A Beginner’s Guide to Buying a Turtle

More and more, turtles are becoming popular pets, so their availability has increased. But how and where do you buy a healthy turtle at a reasonable price? Here is a simple guide on how to buy a turtle in a healthy, humane and correct way.

Do your research

Before buying your turtle you need to know what you are looking for. You should choose the species based on its ability to meet the needs of that particular species.

For example, if the species of turtle you want has a very particular and expensive diet that you cannot afford, do not buy that species.

Also, when choosing a species you should take into account your experience. If you are a beginner, choose an easy-care turtle. For example, Russian tortoises are small and not very sensitive to temperature. Whereas an Indian star tortoise should be left only for advanced and experienced keepers.

Where to buy a turtle?

Now that you have a species in mind, let’s take a look at the few possible avenues where you could buy a turtle.

-Breeders

Breeders are individual people who raise turtles as a hobby or business. There are many benefits to buying from a breeder. When you buy from a breeder, you know that you are buying a 100% captive bred tortoise that was not taken from the wild. Additionally, breeders can offer personalized care advice and, in most cases, sell the reptile at a lower price than in pet stores.

To find breeders in your area, search the web for sites like Craig’s List or reptile forums like Tortoise Forum.

-Online

With a quick search online, you can find companies willing to mail your turtle to you. Most of the time these are large-scale turtle farming operations. Before buying from one of these companies, do your research and make sure they are human and most of the time deliver live, healthy reptiles.

In addition, a good part of the time these companies can provide accurate information on how to care for the turtle.

-Pet Shop

Buying from a large chain or local pet stores is not recommended. Most of the time, these reptiles come from bad conditions and are sold by people who do not have much knowledge about turtles or any reptile. Also, most of the time, the reptiles that are sold are too expensive compared to the breeders. And pet stores have been known to sell expensive and unnecessary equipment to beginners.

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