Nearly ready to adopt!

[Romes]

Hello,

We are looking to buy our first tortoise, we have read a number of books and are setting up a table top style home for him/her.

There is only one local shop that sells them and they have these 2x Hermans and 1x Horsefield.

The older Hermans would appear to me to be the better option as being slightly older we get the impression the should be slightly easier to look after.

However I wanted to check that pyramiding on the hermans isn't anything to worry about?

Thanks, all opinions welcome.

 

[Minority2]

Hello,

We are looking to buy our first tortoise, we have read a number of books and are setting up a table top style home for him/her.

There is only one local shop that sells them and they have these 2x Hermans and 1x Horsefield.

The older Hermans would appear to me to be the better option as being slightly older we get the impression the should be slightly easier to look after.

However I wanted to check that pyramiding on the hermans isn't anything to worry about?

Thanks, all opinions welcome.

Stay away from that shop and please read and follow the guidelines to this care sheet and not the ones you've previously learned from:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

I say this because nothing in that picture looks good:
1. Housing different species of tortoises in the same enclosure. No.
2. Pellet substrate. Bad.
3. All three tortoises are obviously pyramided. Bad care practices.
4. Cheap inaccurate temperature/humidity gauge.
5. The enclosure is too small for even one of those adult tortoises.

If you really want me to get into detail I will do so if asked. The point I am trying to make is to not get anywhere near that pet shop if you don't want to bring home a tortoise with possible health issues.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Anytime you see tortoises kept like that, you should avoid them.
You are almost 100% certain to get a sickly tortoise that likely will die or cost you hundreds to keep alive.

 

[TortoiseWarrior]

Welcome....How much are they asking for those tortoises?
Hmmmmm.....The pyramiding is from lack of humidity which I'm sure those guys could be very dehydrated.
They are not on the best substrate.....tooo dry. I won't even ask about the diet. It's risky
We have sellers on the form who can provide a super healthy tort for you. check out our for sale section

T Warrior

 

[Pastel Tortie]

The original poster lives in the UK. Let's see if some of our members there can help out with some more local suggestions for finding a healthy tortoise.
@JoesMum @Lyn W @Mystic_Queen

 

[method89]

Like others have already suggested, nothing looks good about those torts. If you were more familiar and wanted to "save" them i would buy all 3 and rehab them. Since that is not the case, I would look for a happy and healthy tort.


Give the care sheet @Minority2 posted a good read.

 

[Tom]

Hello,

We are looking to buy our first tortoise, we have read a number of books and are setting up a table top style home for him/her.

There is only one local shop that sells them and they have these 2x Hermans and 1x Horsefield.

The older Hermans would appear to me to be the better option as being slightly older we get the impression the should be slightly easier to look after.

However I wanted to check that pyramiding on the hermans isn't anything to worry about?

Thanks, all opinions welcome.

Do yourself a favor and find a better source. Do not reward that pet shop financially for engaging in the all the worst elements of incorrect tortoise care. In fact, I would call them and tell them why you won't be doing business with them and what they need to improve.

 

[JoesMum]

The original poster lives in the UK. Let's see if some of our members there can help out with some more local suggestions for finding a healthy tortoise.
@JoesMum @Lyn W @Mystic_Queen

Unfortunately, the OP is on the island of Guernsey which is nearer France than England. I suspect the options for sourcing tortoises on the island are limited.

 

[stigrk]

we have read a number of books

Knowledge about tortoise care has grown a lot the last few decades. Be careful of trusting what you read in books, it is usually outdated and quite often plain wrong.