When they tell you your tortoise was farm raised what exactly does that mean ?
- Thread starter Quadro
- Start date
I am not familiar with that terminology myself but I did find a thread on here that might answer your question: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/captive-farmed.32557/
From my understanding there is or was "Farms" that go out and collect female tortoises from the wild and keep them in captivity till they lay there eggs then release them. The eggs are then hatched and the baby Tortoises are sold to distributors. I think this is just a common statement used at reptile shows that sounds better than saying "Wild caught" I don't think there is really farmed tortoises around anymore. I could be wrong though.
Thanks I will have to check it out. I accidentally posted this here so I was trying to move and couldn’t but thanks for the reply wasn’t sure I’d get one posting under the wrong thing lol
GBTortoises answered this question a while ago:
"The terms "farmed", "farm raised", "farm bred", "captive raised" and other similar terms being used nowadays are the new "feel good" terms used to avoid telling the truth of the animals being wild caught. The term "wild caught" has negative implications with many of today's environmentally conscientious buyers.
The reality is that it does not make economic sense for anyone to raise several hundred or thousand tortoises for the period of time that it would take for them to become 4" to legally import into the U.S. Even if they were rapidly grown, which if they were, they'd look different than the current imports do. It would take a ridiculous amount of electricity, food, area, paid employees and other resources, not to mention export/import permits and fees. All to sell a 4" Russian tortoise wholesale for under $25.
A similar large scale project here is the U.S. would be doubtful also. A friend of mine in the Midwest looked into doing exactly that a couple of years ago. His goal, with the help of others, myself included, was to raise enough Russian tortoises (and eventually including other species), to supply the need here in the U.S. with the hopes of eventually doing away with the need for animals to be to taken from the wild. We basically figured it every possible way we could and came to the conclusion that it simply was not economically feasible based on the low price of the animals."
It is my understanding there are "farms" in South America that breed and sell redfooted tortoises. I would imagine a redfooted tortoise farm would not have all the comforts of home that an individual hobbyist would give his tortoises, and they would not really be considered wild caught.
"The terms "farmed", "farm raised", "farm bred", "captive raised" and other similar terms being used nowadays are the new "feel good" terms used to avoid telling the truth of the animals being wild caught. The term "wild caught" has negative implications with many of today's environmentally conscientious buyers.
The reality is that it does not make economic sense for anyone to raise several hundred or thousand tortoises for the period of time that it would take for them to become 4" to legally import into the U.S. Even if they were rapidly grown, which if they were, they'd look different than the current imports do. It would take a ridiculous amount of electricity, food, area, paid employees and other resources, not to mention export/import permits and fees. All to sell a 4" Russian tortoise wholesale for under $25.
A similar large scale project here is the U.S. would be doubtful also. A friend of mine in the Midwest looked into doing exactly that a couple of years ago. His goal, with the help of others, myself included, was to raise enough Russian tortoises (and eventually including other species), to supply the need here in the U.S. with the hopes of eventually doing away with the need for animals to be to taken from the wild. We basically figured it every possible way we could and came to the conclusion that it simply was not economically feasible based on the low price of the animals."
It is my understanding there are "farms" in South America that breed and sell redfooted tortoises. I would imagine a redfooted tortoise farm would not have all the comforts of home that an individual hobbyist would give his tortoises, and they would not really be considered wild caught.
Wow thanks for the reply that’s a lot of good information!
