So a few times I have seen a couple sulcatas in bad situations, but I have no idea what to do about it. The first is when I checked up on someone who adopted an adult when I was in high school and she said he loves english muffins and vanilla cookies (and has some extreme pyramiding). 0.o The second is when I went to a museum and they had 3-4 redfoots and 3-4 sulcatas, all around the 1 ft mark in this TINY glass cage inside where there was just enough room for them to each turn around in a circle. I was just wondering what anybody else would do in situations like this where tortoises aren't being treated right, but it's not really any of your business. I just always feel bad when i think about them.
How would you react?
- Thread starter nicciu
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Well, I would at least want to speak to someone and try and get them to either join our kick arse forum, or research what they should be doing for them. I got sh*ty with the guy at Uncle Bill's Pet Center in Indy because they were feeding these 2 Russians crap, they had just on strip light and no heat. So in the middle of summer they were at best 71 degrees or so all day every day. I was so mad when I spoke to him I said if I had the damn money I would buy them to get them away from such poor care! He said that they were going to fixthe heat problem but didnt say nothing about the food choices I told him of. I havent been back there since that day.
Last summer, I went to a local 'pet zoo' to have a look around. It was essentially a building in the middle of a local park, and I thought I'd call in and see what they had as I love animal attractions.
Inside, amongst other animals that seemed fairly well-kept, I found two Hermann's tortoises in a small aquarium with no substrate or water, a little bit of food, an ordinary light, no calcium. Just the tortoises, the tank and a scattering of lettuce. A poster was up saying how the original owner had drilled into their shells and put them on chains in the garden, and how they'd rescued them and they were now thriving. You can imagine the feeling I got reading that.
I then moved on and found a Sulcata, in a terrible condition with MBD, on a concrete floor with a flickering light (the sign said it was supposed to flicker - apparently, lots of people had asked about it). The enclosure was approximately 6ft x 6ft, with barely any room for the sulcata to walk, and again there was a small amount of food, no water, no calcium source. At least the Hermann's had been moving. The Sulcata was totally still and looked like it didn't have too long left. On the wall, I found a photocopied letter pinned up from a local animal rights group:
"We are writing to confirm that we have made a visit to check the living conditions of this Sulcata tortoise, following a number of requests from the general public. We confirm that the living conditions are suitable, and have also been told that this tortoise has access to an outdoor enclosure of a similar size for the summer months".
I was very upset. I told my fiancé I needed to leave, and I got home and wrote to the local council and to a different animal rights group. I received a response from the council saying that they'd pass my email on to the relevant department, but I never heard back. I couldn't go back to check on them, as I thought nothing had been done and I didn't want to see them in that state again, but a friend went a month later and told me there were no tortoises there. No idea what happened to them, but I firmly believe that anything would have been better than that situation.
I've also been to a zoo where the tortoises were kept in entirely unsuitable conditions, including a redfoot on dry sand with high temperatures and no humidity and a small russian (with bad MBD) in with many pyramiding leopards. In that case, I took a feedback form, wrote PTO on their little comments box and described the proper care on the back, saying that I was disappointed to see such bad care and hoped the situation would improve as I really value having a zoo so close to home.
The state of those tortoises really, really upsets me, but it isn't just that. Before I take on responsibility for another life, I do my research and make sure I'm prepared. There aren't many animals I know how to care for properly, because I haven't needed to learn. I now recognise bad tortoise care when I'm at animal attractions, but if I see it I'm also wondering how many other animals are being kept in sub-par conditions.
Inside, amongst other animals that seemed fairly well-kept, I found two Hermann's tortoises in a small aquarium with no substrate or water, a little bit of food, an ordinary light, no calcium. Just the tortoises, the tank and a scattering of lettuce. A poster was up saying how the original owner had drilled into their shells and put them on chains in the garden, and how they'd rescued them and they were now thriving. You can imagine the feeling I got reading that.
I then moved on and found a Sulcata, in a terrible condition with MBD, on a concrete floor with a flickering light (the sign said it was supposed to flicker - apparently, lots of people had asked about it). The enclosure was approximately 6ft x 6ft, with barely any room for the sulcata to walk, and again there was a small amount of food, no water, no calcium source. At least the Hermann's had been moving. The Sulcata was totally still and looked like it didn't have too long left. On the wall, I found a photocopied letter pinned up from a local animal rights group:
"We are writing to confirm that we have made a visit to check the living conditions of this Sulcata tortoise, following a number of requests from the general public. We confirm that the living conditions are suitable, and have also been told that this tortoise has access to an outdoor enclosure of a similar size for the summer months".
I was very upset. I told my fiancé I needed to leave, and I got home and wrote to the local council and to a different animal rights group. I received a response from the council saying that they'd pass my email on to the relevant department, but I never heard back. I couldn't go back to check on them, as I thought nothing had been done and I didn't want to see them in that state again, but a friend went a month later and told me there were no tortoises there. No idea what happened to them, but I firmly believe that anything would have been better than that situation.
I've also been to a zoo where the tortoises were kept in entirely unsuitable conditions, including a redfoot on dry sand with high temperatures and no humidity and a small russian (with bad MBD) in with many pyramiding leopards. In that case, I took a feedback form, wrote PTO on their little comments box and described the proper care on the back, saying that I was disappointed to see such bad care and hoped the situation would improve as I really value having a zoo so close to home.
The state of those tortoises really, really upsets me, but it isn't just that. Before I take on responsibility for another life, I do my research and make sure I'm prepared. There aren't many animals I know how to care for properly, because I haven't needed to learn. I now recognise bad tortoise care when I'm at animal attractions, but if I see it I'm also wondering how many other animals are being kept in sub-par conditions.
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Here in savannah there is a new kids toy store and they have a fairly large sully on display in the front window. They say he is the "most famous tort in GA" but I have searched the internet and found nothing. He is in a small window in the front of the shop with the sun beating down on him all day. He has enough room to take a step or 2 then he has to turn. He is also pretty badly pyramided and had some dry flakey area on his shell. I Emailed the owner and he assured me that the tort was in perfect health per a visit from 2 vets from the biggest zoo in america. And from my experience not all zoos give their animals the best care. I have seen several where they just gave the animals the bare minimum. So him saying those vets told him the tort was perfect means nothing to me if it looks like that. the tort didn't have water either. And in my email I asked several questions and very few were answered. Like does he get out and if so is it everyday? What does his diet consist of? ( he had fruit and only fruit when i was there. But none of the really important questions were answered. Which leads me to believe that nothing is being done correctly. Idk what to do for the poor thing
This is just alful! I hate when I go into pet stores and see this!!!!
I wish the people that worked in those places wouldnt get so angry when people speek up and try to give advice. They should want the best for the turtles/torts!! We are only trying to help! Right???
I wish the people that worked in those places wouldnt get so angry when people speek up and try to give advice. They should want the best for the turtles/torts!! We are only trying to help! Right???
Has anyone thought about adding what we have learned on here to like wikipedia? I think you can add stuff to it. I know I looked there when I first got mine. If the info is out there more it might help. I think tom should do it I think he could write something up that could really help people out.
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