Tortoise Advice?

Question

I would love to keep a pet tortoise. I am a beginner so would need some advice and tips.

What is this easiest Tortoise to take care of, keep and stay quite small.

I live in the UK and need a breed that is avaliable. Some information about the species would be great too and how much they usually cost, thanks.

Answer 1

The Russian tortoise is supposed to make a very good pet and stay smaller.  It's probably available and if you can find a breeder it'll be cheaper and much healthier than anything from a petshop.  It's easy to run a search and get a lot of info online, the one thing no book I read pointed out is that, like birds and repitiles, tortoises can't handle chemical fumes well.

Answer 2

Herman's Tortoises make the best pets, they are small to medium size, hardy, and easy enough to feed. They're also one of the most readily available tortoises to buy.

Here are some good sites for info on them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman's_To...

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs... (particularly good)

http://www.hermann-tortoise.co.uk/care%2...

http://www.britishcheloniagroup.org.uk/c... (excellent)

http://www.britishcheloniagroup.org.uk (excellent)

Hope that helps, and you enjoy you new pet when you get him/her :)

Answer 3

Tortoises are nice pets.  Obviously very quiet, and easy to look after if you have garden space to let them roam in.  Just remember to have a "run" in the garden (a fenced off space that they can't escape from), as they do like to dig and hide.  If they do, they could end up in a neighbour's garden or lost completely.  Provide a safe and warm place for them to sleep at night and protect from cats, dogs or large birds of prey.  

It's also quite easy to tell the gender of your tortoise.  Look at the shell under the tortoise.  If it is completely flat, it's female. If it has a slight indent, it's a male.  

Check at a pet shop for prices.

Hope this helped a little bit...good luck.  :)