Looking to buy a russian tortoise in australia

[weatherchangesmoods]

Hi all,

I have been doing a lot of researching and have my heart set on having a tortoise as a pet. I am specifically looking for a small tortoise like a russian tortoise. Does anyone know where I might be able to get one in Australia?

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome

 

[sibi]

Hi! It's a long ways to Australia. Shipping would be tough, but not impossible. I would contact o e of our breeders here and see if they'll ship there. Better yet, you may want to contact a breeder in Asia or Africa to see if they breed Russians there. Shipping would be easier. Best to you!

 

[reatrocity]

Welcome! Unfortunately, even though I know someone from Aus, he probably couldn't tell me a lick about tortoises, let alone caring for tortoises in Australia. From the information I gathered, parts or all of Australia seem to require a reptile license. It seems as though getting your hands on a tortoise there might be a bit trickier than it would be in the US. You're in luck though, because I could very well be wrong on this, it's just what I've been reading.

From doing a search, I found this forum here: www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com.au/forum/

I don't know how awesome that forum is, looks like they probably are blocking US IPs so I can't have a look myself. Hopefully however, they may be able to lead you in the direction you want, as well as see all that you may need to do in order to care for/purchasing a tortoise in Oz. Whenever I look up anything about Australia + tortoises, they seem to come up. So I hope that link is useful to you!

Soooo sorry I can't be much help! In my defense, I'm a newbie. I hope someone else on here can give you more information. Whenever you find the answers you're looking for, please update us. I'm legitimately curious what it's like to own a tortoise in Oz.

Good luck with everything!

 

[laney]

I could be totally wrong but I remember hearing a while back that you couldn't have tortoises in Australia hopefully that's wrong though!! Be careful with the wording too as I think they call tortoises turtles or vice versa.
Good luck, let us know how you get on.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Jennifer. I hope you are able to find what you are looking for.

Here's a list of reptile dealers in Australia:

http://www.smuggled.com/herdea1.htm

 

[reatrocity]

I did have this discussion with my Aussie friend last night about turtles/tortoises. From what I gathered, there are no native tortoises (like what we think of tortoises) in Australia. They consider their semi-aquatic turtles to be tortoises (like our box turtle, for example). I came to the conclusion that this slight change in labels is due to the fact there are no native clubbed foot-type tortoises there.

Unfortunately, Oz also seems to be one of the strictest countries in terms of importation of reptiles, even if the reptile being imported is of a native species. This is due to their fear of invasive species wrecking their ecosystems, which is understandable. Since there are no land based tortoises there, you might only be able to get your hands on a native semi-aquatic turtle at best. . This would explain why there is not an Aus equivalent of a "tortoise forum" or anywhere near it aside from the Aus freshwater turtles link above.

So yeah, it may be illegal to keep tortoise there. I hope I'm wrong for your sake, definitely. Please let us know what you find out! Either that forum, or calling one of the reptile dealers in Oz might be your best bet. Good luck with everything!

 

[TortoiseseekerOz]

Any luck in finding a source for that Russian Tortoise?
I'm also looking for a land tortoise as a pet and willing to do what I need to do to get one

If you got any leads or anyone can help feel free to PM me

Hi all,

I have been doing a lot of researching and have my heart set on having a tortoise as a pet. I am specifically looking for a small tortoise like a russian tortoise. Does anyone know where I might be able to get one in Australia?