Obese tortoises at pet shop?

[squirrelkitty]

I went to two (awful) pet shops yesterday to look for some stuff for my Hermann's hatchling and I noticed something about their Russian and Greek Spurthigh babies: they had very thick hind legs. I'm not sure what those species are supposed to look like but their hind legs looked weird to me (unfortunately I didn't take pictures). So I was just wondering whether they could be obese?
They fed them iceberg lettuce and bell peppers.
I'm not sure how old they were, but they were labelled as 'babies' and were about the size of a palm of the hand. They had several growth rings, maybe three or four. Their overall shape was very round and there wasn't really a gap between the shell and limbs.
Don't worry I'm not going to buy any animals from that shop.
I'm just curious what these species are supposed to look like.

 

[squirrelkitty]

I've found photos from their websites. But the babies I saw had thicker hind legs than those in the second picture.

 

[JoesMum]

I am more concerned by the calcium in the substrate than I am by their legs. They look normal to me.

Why do they make substrate which encourages the tortoise to eat it? And it is so dry.

 

[squirrelkitty]

I am more concerned by the calcium in the substrate than I am by their legs. They look normal to me.

Why do they make substrate which encourages the tortoise to eat it? And it is so dry.

I know the enclosures at both shops looked very dry. (I have to increase the humidity in my baby's enclosure, too, but it isn't half as bad as those were.)

 

[TammyJ]

Unscrupulous and irresponsible/greedy pet shop owners and managers really have the best of everything, don't they?
Knowledgeable people buy animals from them because they feel sorry for the animals and, knowing that they can provide a much better life for them, are motivated to "rescue" them from their suffering.
Ignorant customers, who have not much knowledge of their specific care, buy these animals because they are so cute and adorable.
Just a "win/win" for the sellers.

 

[squirrelkitty]

Unscrupulous and irresponsible/greedy pet shop owners and managers really have the best of everything, don't they?
Knowledgeable people buy animals from them because they feel sorry for the animals and, knowing that they can provide a much better life for them, are motivated to "rescue" them from their suffering.
Ignorant customers, who have not much knowledge of their specific care, buy these animals because they are so cute and adorable.
Just a "win/win" for the sellers.

I know. I'm not saying I'm doing everything right with my baby, far from it, but I hope I'm not doing it completely wrong either... But yesterday at one of the shops a kid asked his mum what tortoises eat and she said the like lettuce and strawberries. The shop assistant didn't contradict her. Great. I mean a little bit of fruit as a treat once in a while won't kill the tort, but she thinks they can eat strawberries all the time and the assistant didn't care...those people bought a tort for their kid.

 

[JoesMum]

I know. I'm not saying I'm doing everything right with my baby, far from it, but I hope I'm not doing it completely wrong either... But yesterday at one of the shops a kid asked his mum what tortoises eat and she said the like lettuce and strawberries. The shop assistant didn't contradict her. Great. I mean a little bit of fruit as a treat once in a while won't kill the tort, but she thinks they can eat strawberries all the time and the assistant didn't care...those people bought a tort for their kid.

It happens all the time unfortunately