jjaymeza
Active Member
Wanting to find a good Aldabra breeder if possible anyone know of any good ones?
Just look for ALDABRAMAN on this forum. I don't think you could ever do better that that!!Wanting to find a good Aldabra breeder if possible anyone know of any good ones?
I've tried messaging but I'm not able to for some reason. How do I get a hold of him.Just look for ALDABRAMAN on this forum. I don't think you could ever do better that that!!
Thank you yeah his email must have changed cause I just now saw a new one.his email was posted in his thread
ALDABRA TORTOISE BREEDER not long ago i think he said email is the best way to contact him
There seem to be only a few breeders in the country. I think Aldabraman is the only one selling only USA bred and hatched babies. There are a few others that sell imported 4"-6" babies, including Sam at Florida Iguana, and Chris at Toucan Jungle. I've had good luck with both.
I simply do not know if aldabraman has any available. Typically I believe he has a long waiting list, but he’d have to confirm.
I've tried messaging but I'm not able to for some reason. How do I get a hold of him.
I’ve seen Sam and Chris’s prices do you know roughly around how much he sells hatchlings for?
Not offended, but I've heard all sorts of horror stories of dead or sick tortoises and bad business practices. Word gets around. Know how many times I've ever heard anything bad about Aldabraman? Zero. Nothing but 100% customer satisfaction and healthy tortoises coming out of his breeding program. Why wouldn't I recommend that over an importer or broker? Why wouldn't you?Sam’s prices are all public. You’d have to contact Chris about his. Aldabraman’s animals seem to be excellent, but he’s not the only trustworthy source. No offense to aldabraman but for some reason people here seem to get offended if you suggest anyone else. I would have purchased from aldabraman myself but at the time the wait was longer than I wanted.
I know of no one else captive breeding Aldabra tortoises that I would recommend. Its not about the industry or anyone else's integrity. Its about one member recommending a breeder based on personal experience with that breeder, and zero experience with any other breeder. I don't know of anyone else even producing Aldabras in this country, but I have had several first hand reports of disaster from people dealing with brokers and importers. If you know of a breeder that also does a good job and demonstrates a high level of integrity, then this would be the time and place to recommend them. If I were in the market for an Aldabra, I would buy from no one other than Aldabraman. If you have someone else that you prefer, I can't argue one way or the other.You didn’t just recommend him Tom, you said “wait for Aldabraman, trust me”. This suggest others are bad. You do the industry no favors by saying that there is only one person with integrity. It’s simply not true.
I know of no one else captive breeding Aldabra tortoises that I would recommend. Its not about the industry or anyone else's integrity. Its about one member recommending a breeder based on personal experience with that breeder, and zero experience with any other breeder. I don't know of anyone else even producing Aldabras in this country, but I have had several first hand reports of disaster from people dealing with brokers and importers. If you know of a breeder that also does a good job and demonstrates a high level of integrity, then this would be the time and place to recommend them. If I were in the market for an Aldabra, I would buy from no one other than Aldabraman. If you have someone else that you prefer, I can't argue one way or the other.
If jjaymeza bought a tortoise from Aldabraman, I know that things would go great. If jjaymeza were to buy from an importer/broker, I couldn't make any such guarantee.
You really need to ask why a domestically bred tortoise from someone like Aldabraman is better than an international import? Who bred the import? What care was it given? How was it housed and fed? How much tortoise experience does the person/people taking care of this import have? What other tortoises or other reptiles was this tortoise exposed to before shipping, during shipping, or after shipping? How long was the journey and how were temperature maintained during the journey?If you read my comment you saw that I said Aldabraman might be the only US breeder. What’s the obsession with US bred aldabras anyways? Seems silly. Until recently ALL Aldabras were imported. Are they all bad. I have 3 exceptionally healthy Aldabras from two different people - as I mentioned. Sam has the best guarantee in the business. Better than all the others. He stands behind his animals.
You really need to ask why a domestically bred tortoise from someone like Aldabraman is better than an international import? Who bred the import? What care was it given? How was it housed and fed? How much tortoise experience does the person/people taking care of this import have? What other tortoises or other reptiles was this tortoise exposed to before shipping, during shipping, or after shipping? How long was the journey and how were temperature maintained during the journey?
If you really want a tortoise and there is no other way to go, then by all means do what you need to do, and take the necessary steps/precautions to minimize risk. But when there is a clearly MUCH better alternative, why would you admonish me for recommending it?
Come on man… There is not even a question of which way to go here.
Of course there is still a question! All of Aldabramans breeders were imported and they seem to be acceptable to you, but now all of a sudden ONLY U.S. bred and hatched are worth owning? When an importer stands behind their animals, what else do you need? If you think your risk is mitigated by going local bred - great, go for it. But it’s irresponsible and factless to say that others are lesser quantity. You’ve “heard stories”, I don’t know “where these tortoises have been”. “All importers are bad, all local breeders are good”......Get facts and get back to me. I’m not going to keep arguing with you.
When you import tortoises, as I have in the 80's and early 90's, you take a risk. I had to go through rigorous quarantining procedures and health checks and always treatment for parasites. Almost 1/2 of the animals imported would not do well and many would die. In some species it was well over 80% would fail to ever adapt and thrive. You are left with the stronger ones that perhaps were better treated before, or not exposed to other species in shipment/holding pens, etc, etc. But the ones you end up with after a few years of nurturing can indeed become great founder stock for a breeding colony. We always went through the same process with wild caught animals. But ALWAYS the attrition rate was extremely high in finding the ones that become the clean and healthy stock for a colony.I see truth on both sides of the fence I really do wonder where the aldabraman imported his tortoises from to trust that source to begin with.