Hello !!!  - have any fellow champdoggers out there got a pet tortoise?
I'd really love to get one for my mum and have been swatting up on the rights and wrongs of tortoise ownership etc.. but the different breeds are baffling me - any advice would be a great help!

Many thanks

Victoria :)

Have a look here : Tortoise Trust and also here : Cheloniauk They contains LOADS of useful info. Last time I saw any for sale, they were about £100 and that was several years ago ;)

I used to have two but that was in the 1970's before they became hard to get hold of :)

Thanks ever so much Melodysk- I've been looking at these sites and am even considering enrolling mum on the Tortoise Trust Foundation course too!  Any idea what breed you used to have?  I'm considering the Herman at the moment - but there are so many  - just like different breeds of dogs :o

I think ours were Hermans , we had one called Taffy and one called Po. Po was so named because he pooed on you whenever you picked him up. Taffy used to climb ..anything, he was the consummate escape artisit :D

I have a Herman tortoise. He is about 30 to 40 years old. The babies that you can buy now are quite hard to look after and have to be kept in a vivarium for quite a while. I dont think they can hibernate untill they are at least 3 or 4 and then only for a very short time. You would also need to register at a specialist vet which can be very expensive. You can get insurance but only a couple of companies insure reptiles. It would be a great idea to join the tortoise trust. They have members that have had tortoises for years and are very experienced. My tortoise is like houdini and if there is any small gap he will find it. I have lost him a couple of times but have been lucky enough to get him back. He is hibernating now so dont have to worry about him for a few months.

Thanks V Much...  I definitely think that I will talk to my mother and tell her what I had in mind.  I know she would love to have one, but I don't want her to find a tortoise too 'faffy' to look after. So I'd rather make sure it's all up front and not just a suprise 'out of the blue' . Cheers!!

Victoria :D

When we were kids my brother bought 1. Think he paid about 50p for it. That was 30 odd years ago. It still lives now at the family home where my younger sister still lives. In all those years the tortoise as had little intervention with caring for itself. Roaming a large safe garden he gets plenty of food for himself apart from the odd meal of dog food. 
He hibinates himself every year.
Obviously doing well being over 30 years old.

Hi there

I think it's definitely the right thing to talk to your mum first and make sure that she actually wants the responsibility.  I don't keep tortoises myself, but I have a few clients who do, and they're a lot of work.  It's probably unnecessary to say this as I'm sure you're doing all the right research, but bear in mind that tortoises can live for up to 100 years, and need the right housing, the correct diet, veterinary care, etc. etc - in fact all the things that dogs need, and on top of that they require specialist knowledge.  For instance if a tortoise is fit to hibernate then the temperature margin is quite narrow (I think it's 0C-10C but I've left my exotics book at work so I wouldn't swear to that), and if the tortoise is allowed to get too hot or too cold then they almost invariably die.  Not usually a problem when the owner is looking after them, but do you have someone to trust if your mum wants to go away?

They are quite "faffy" pets IMO and it's probably also worth mentioning that I would never trust any dog completely around a tortoise.  We don't see many tortoises with dog bites, maybe 1 or 2 a year, but when they do get bitten the injuries can be horrendous and it surprises me how many of these cases are due to the family dog which previously had always been fine with the tortoise.

I don't mean to sound discouraging or preachy but they are a very long-term commitment and while a lot of clients love their tortoises to bits and assure me that they have wonderful personalities, one chap recently admitted that his 40 year old isn't the most interesting of pets!

Good luck whatever you decide.  There's an excellent book called BSAVA Manual of Exotic Pets which has a good chapter about chelonians, but it's quite expensive as it deals with lots of exotics.  It might be worth asking in your library though.

Hiya
I have 2 herman's tortoises. Jack is 4 yrs and colin is 3 years.  If im honest they are eas to look after. They do live in a vivarium but thats just a case of kepping the heat lamp teperature regulated. Pretty easy to feed and a lot easier to exercise.

Donna and charliex