anyone into tortoises?

[vash]

not turtles, those are nasty.

but desert tortoises. i had one that i let my girlfriend babysit. and then we broke up, and she bascially stole "hannah" she was a spurred thighed tortoise. ( sulcata) but i got that psycho outta my life, and i was ok with sacrificing my pet. now i have a huge yard, hot summers, and the itch to get another tortoise. maybe not a sulcata, they get too big (1.5feet long). but maybe a leapard tortoise. any others here with cool pets? they seem tough to find lately.

[rrpjr]

I could be. My neighbor has one and keeps it in our condo back area. What a delightful little guy. "Emmet" marches across 30 yards of concrete to stretch out his head in greeting when I go out there (though no doubt plying for a piece of rhubarb and/or a scratch on his back -- yes, I'm told they enjoy back scratches). Emmet is the type of tortoise with the impressive diamond-shaped studs on his shell and will one day be quite huge -- a fact which seems to have escaped his owner, who told me with some sadness he won't be able to keep him when he gets too big. He'll donate him to a zoo. I find a lot of solace in watching Emmet handle himself. We need to be reminded sometimes how to move slowly.

[cegerer]

I bought my daughter a Leopard Tortoise for her birthday a couple of years ago. It was less than 1 year old and a few inches in diamter. It will grow to 50+ years old, 80 pounds and nearly 2 feet in diameter - luckily, she will be out of the house and living on her own by then .....

[red-beard]

I call my wife "Tortuga" or "Tortugita". Does that count?

[Evans, Marv]

We bought a salcata for my wife's classroom as a pet - named her Turbo since she disappears out of sight if you turn your head for a minute. Thought it would be a cheap, easy pet. Now, I've got about $600 invested in it. Vet check ups, medication, two enclosures, lights, etc.
I'm worried since she doesn't seem to want to eat much (any suggestions?), and they say they are voracious eaters. She's about 3 inches in diameter. At the pet store, they didn't tell us they live for up to 60 to 80 years & get to 200 pounds. Didn't find out until I got home & went on to the internet.
The Vet told me people want to get rid of them when they get to about 50 lbs, and that nobody wants to take them.

[Joeaksa]

Whats a reasonable price for one of these? There is a guy down the street selling them here in Phoenix. Last time I asked he wanted around $200 and was not ready to pay that... Is this a fair price?

Heard that they roam around the yard and eat all the green stuff...

Thx,

JoeA

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Joe, we saw one wandering around the Desert Botannical Gardens the other day. Cut little guy, about 10" in diameter. Strolling along the side of a path, eating the leaves off some groundcover.

Apparently these things just run wild around the desert. Not sure you'd want to spend money on one!

[Joeaksa]

Aaron,

Problem is that I believe that its against the law to grab them out in the wild. Buying one would be ok but I sure would get a receipt. Would love to find one out in the wild and spend the bux on Porsche parts!

Joe

[GettinHeadStuds]

One word...

Why?!?

[Joeaksa]

Free lawn mower comes to mind as well as kinda nice to look at.

JoeA

[juanbenae]

i get it cliff, go for it. i had snakes and a lizards as recentlly as 4 years ago, very high maintanence. a shelled buddy might be cool!

i call slow job site labor'ss "tortuga". they get all hot about that.

don't name him toby though....

[red-beard]

Yeah, my wife usually gets called that when we're trying to get ready to go someplace.

If they are really slow, call them "caracol"....

[vash]

hmmm mark evans. what are you feeding her? keep it up with the leafy greens and make sure the enclosure is hot enough. dandalion greens are great, altho they taste like earwax to me.

the desert tortoises that blue mentioned are endangered. they are now being captive raised, and people think they are getting too big (about 12" across max) and they are letting them go in the wild. the wild ones dont have the disease resistance of the captive ones so we are "chris columbus-ing" them with new sickness.

i paid $75 for my baby sulcata. i think $150 is fair retail. that picture of the leopard is great. thanks.

[juanbenae]

cliff how in the hell do you know what ear wax taste like?

[onewhippedpuppy]

"Anyone into tortises"

My mind is in the gutter, my first thought was "As opposed to hampsters"?

Richard Gere, eat your heart out, but it takes a real man to stuff a tortise.

[cegerer]

The tortoise went out for a stroll yesterday with my dog.

[Moneyguy1]

You AZ guys hat might want one.

The Sonoran desert tourtose is, while not endangered, protected and illegal to remove from native habitat.

HOWEVER, having said that, Public Television down herein Tucson (and perhaps other places) has some dandy desert living shows. I was surprised to find that you can adopt a desert tourtose for free. I am sure PBS can help you with a location. Our neighboers have a pair and a couple of little ones trundling around. RRP has it right..They can teach us a lot about a slow, determined approach to life.