower floor of my house, to outside? I doubt I can safely lift an animal of that size; can they walk on a plank or something up stairs?
>> Anonymous
>>241737
construct a complex system of pulleys and levers
>> wolfdaddy
Turtles in general need lots of UV light or they get this nasty eye swelling that can eventually kill them as they stop being able to see and they effectively take vitamins out of the food they eat cause of a vitamin d deficiency. When I worked in a pet store some of the box turtles even with 8 hours of full-spectrum light would still get it. On the plus side I do have wild box turtles running, ok crawling, all over my four acres in Oklahoma and they drive my miniature doberman crazy because he can't hurt them in any way.
>> Anonymous
I have a Desert Tortoise.

He's a pimp.
>> Anonymous
Almost forgot.
Used to have a Sulcata.
She ran away. I'm not even fucking kidding
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
If you're patient, then a Tortoise would be a good pet. I have one. He's sick right now. They require a fair amount of clean up, but it's very much worth it.
>> Anonymous
As they get older and larger they're going to need to eat a LOT, and my experience has been that a lot of people don't know how to properly feed herbivorous or omnivorous reptiles like turtles, tortoises, iguanids, bearded dragons, etc. You can't just throw them a mouse, they're going to need a LOT of fresh vegetables (and in the case of tortoises, plant matter that isn't available at most grocers), and in a country where most people live off hamburger helper and fried chicken, and think that a salad consists of iceburg lettuce and a cherry tomato, they wind-up malnourished.

tl;dr you're going to need to be able to get a lot of freshly cut, insecticide-free grass, alfalfa, cactus pads, collared greens, and dandelions.
>> Anonymous
I just brought a 1 year old herman tortoise from a breeder
just 2 hours ago, he be sleeping right now but there a lot more active and fast than the stereotype of turtles and tortoises make them out to be. Also made me laugh when he got confused by his reflection and stared at himself for 5 minutes.
>> Anonymous
i would paint on my tortoises shell, i dont think it would mind i just need to know if thats dangerous
>> Anonymous
>>242609
>She ran away.
>She walked away.

fix'ded.
>> Anonymous
>>244527

It's retarded, cruel and all the other tortoises will laugh at it.

Also if it is going to roam around your garden any airborne predators that know the trick of how to turn a tortoise into a tasty meal will easily notice the thing moving around with "DESU DESU DESU" scrawled onto it's shell in white paint.

Please, if you actually seriously suggested that rather than as a joke, don't paint your tortoises shell.