laramill
Member
I know this could be up for debate, but I'm really hoping people will stop buying wild-caught tortoises-- These aren't pets, they're wild animals, and therefore, when in captivity, they are like prisoners no matter how great your care of them is.
If we would stop purchasing them from the PetSmarts and PetCos, etc, they would find buying them unprofitable and would stop creating a demand for them to be collected from the wild.
Wild populations have been depleted of other species-- and as people notice this, those species become better regulated, and so the pet trade moves on to a new species-- Right now it's the Russian (that is, when they can even tell what they are pulling from the wild, which, if you read this forum, seems to be often wrong.)
We saw this happen years ago with parrots as well-- and finally birds stopped being imported-- But how many died before this? And how many wild-caught birds lived out their lives as prisoners first??
Anyone who has ever dealt with a feral cat knows there is a difference between a kitten that has been raised in a loving home with humans, and one that has been raised wild-- and you usually cannot make that feral kitten become the same good pet that a human-raised one is.
Beside this-- Pet stores give out poor information on pet care-- suggesting and selling customers things that are dead wrong for the best care of many animals they sell. Why support this practice?
For example-- Look at the photos below. This was a female Russian in a PetCo store in Plover Wisconsin. She was kept with little substrate in a very dry tank with THREE MALES. (correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it best, if these must be housed together at all, to keep at least 3 females with one male and with a ton of visual blocks as well as hiding places?) I took these photos because her back claws were so long she could not put her feet on the floor, so they are focused on her back feet.
(One of the photos was one of the 3 males, trying to huddle in the corner behind a water dish with the other 2)
(to be fair-- I first spoke with store personal (who did not seem receptive, though they were polite, but said they were following "PetCo pet care policy") and I then posted them on Twitter with a PetCo hashtag and promptly received a call from a district manager. She assured me that the tort had been taken to a vet and they had their claws trimmed and were also changing her diet because she was overweight. Since this is over an hour from my house, I unfortunately haven't had time to go back and check on the situation. However, this was a huge, beautiful tortoise and it killed me that it was being so poorly treated and neglected!)
I'm also including photos of a tortoise I saw at the Wausau Wisconsin PetCo. While he didn't seem in too bad of shape, he had no substrate and you can tell from their own humidity dial-- ZERO, ZILCH, NADA for moisture. I also tweeted these photos with the petco hashtag and a "please give him some substrate" message and got no response. I will try to get back there this week to see if there is any difference.
Our closest PetSmart hasn't had Russians in over a year, and I hope they don't get any!!
I implore anyone that is at a pet store and sees this type of thing to TWEET IT WITH A HASHTAG of the store name. Be polite and just request proper care. If anyone contacts you, please ask them not to sell wild-caught animals and remedy the care issues of the ones they already have stolen from the wild. (I asked the district manager of PetCo about this, and she said that they could not get the "numbers they need" of tortoises from breeders. Think of that-- how many are they collecting then???)
If you really care about tortoises and their long-term survival in this world-- DO NOT BUY FROM PET STORES or any source that sells wild-caught tortoises! Either find one that needs a new home, or find a good breeder on line, and let the pet stores know why you don't buy from them. PLEASE. Don't support what they are doing by rewarding them with your dollars.
When I took in Wilson last Sept., I made a promise to him as well as myself that this is something I wouldn't let go... I hope you'll make your torts the same promise!
If we would stop purchasing them from the PetSmarts and PetCos, etc, they would find buying them unprofitable and would stop creating a demand for them to be collected from the wild.
Wild populations have been depleted of other species-- and as people notice this, those species become better regulated, and so the pet trade moves on to a new species-- Right now it's the Russian (that is, when they can even tell what they are pulling from the wild, which, if you read this forum, seems to be often wrong.)
We saw this happen years ago with parrots as well-- and finally birds stopped being imported-- But how many died before this? And how many wild-caught birds lived out their lives as prisoners first??
Anyone who has ever dealt with a feral cat knows there is a difference between a kitten that has been raised in a loving home with humans, and one that has been raised wild-- and you usually cannot make that feral kitten become the same good pet that a human-raised one is.
Beside this-- Pet stores give out poor information on pet care-- suggesting and selling customers things that are dead wrong for the best care of many animals they sell. Why support this practice?
For example-- Look at the photos below. This was a female Russian in a PetCo store in Plover Wisconsin. She was kept with little substrate in a very dry tank with THREE MALES. (correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it best, if these must be housed together at all, to keep at least 3 females with one male and with a ton of visual blocks as well as hiding places?) I took these photos because her back claws were so long she could not put her feet on the floor, so they are focused on her back feet.
(One of the photos was one of the 3 males, trying to huddle in the corner behind a water dish with the other 2)
(to be fair-- I first spoke with store personal (who did not seem receptive, though they were polite, but said they were following "PetCo pet care policy") and I then posted them on Twitter with a PetCo hashtag and promptly received a call from a district manager. She assured me that the tort had been taken to a vet and they had their claws trimmed and were also changing her diet because she was overweight. Since this is over an hour from my house, I unfortunately haven't had time to go back and check on the situation. However, this was a huge, beautiful tortoise and it killed me that it was being so poorly treated and neglected!)
I'm also including photos of a tortoise I saw at the Wausau Wisconsin PetCo. While he didn't seem in too bad of shape, he had no substrate and you can tell from their own humidity dial-- ZERO, ZILCH, NADA for moisture. I also tweeted these photos with the petco hashtag and a "please give him some substrate" message and got no response. I will try to get back there this week to see if there is any difference.
Our closest PetSmart hasn't had Russians in over a year, and I hope they don't get any!!
I implore anyone that is at a pet store and sees this type of thing to TWEET IT WITH A HASHTAG of the store name. Be polite and just request proper care. If anyone contacts you, please ask them not to sell wild-caught animals and remedy the care issues of the ones they already have stolen from the wild. (I asked the district manager of PetCo about this, and she said that they could not get the "numbers they need" of tortoises from breeders. Think of that-- how many are they collecting then???)
If you really care about tortoises and their long-term survival in this world-- DO NOT BUY FROM PET STORES or any source that sells wild-caught tortoises! Either find one that needs a new home, or find a good breeder on line, and let the pet stores know why you don't buy from them. PLEASE. Don't support what they are doing by rewarding them with your dollars.
When I took in Wilson last Sept., I made a promise to him as well as myself that this is something I wouldn't let go... I hope you'll make your torts the same promise!
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