My tort vet used, key word is used, to provide them services, but he told me a very bad story about it. It involved euthanizing several native desert tortoises due to cross contamination, read disease caught from, the sullies when staff went between the pens feeding. Needless to say, he doesn't do their vet services any longer. I took my cub scout troop there to tour the facility and asked them several questions about their over crowding and care of their animals, specifically their tortoises. It was kind of glazed over by the staff. They have some nice habitats for other types of reptiles and do provide some level of education to the public, but I did tell my scouts that their tortoise housing was not correct.
Tortoises, hundreds, all getting along
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I think they have a lot of volunteers working there. So maybe their training of them isn't up to par? I am not beholding to them in any way so my questions are just that, questions. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they do take in animals that people no longer want. How could they properly house that many tortoises? You can't really have plants growing because they would be mowed down in no time. I don't know how much land they have left to develop, if any, for them to separate them all. Turning them away when people bring them in would probably result in people abandoning them in the desert where they would probably die a horrible death. So what is the answer? I sure don't have any ideas.
I do know there are way too many people breeding animals that there are not enough good homes for. Animals of all kinds, furred, feathered, finned, and scaled.
My thoughts are they are hoarders. A responsible person or group only keeps the animals they can have adequate room and resources for, this place fails that. They also breed and sale these animals, thus creating even more problems.
I think they have a lot of volunteers working there. So maybe their training of them isn't up to par? I am not beholding to them in any way so my questions are just that, questions. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they do take in animals that people no longer want. How could they properly house that many tortoises? You can't really have plants growing because they would be mowed down in no time. I don't know how much land they have left to develop, if any, for them to separate them all. Turning them away when people bring them in would probably result in people abandoning them in the desert where they would probably die a horrible death. So what is the answer? I sure don't have any ideas.
I would think to not allow more to be reproduced at their over crowded facility would be a great start. To allow adoptions of what they have at a lower cost, so more could be adopted out (as I recall you pay so much a pound there for the big guys). Housing by gender would also be a step forward.
They charge by the pound? That's crazy! Yes, they should be separating the males from the females. Those crazy tortoises really go at it! LOL My concern would be where do the unwanted tortoises wind up though? If they are being sold for cheap, more people would buy them and not take care of them. It's a real problem, not just for reptiles but for dogs and cats and anything else people think they can breed to make a buck. Or they buy it when it's a baby then give it up when the novelty wears off.
Yes, they need to stop letting them breed there. I'm not sure about charging less for them though. That concerns me because then more people that shouldn't have them would be buying them and getting the crazy idea to breed them. Or just buying them then not taking care of them because they think, "Oh well, if it dies we didn't pay much for it anyway."
turtlemanfla88
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I understand and agree with a reasonable adoption fee,but there are a lot of people that put money before the animals. like rehoming fees on craiglist.
This will always be debatable but I disagree. Although I'm sure that is the case sometimes, I have known plenty of people that make great homes for pets (shelled or not) and didn't pay any fee to acquire the animal.
tortoisetime565
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This is sad. That pen is only suitable for one maybe 2 small sulcatas.
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I've always wondered if you could spread it to other torts if you have more than one species. Is washing your hands enough? Would you need to change too? Cross contamination would be awful.
See that theory is one people often use, but it doesn't hold all that much water. Look at the shelters at all the purebred dogs in there. Look at the horse rescues with their expensive animals. Having a high price does not make you above abuse and neglect.
Also consider what folks think about tortoise care when a place such as this which should know better, treats their animals this way.
If you walked in the enclosure, then your feet would carry things too. If you had the animal against your clothes, those too would carry things. Then think of flies and other insects and rodents going from one enclosure to another.
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omg! You can't really avoid it then...if it can be spread by pests?!
Is this true for all people who have more than 1 species of torts...or just certain torts?
Different things can or could be possibly spread by different ways. The thing is, you need to do what you can to limit as much as possible the spread of things.
@KatieandKyle here is the thread I wanted to point you to..
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It's tough to wrap my brain around. How disheartening. The video is completely accurate.
Thanks Heather
It was due to people walking between different habitats without proper hygene, carrying fecal matter on their shoes.
I know several members have made it out that they are a rescue facility, which they are to a certain extent. Unfortunatey, they are really a for profit facility selling sulcatas and other tortoises they bring in. They cannot sell the desert tortoises, so their health concerns are secondary.
annastortoise
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I almost want to get a tortoise from there,to try and help it...but i do NOT want to support that kind of hoarding, especially with torties </3
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