Children and tortoises?

yillt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
1,033
I am 14. I was 10 when I joined this site. I kept my age secret for almost a year. When I finally felt that people had begun to know me and appreciate me for how I look after my tortoise, not my age,I finally began to speak to people about my age and realised that there are many young members of this site. There have been a few members who state that 'children should not be allowed pets, especially ones that can outlive them!' I see their reasoning and I agree with some aspects of it, but if you consider the fact that all of the young members have joined this forum instead of being on insta gram, Facebook etc... then it shows that they sincerely care for the wellbeing of their pet. I rarely stick to any forums and to have been on this one for almost 4 years is a record for me. Which shows that children can show dedication to their pet and I haven't got 'bored' of Billy. What are your views on teens/children owning tortoises?
 

Gillian M

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
15,417
Location (City and/or State)
Jordan
An interesting topic @yillt and I personally believe you've been taking good care of your tort.

I, for example am much older than you are, I'd never dealt wit animals, never had a pet until I got Oli (my beloved Greek tort). I do not think that age is the issue. I think it's your really and truly wanting the pet or not. Know what I mean?
 

yillt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
1,033
An interesting topic @yillt and I personally believe you've been taking good care of your tort.

I, for example am much older than you are, I'd never dealt wit animals, never had a pet until I got Oli (my beloved Greek tort). I do not think that age is the issue. I think it's your really and truly wanting the pet or not. Know what I mean?
I certainly know you mean. I certainly , really and truly want Billy.
 

Gillian M

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
15,417
Location (City and/or State)
Jordan
I certainly know you mean. I certainly , really and truly want Billy.
I can tell you want your tort. I didn't mean you personally, alright? Hope you didn't take my words personal.
 

yillt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
1,033
I can tell you want your tort. I didn't mean you personally, alright? Hope you didn't take my words personal.
Sorry, I meant to say 'I certainly know what you mean.' I do understand and definitely didn't take your words personally. I agree completely. :)
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,655
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
I think like what dmmj said. If they normally get bored with things quickly, then most pets aren't for them. However, if the child is totally opposite of that, then I think any pet is good for them as long as the adult realizes that they too need to be responsible for the animal as much as the child. After all, kids will still be kids and for those moments the animal shouldn't suffer for it. I think a responsible alert attentive parent can tell pretty early on if their child is a responsible pet owner. I think my problem is more about parents that don't take the responsibility to make sure the animal is being properly taken care of.
 

saginawhxc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Messages
897
Location (City and/or State)
Saginaw, Michigan, USA
It's an interesting topic. As someone who has three children older than you and two younger I want to start off by saying your dedication to your tortoise is something I could never see my children doing. So kudos to you.

On the surface I don't have a problem with someone your age owning something like a tortoise, but as someone who takes care of a bearded dragon that a nine year old wanted more than anything in the world I generally caution parents and/or young people to never ever get any pet that the parent isn't willing to step in and take over if necessary. Once again that obviously isn't the case with you, so once again good job.

Here is another angle though. At fourteen you seem extremely sharp and mature for your age, but at fourteen you likely have very little clue who you will be just a few years down the road. Our teenage years and twenties are periods of rapid life changes and emotional growth. We never know where the future will take us, but never is that more true than our volatile teen years.

Just last year I adopted a red foot from a girl two months in to her first year of college, she couldn't keep it in her dorm and her parents said it had to go. She seemed close to crying when I picked it up.

All cautionary nonsense aside though, don't worry about your age. Be proud that you are as awesome as you are at that age. For the record I don't care one bit. In my opinion you are simply a fellow tortoise keeping peer.
 

yillt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
1,033
It's an interesting topic. As someone who has three children older than you and two younger I want to start off by saying your dedication to your tortoise is something I could never see my children doing. So kudos to you.

On the surface I don't have a problem with someone your age owning something like a tortoise, but as someone who takes care of a bearded dragon that a nine year old wanted more than anything in the world I generally caution parents and/or young people to never ever get any pet that the parent isn't willing to step in and take over if necessary. Once again that obviously isn't the case with you, so once again good job.

Here is another angle though. At fourteen you seem extremely sharp and mature for your age, but at fourteen you likely have very little clue who you will be just a few years down the road. Our teenage years and twenties are periods of rapid life changes and emotional growth. We never know where the future will take us, but never is that more true than our volatile teen years.

Just last year I adopted a red foot from a girl two months in to her first year of college, she couldn't keep it in her dorm and her parents said it had to go. She seemed close to crying when I picked it up.

All cautionary nonsense aside though, don't worry about your age. Be proud that you are as awesome as you are at that age. For the record I don't care one bit. In my opinion you are simply a fellow tortoise keeping peer.
It's so nice to hear that. I don't know where I will go for certain in the future, but my no. 1 dream is to become a vet and at the moment, that is where I hope to be in 10 years. If I couldn't ever take care of Billy for a few months of years, my mum would certainly be able to, which I'm very grateful for.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
There are just so many outside interests that seem to take our younger members away from us. Take for example @russian/sulcata/tortoise - Nick. He was on here all the time when he first found us, but in a couple years it was easy for us to see that 'girls' had entered his sphere of interest. Oh yes, he still has his tortoises and his interest in them, but we only get an every so often picture from him and never any conversation any more.

And that seems to be the way with most of our younger members. So good for you, Bella, for sticking with us. Because there's always something new to learn, and here on the Forum, because we have so very many member world wide, we get that new, cutting edge info and share it with our members.
 

cmacusa3

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2014
Messages
3,191
Location (City and/or State)
Bixby
Girls seem to be the downfall of many teenage boys...

Been there done that myself.
I agree my kids are at the stage now where the torts and turtles aren't so cool or important. My boy is driving and girls are now the focus, my daughter is almost 15 and she's not into them as much either. Both are very knowledgeable about them so maybe they will get back in to them at an older age.

@yillt keep the love and passion for torts, I thinks it's awesome how you feel and all the knowledge you have gained thus far.
 

MPRC

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2015
Messages
3,102
Location (City and/or State)
Oregon
I got my first pet at 5, it was a treefrog. From there I had several and always had a love of reptiles. My first leopard gecko lived for 17 years. I was that quiet introverted kid whose best friend in high school was a 13lb iguana.

My pets have had a big effect on my adult life. I pay more for rent because I need the space. I pay more for power as the pets needs heat. I can't take off for weeks on end because I would need a house sitter, etc. If I wanted to go to college I couldn't have lived in the dorms. Etc.

These are all things young people should consider before buying a tortoise. I got mine as I was closing on buying a house - with room and a yard for them and that fell through and now i'm struggling to find a suitable accommodation for them and myself in a decent price range.
 

yillt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
1,033
@yillt keep the love and passion for torts, I thinks it's awesome how you feel and all the knowledge you have gained thus far.[/QUOTE]
I certainly will, they are a wonderful animal which I hope to be with my whole life.
 

Polly

New Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
29
Location (City and/or State)
Stafford, UK
I think pets are very good for children, young people, families, single and paired adults.
Children who have contact with animals learn so much about compassion and life.
Technically Buddy is my 9 year old son's tortoise. Previously we had not even considered keeping reptiles, although over the years we have successfully had cats, rabbits, hamsters birds and fish. We still have cats and fish and my son does take part in caring for them, but we are under no illusion that he can take full responsibility for them and only after we had done our homework did we agree to take on such a long lived animal.
We know and accept the responsibility for Buddy falls to us as the adults and as our son grows up and explores the world, leaving the family home and probably for a time not be in a position to care for his pet. We know though that he will return to the responsibility as he then settles into his adult life with the childhood pet who has grown up with him.
I hope as he grows into his teenage years he will have the same attitude to the pet he craved that you clearly have and like you will learn as much as he can to care for his pet as you have done. In the the lifetime of a cared for tortoise, the college or travelling years are very short and the rewards of knowing you can care for another are great.
thanks for sharing your experience yillt. I'm sure you will make a great vet!
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
There are just so many outside interests that seem to take our younger members away from us. Take for example @russian/sulcata/tortoise - Nick. He was on here all the time when he first found us, but in a couple years it was easy for us to see that 'girls' had entered his sphere of interest. Oh yes, he still has his tortoises and his interest in them, but we only get an every so often picture from him and never any conversation any more.

This is similar to what I went through.

I got my first box turtle at age 7. I cared for it and loved it until about the age of 17. I temporarily lost interest while going through a really hard time in life in a really hard area of the world. Frankly at that stage in my life surviving to the next day was a challenge. I still loved my turtle, but I felt the right thing to do was give it away to someone who really wanted it and would give it the attention and care that it needed and deserved. Impulsively, I gave Tommy turtle to a 10 year old who was a family friend. After about 15 years I decided to try and get Tommy back, but we've lost touch with those people and it seems that Tommy is gone forever. This will remain one of my biggest regrets of my childhood.

To the original question: All kids are different. A few bad apples spoil the bunch, even though some kids are quite capable of responsibility and dedication.
 
Top