Tortoise For Sale - How to Buy and Own a Tortoise

So you want to buy a tortoise, huh? This page will give you all the information to find, buy, and keep a new pet tortoise!

Quick FAQ:

How much does a tortoise cost? The price of a tortoise varies from $15 to $250 (average about 30), depending on the variety. However, after taking into account food, cage, vet visits, and everything else, you can expect to spend $250-500/year, just to take care of your tortoise! (Again, this depends on the variety of tortoise).

Are tortoises easy to take care of? Tortoise ownership can require a lot of time, but it's not like owning a dog! A tortoise can live for a long time (sometimes a few decades), and will take a few hours a week to take care of. However, they are slow, easy to play with, and friendly, so it's not really too hard.

Are tortoises family friendly? Yes! Tortoises are fun and friendly and great to have around kids!

Finding a Tortoise For Sale

The best way to find a snake to own is to go to a nearby pet store. You can find pet stores in your area by going to this Web site. This site, centralpets.com, has a search engine for finding pet stores in your area!

You can also simply search for "pet stores near [your address]" on http://maps.google.com
. For example, searching for "Pet stores near Iowa City" will show the results from the below image.

Google maps for Pet stores!

Look through the reviews of the different Pet Stores to make sure you are going to a good location. You want a good variety of tortoises to choose from and a very helpful staff, especially for your first pet!

Pros and Cons of Owning a Tortoise

There are good and bad things about owning a tortoise. Let's look at the good and bad sides of tortoise ownership.

Pros

Tortoises don't take up a lot of space
Tortoises don't hurt your furniture
Tortoises can be left alone for a long period of time
Tortoises don't make too much noise
Tortoises are fun!

Cons

No matter how easy the pet, you are still responsible for it.
You will need to buy food for your tortoise. You will also need to take it to the vet.
You can't leave your tortoise alone for too long! That means you might need someone to check up on it during a vacation.

A tortoise in nature! Photo by minds-eye

Choosing your tortoise for sale

For your first tortoise, it's important you choose the right one--a tortoise that will be fun, easy to handle, and safe.

I recommend the Russian Tortoise. Why? They are cheap, pretty (look on the right!), easy to take care of, and fun! And they are also the first type of tortoise in space :)

A russian tortoise is 6-10 inches long, a brownish color, and very family friendly.

Below is a video of a russian tortoise eating. Look how cute it is!

Taking care and feeding your tortoise

You can purchase a cage for your tortoise or build your own---I wouid build my own, because tortoises are fun and easy to care for. Not like snakes for sale which require a bigger enclosure, or even worse Iguana for Sale, which need a HUGE cage.

Dummies.com has a great article on constructing your own indoor terrestrial cage for a turtle or tortoise. Check out the article, it tells you how to plan, construct, and protect your tortoise habitat!

A tortoise eats a lot! You will feed it basically just veggies, but not iceberg lettuce (they don't like iceberg). Buy it some fun veggies and watch it eat!