Hello everyone!
I'm still new to this forum, and actually have never participated in any other type of forum before. Anyways, I thought my post would fit best in this section my apologies if it would have been best placed somewhere else.
Today my wife and I had the opportunity of volunteering at the Phoenix Herpetological Society (www.phoenixherps.com for more info!). Great facility, and we really got the sense that the animals there were being cared for in the most humane and proper manner. As a quick summary they basically take in unwanted / abused / illegal reptiles and attempt to relocate them or provide a permanent home there at the facility.
We were given the WONDERFUL task of raking up sulcata poop! (Not complaining just being a smart a**, it was actually quite rewarding . They had two large pens absolutely full of adult sulcatas. I tried to count and ended up close to 200. I ran into the veterinarian I take my tortoises to who volunteers there as well, and we told him how shocked we were at the amount of sulcatas there were. He told us how it is a problem; a lot of people just don’t know what they’re getting into with these types of tortoises.
It was really quite sad to see so many grown sulcatas there that people either gave up or mistreated. Granted I’m sure some of those came from families affected by the current economy, there were just so many. All of them had amazing personalities. As soon as we got in the pen they all came running towards us, they let us pet their heads, and tried to bite our feet…what more could you ask for in a pet tortoise?
Who would ever give up such an animal? A rhetorical question I guess as I’m sure most of us familiar with tortoises know sulcatas breed so well and the young sell so well, it’s short term satisfaction…long term responsibility that so many people don’t want. After today I almost feel angry at those types of people. So I guess my issue is with the breeders out to make a quick buck, and buyers who don’t do their homework. After saying that, I should point out that there are responsible sulcata breeders out there, but it seems to me those types are few and far between.
So, if anyone else sees this as an issue…what can WE do about it? Surely there are enough members here with some prominence in the tortoise community that we can start some kind of, I don’t know awareness or, dare I say, movement. If you really have a passion for these animals I would hope you would at least give that question some thought and not conclude that there is nothing of great significance we could do about it. Maybe nothing will really come of this discussion, or maybe I’m not making any sense, but after seeing what I did today I agree with my vet that there is a problem here with these tortoises and I feel I should at the least bring awareness of this issue but more than that I am willing to put my neck out there and DO something about it. What exactly I don’t know, but I am hopeful something tangible would come from this discussion.
I'm still new to this forum, and actually have never participated in any other type of forum before. Anyways, I thought my post would fit best in this section my apologies if it would have been best placed somewhere else.
Today my wife and I had the opportunity of volunteering at the Phoenix Herpetological Society (www.phoenixherps.com for more info!). Great facility, and we really got the sense that the animals there were being cared for in the most humane and proper manner. As a quick summary they basically take in unwanted / abused / illegal reptiles and attempt to relocate them or provide a permanent home there at the facility.
We were given the WONDERFUL task of raking up sulcata poop! (Not complaining just being a smart a**, it was actually quite rewarding . They had two large pens absolutely full of adult sulcatas. I tried to count and ended up close to 200. I ran into the veterinarian I take my tortoises to who volunteers there as well, and we told him how shocked we were at the amount of sulcatas there were. He told us how it is a problem; a lot of people just don’t know what they’re getting into with these types of tortoises.
It was really quite sad to see so many grown sulcatas there that people either gave up or mistreated. Granted I’m sure some of those came from families affected by the current economy, there were just so many. All of them had amazing personalities. As soon as we got in the pen they all came running towards us, they let us pet their heads, and tried to bite our feet…what more could you ask for in a pet tortoise?
Who would ever give up such an animal? A rhetorical question I guess as I’m sure most of us familiar with tortoises know sulcatas breed so well and the young sell so well, it’s short term satisfaction…long term responsibility that so many people don’t want. After today I almost feel angry at those types of people. So I guess my issue is with the breeders out to make a quick buck, and buyers who don’t do their homework. After saying that, I should point out that there are responsible sulcata breeders out there, but it seems to me those types are few and far between.
So, if anyone else sees this as an issue…what can WE do about it? Surely there are enough members here with some prominence in the tortoise community that we can start some kind of, I don’t know awareness or, dare I say, movement. If you really have a passion for these animals I would hope you would at least give that question some thought and not conclude that there is nothing of great significance we could do about it. Maybe nothing will really come of this discussion, or maybe I’m not making any sense, but after seeing what I did today I agree with my vet that there is a problem here with these tortoises and I feel I should at the least bring awareness of this issue but more than that I am willing to put my neck out there and DO something about it. What exactly I don’t know, but I am hopeful something tangible would come from this discussion.