Check out what this website says

[tortoises101]

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pet-turtles-that-stay-small.html

The part with the speckled padlopers, saying they eat small succulents which makes their care all the easier totally drove me up a wall. Saying people don't have to worry much the behavior, care, or dietary habits of these turtles is also something that disgusts me. Then again, I might be overreacting, but if a beginner is reading this care sheet I really hope they don't get misleaded.

 

[dmarcus]

It's like he is telling people they don't have to take care of the small turtle, they can basically take care of themselves.

 

[Tom]

You guys can bet that anyone who actually acquires a speckled padloper will take VERY good care of it. They are very hard to come by.

 

[HLogic]

Did you send feedback? I did:

Your assessment of the care required for turtles and tortoises is substantially lacking. Your suggestion that keeping a padloper pet "keeping it as a pet becomes all the more easier" insinuates an overall simplicity - far from the truth with these diminutive chelonians... Stating "you don't even have to spend a fortune on their housing or care" is shortsighted. In most cases, you can expect to spend more than the cost of the specimen on the enclosure and many times that in care over the life of the animal. And not last and certainly not least, padlopers are NOT aquatic!

 

[terryo]

Art, I saw your feedback. I only gave one sentence.

 

[dmmj]

I like the padloper it is cute, are they available for people to own, and what do they run?

 

[tortoises101]

Art, good idea. Maybe I should try that.

dmmj: they typically run $3500+ for a captive bred animal and are very hard to come by like what Tom said. They aren't endangered, but they are vulnerable/threatened. Any padloper will likely need a permit to own.

 

[GBtortoises]

Speckled padlopers, Homopus signatus signatus and H. s. cafer are completely protected from collection in their native land and I believe are a category II animal in CITES.
I had a trio of Homopus signatus signatus along with a group of 2.4 Parrot Beaks, Homopus areolatus about 20 years ago. Even then they were considered rare and about $350-500 each. Nowadays, they're nearly non-existant in captivity.
If only I knew then what I know now...!

 

[bikerchicspain]

I have been looking for a speckled padopler for the last year or so, but my search has been unsuccessful.

 

[Squirtle Time]

I don't think you are overreacting. I am a beginner and because of sites like that I triple check information from different sources.

 

[HLogic]

I think all tortoises (and maybe all chelonians) are classified as CITES II or I.

 

[tortoises101]

I think all tortoises (and maybe all chelonians) are classified as CITES II or I.

What about species like RES? Many NA boxies, painteds, musk turtles/mud turtles of United States and Canada, etc are also very common.

 

[GBtortoises]

Many native species are becoming illegal to own without permits in some states. Even very common species in some cases. As of a few years ago ALL native species of turtles and even some common non-native species are protected and require permits to own here in New York State.

 

[tortoises101]

Many native species are becoming illegal to own without permits in some states. Even very common species in some cases. As of a few years ago ALL native species of turtles and even some common non-native species are protected and require permits to own here in New York State.

I was referring to the status over their entire population, not for seperate states/regions. Take the loggerhead musk turtle, for example. They're classified as Least Concern in North America and many people see more loggerheads than crayfish in Northern FL yet they're still classified as threatened in FL.

 

[GBtortoises]

As the states go, so goes the whole country.

In the U.S., depending upon the level of public or special interest group concern, something that becomes a law in one state usually soon catches the attention of another state and so and so on. Sometimes not necessarily with legitimate justification.