Discussion
Prof Beard said:
Oh thats interesting! I wasn't aware of any laws regarding Tortoises. I'm sure I've seen Tortoises for sale at the local petshop within the last year. The one I've been offered belongs to a work colleague of a friend of mine. I don't really know any details about it as yet.I used to have one. My cat and dog were completely flummoxed by it - whenever they came near, it retreated into its shell. They never tried to hurt it though and the shell would offer amazing protection anyway. Ours used to roam free during the day (you need to tortoise proof your garden - ours went on a 3 week holiday once when he escaped). At night, he was kept in the greenhouse. He needed hand feeding lettuce every day as he didn't seem to eat much otherwise, and special care to feed him up for winter hibernation was a bit of a bind.
Bear in mind Mr. Tortoise will probably outlive you, so make sure you have somebody that you could pass him onto (ours was in the family for 4/5 generations and we have no idea how old he was when we rescued him). Not exactly an interactive pet (think of it as a slow moving rock) but unusual and fun nonetheless...
Bear in mind Mr. Tortoise will probably outlive you, so make sure you have somebody that you could pass him onto (ours was in the family for 4/5 generations and we have no idea how old he was when we rescued him). Not exactly an interactive pet (think of it as a slow moving rock) but unusual and fun nonetheless...
My brother and his wife had one which they fostered from the local tortoise society who owned it. He (the tortoise)loved her but nipped him whenever it could. The beast could really move too when he felt like it, in top gear he could go the length of the garden surprisingly quickly. As mentioned above a tortoise-proof fence is a must.
We have one, was found by my uncle nearly 60 years ago. He's a precious family heirloom that is incredibly irritating.
He isn't slow at all and chases you around the garden, biting your feet. He also has a soft spot for the lawnmower which may yet prove his undoing. Seems he's just very randy and prefers shoes to other tortoises. I've seen him do unspeakable things to a wellington boot. Whilst he has a mutual disinterest in cats, dogs are generally terrified of him because he chases them.
He isn't slow at all and chases you around the garden, biting your feet. He also has a soft spot for the lawnmower which may yet prove his undoing. Seems he's just very randy and prefers shoes to other tortoises. I've seen him do unspeakable things to a wellington boot. Whilst he has a mutual disinterest in cats, dogs are generally terrified of him because he chases them.
Frik said:
We have one, was found by my uncle nearly 60 years ago. He's a precious family heirloom that is incredibly irritating.
He isn't slow at all and chases you around the garden, biting your feet. He also has a soft spot for the lawnmower which may yet prove his undoing. Seems he's just very randy and prefers shoes to other tortoises. I've seen him do unspeakable things to a wellington boot. Whilst he has a mutual disinterest in cats, dogs are generally terrified of him because he chases them.
I too have an uncle like that.He isn't slow at all and chases you around the garden, biting your feet. He also has a soft spot for the lawnmower which may yet prove his undoing. Seems he's just very randy and prefers shoes to other tortoises. I've seen him do unspeakable things to a wellington boot. Whilst he has a mutual disinterest in cats, dogs are generally terrified of him because he chases them.
Is legal to sell captive bred Tortoises, went to look at some on Friday. They do have a tendancy to get stolen if kept in a garden though. If it's a youngster an indoor viv would be best, if not make it a run in the garden for when you're home, keep it in the kitchen free range when you're out maybe? (I know people who did this).
Gretchen said:
Is legal to sell captive bred Tortoises, went to look at some on Friday. They do have a tendancy to get stolen if kept in a garden though. If it's a youngster an indoor viv would be best, if not make it a run in the garden for when you're home, keep it in the kitchen free range when you're out maybe? (I know people who did this).
Funnily, I was expecting this reply to be more insulting 
Lots of species of tortoises are available to purchase still in this country some more suited to beginners than others. Some are licensed and some dont need to be, some hibernate and some dont. In short, you need to do some homework on them from various sources as information given varies widely.
Frik said:
He isn't slow at all and chases you around the garden, biting your feet. He also has a soft spot for the lawnmower which may yet prove his undoing. Seems he's just very randy and prefers shoes to other tortoises. I've seen him do unspeakable things to a wellington boot. Whilst he has a mutual disinterest in cats, dogs are generally terrified of him because he chases them.
Sound like the one we had for 25+years. Ours seemed to have great interest in black bin liners, in fact anything that was black. Black shoes on and he would be at your feet in seconds, any other colour and there was no interest.He vanished just over 2 years ago
Replaced him with a 10,000 litre pond, tortoises are lot cheaper to keep than Koi
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