Tortoise leash and outfits?

ZEROPILOT

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Rue

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It would be handy to help keep an eye out on them...if you take yours out to graze....keeps them visible...
 

madge1234

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Hello!

I also make tortoise cozies. I was inspired to do so when I lost my tortoise last summer, and I received permission to make them from Katie Bradley (the originator of the tortoise cozy who has "retired" from cozy-making). Luckily, my pet was eventually found!

Now my tortoise wears one when she roams outdoors so I can easily spot her, and she also wears one when she roams indoors so nobody steps on her. Definitely not for warmth! More for safety and for looking really cute.

This is a link to my Etsy shop, in case anyone is interested!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheTortoiseCozyShop
 

Rue

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Still giggling at the Yoda tortoise...:D
 

Deee

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There are some stupid laws in this country that's for sure. I transport my tortoise in a 3 gallon Rubbermaid bin to take her to the vet. I wouldn't take my tortoise to a park because of possible chemicals. Also you don't know when an unleashed dog could come up and grab your tortoise. That may sound far-fetched so to speak well that was a bad pun, anyway but it actually happens to me. I had my tortoise out on the front porch getting some sun and this pitbull all of a sudden came running up. I grabbed my tortoise and kicked the dog in the head. I love animals but not when they are going after my animals. So now my tortoise is never out front, always in the backyard behind a 6 foot fence.
"I grabbed my tortoise and kicked the dog in the head" hahahaha this was me a few weeks ago when a lizard ran up to Frankie. She held her own though. Wasn't traumatized. She just hid in her shell until the lizard was gone then she was back out playing.
 

Levi the Leopard

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I'm not a "play Barbie" gal with my tortoise BUT I HAVE used a leash on my tortoise.
I did not do it to be cute or to play dress up but to make sure I didn't lose him during an event.

My kids participate in a local garden class every summer. We know all the gardeners and they are an organic, pesticide free place. It's a small, local place. They have a lot of mallow (my torts favorite weed to eat) on the grounds and we harvest it for him weekly. At the end of the summer, we all gather together for a garden party to harvest produce and eat lunch. I bring Levi to the party, leash him up and all the kids LOVE taking turns holding the leash as he walks through the garden munching on mallow and other weeds.

Levi isn't stressed by it, he walks around eating in the same manner he does at home. The leash isn't 100% escape/slip off proof but he's not left alone tied up either.

I just used a dog collar around his shell. Nothing special, but at least the "I looked away for only a second and he was gone" scenario won't happen.

If you have an area that you can KNOW is safe for your tortoise to eat and your kid wants to hold a leash to prevent an "oops where'd the turtle go" incident, then do it.

To answer your original question, there are no special tortoise leashes that I've found. So get creative.


These are photos from the 2016 summer party. I didn't take him this year because the weather was cold and cloudy on the day of the party. Levi wouldn't have enjoyed that.
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the Turtle Shepherd

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if you must have one you can easily make one yourself from no sew thick felt :) glue or stitch, voila :) a little dino:) no crochet skills necessary:) as a mom i bet you have lots of felt laying around from all the previous years of halloween costume making :) good luck :)
 

Reptilian Feline

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I think that a harness with leash for a tort could be made of soft leather from an old jacket and a regular dog leash. I would model it after the plastron with two straps on either side between front legs and head, two straps (broader from the sides and two straps from between back legs and tail. Then fatseners over the shell to keep snug and a ring to attach the leash. It ought to be easy to put on and soft enough if the legs rub against it on occation and safe so it won't slip out front or back. If needed, that's what I would do.
 

Redfool

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Is that one of those thunder leashes that calms pets like they have for dogs? My RFs could use one when they go out of control crazy. [emoji259][emoji217]
 

mylittlecholla

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Well said and I agree.

Dressing up a tortoise and having this sort of "fun" may have one hidden benefit that we are all missing though. The more a person loves their animal the better care that animal can expect to get. So if Trisha finds herself more endeared to her tortoise because she can dress it up and take it for a walk, then I see no harm in it, as long as she's careful with where she does it for all the above stated safety reasons.

This is not how I choose to "enjoy" my tortoises, but if someone else likes it and they are using some caution and common sense, I'm not opposed to the idea.
 

mylittlecholla

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Interestimg thread, glad Trisha raised the question.

It never occurred to me to dress up my tortoise or walk her on a leash, but having recently seen a couple of ads and videos I wondered whether it was safe and humane. Glad to hear that in general Tom think it might be okay because of the tender love/better care factor.

One of those colorful turtle sweaters the other member was mentioning seems like it might be helpful, though far from foolproof, means of reducing the chance that she get lost in the yard.

My husband tried the balloon thing buy affixing it to her with a loop of scotcn tape; Didn't work of course; tape didn't stick. I didn't want him to try a stronger tape that would leave some adhesive on her shell. Besides you can't take your eyes off her for even a few seconds, balloon or no balloon.

Amazing how fast she can go when she spots some great looking shelter under a gigantic old lavender bush under which we might never find her again, or worse, step on her and crush her while cutting the bush down to the roots in our efforts to recover her.

Nightmare-o-rama,

I don't think I'd want to harness and leash a tortoise as small as my Cholla is now, nor would I dare to take her, ever, on a walk in public, where there are way too many dangers. E.g.: in three separate instances
over the past fifteen years large, loose dogs have attacked and severely injured my own dogs,* who were just walking with me and minding their own business. (The vet bills were steep, but my dogs survived, thank God.) But they were far better able to defend themselves than any tortoise would be.

But when Cholla gets big enough, a leashed stroll around the backyard to safely give her a change of scene, smells and nibbles sounds like a possibility to consider.

*my beloved dogs have passed on, except for an elderly chihuhua mix, a rescue with no teeth. But not even he gets to be near Cholla without extremely close supervision.
 
Last edited:

mylittlecholla

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Thanks!
I'm not a "play Barbie" gal with my tortoise BUT I HAVE used a leash on my tortoise.
I did not do it to be cute or to play dress up but to make sure I didn't lose him during an event.

My kids participate in a local garden class every summer. We know all the gardeners and they are an organic, pesticide free place. It's a small, local place. They have a lot of mallow (my torts favorite weed to eat) on the grounds and we harvest it for him weekly. At the end of the summer, we all gather together for a garden party to harvest produce and eat lunch. I bring Levi to the party, leash him up and all the kids LOVE taking turns holding the leash as he walks through the garden munching on mallow and other weeds.

Levi isn't stressed by it, he walks around eating in the same manner he does at home. The leash isn't 100% escape/slip off proof but he's not left alone tied up either.

I just used a dog collar around his shell. Nothing special, but at least the "I looked away for only a second and he was gone" scenario won't happen.

If you have an area that you can KNOW is safe for your tortoise to eat and your kid wants to hold a leash to prevent an "oops where'd the turtle go" incident, then do it.

To answer your original question, there are no special tortoise leashes that I've found. So get creative.


These are photos from the 2016 summer party. I didn't take him this year because the weather was cold and cloudy on the day of the party. Levi wouldn't have enjoyed that.
View attachment 220832
View attachment 220834
View attachment 220835

Worried about tape adhesive on my 3 yr old desert tortoise. Scotch tape: doesn't stick. Stronger adhesive tape: worried about it leaving sticky stuff on her shell.
 

pawsplus

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One of those colorful turtle sweaters the other member was mentioning seems like it might be helpful, though far from foolproof, means of reducing the chance that she get lost in the yard.

My husband tried the balloon thing buy affixing it to her with a loop of scotcn tape; Didn't work of course; tape didn't stick. I didn't want him to try a stronger tape that would leave some adhesive on her shell. Besides you can't take your eyes off her for even a few seconds, balloon or no balloon.
Do you not have a safe outdoor enclosure for your tortoise? I don't worry about losing mine--she is in her 8x50 foot pen. When she was smaller she had a smaller pen. Very easy to find her. It's not safe to let them wander in a large yard that is not completely secure.
 

mylittlecholla

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Hi. :) Thanks for your concern . My tortoise does have a safe outdoor enclosure, but she'll outgrow it soon, so we're making the plans for her permanent adult habitat.
You're right about not letting her wander. The balloon experiment my husband conducted was a one time thing.
 
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