Come see us at our new location: www.TortoiseSupply.com! Frequently Asked Questions: This page is intended to address the common questions I am asked via e-mail or phone. If you have a question related to purchasing, shipping, or the terms of service, please check our "Terms & Conditions" page, as the answer is very likely there. - How much will shipping cost?
Shipping is based on your exact address and zip code, but generally speaking, for a single or two tortoises, West coast shipments are around $30-35 (into many parts of California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. On the opposite end, shipments into Florida up along the East coast and Alaska are typically around $50. States somewhere in the mid country are between those figures, around $40 or so. Your shipping price is calculated during the checkout process, but shouldn’t stray too much from these numbers unless it's a large order. You will be informed of the shipping price in checkout before you’re committed to actually buy. Adding tortoises to your shipment normally only increases the shipping amount a small amount (few dollars per additional tortoise) because of the additional weight of the box. - Can I choose my tortoise from a series of photos?
In the past, we have taken many photos of tortoises separated out in this fashion, and numbered 1, 2, 3 etc. More often than not, we don't hear back from the customers until they’re already back in their enclosures living as a group again (and mixed in with their siblings). Because of this, we are no longer able to keep separating tortoises and waiting for answers. If you want to request the lightest, darkest etc, we will send you just that. - Do you have a retail storefront I can come visit?
Unfortunately, we do not. We raise all our tortoises in private locations, and in respect for the security of our collection, we do not allow customers to come over and see/pick out their tortoises. We can arrange a meeting locally for Las Vegas customers so that there will be no shipping charges. - Do you still have this particular tortoise in stock?
Our website keeps a rolling inventory of what we have available at all times. It will not allow you to buy something that we don't have. If you attempt to buy 8 hermanns tortoises, and it only lets you buy 6, it means we only have 6 remaining in stock. We keep this inventory only on perfect, healthy tortoises that are available for immediate shipping. We occasionally also have "B-Grade" tortoises that may have split scutes, small flaws, etc, but these are not included in the rolling inventory. Certain types of tortoise are available seasonally, and the particular page for those tortoises typically will let you know when we expect more babies to be available. - Do I have to pay shipping if I’m in Las Vegas?
If you are local (Southern Nevada), we can arrange to meet somewhere around town at a neutral location so that there is no shipping charges for your tortoise. We are also vending at a few reptile shows on the West coast each year so you can save on shipping charges. - What type of tortoise should I get?
This will all depend on what you’re looking to do. If you live in a hot climate (highs above 100 degrees), and want to eventually keep your tortoises outdoors most or all of the time, I’d suggest something like a sulcata, leopard, hermanns, or Russian tortoise. These are all species that do well outdoors in hot climates as adults. If you are in a moderate climate area, you can use any of the above tortoises, as well as redfoots, yellowfoots, cherries, or a number of other species. If you want a tortoise that can be kept indoors, I would go with a hermanns or a Russian tortoise, as they won’t grow to a large size, and can be kept indoors as adults without feeling too cramped. See the weather related questions below for more info. - How can I keep my cooler climate tortoise outside in hot weather?
To keep forest type species outdoors (such as redfoots, yellowfoots, cherries etc) some preparations can be done to help keep your tortoise cool. The area we keep these species in is covered completely with a shade cloth (like you see in nurseries) with overhead sprinklers that give the whole area a quick spray several times a day. There is also a shallow water spot, and a few artificial (wooden) burrows dug into the ground. This area keeps a very high humidity, and maintains comfortable temperatures even on the hottest days. Something similar to this can be built in most hot climates to maintain these cooler species. - How can I keep my warm climate tortoise outside in cold weather?
This is a little more complicated than keeping them cool. To house our sulcatas outside, we have a large wooden box that is well insulated (2” thick Styrofoam sheets), and lined with 11” heat tape all around the insides, as well as kane heat mats on the floor. We will use a few ceramic heaters in there if temps aren't warm enough, but generally this keeps the box a nice warm temperature. The tortoises here end up spending 20 hours a day in there, usually with a quick lap around the tort yard looking for a bite to eat. If daytime temps don’t get into the 50’s, they sometimes won’t come out at all. The box will need to be cleaned pretty regularly since they’ll be doing so much of their living in there over the winter months. We use this setup here in Las Vegas, where the winter months barely break into freezing. I imagine it would work in slightly colder areas as long as you we making sure the tortoises made it home each night. Larger tortoises that are kept warm at night can hold a warm body temperature for a while in the morning, so they're able to be out in the cold for a short time. - What should I use as an indoor substrate?
There is much debate about what the perfect substrate is for an indoor tortoise enclosure. For our indoor tortoise cages, we basically use the following things: Hay/Peat Moss mix – We occasionally use hay with our sulcatas, leopards, Russians and hermanns tortoises because it’s a harmless easy to clean and cheap substrate. It’s not dusty, smelly and is extremely cheap if you buy a bail at a time. It also won’t hurt if it is eaten; it’s actually beneficial. It’s tough to spot clean (picking individual “messes” out), but cheap enough to just replace once a week. When this substrate is used, we usually keep a moist soil substrate underneath it such as peat moss to maintain some humidity. We believe that humidity is crucial in the first few years of any baby tortoise to help prevent pyramiding. Sphagnum moss – We occasionally use this for our tortoises needing higher humidity. It’s also relatively cheap, easy to replace and holds moisture well. It’s nearly impossible to spot clean, so you need to replace it more often or it will become smelly from tortoise waste. Crushed coconut – There’s many substrates made of coconut products. The stuff we use is similar to the “Bed-A-Beast” brand, and is a very fine, lightweight, fluffy substrate (you’ll see it in many of our baby photos). It holds moisture very well, and is easy to spot clean, as it almost clumps like kitty litter. Any of these three substrates is safe to use with baby tortoises. There are other products that are safe also, just that we prefer these three for a natural look and feel and ease of use. Any substrate should be used with some caution, and food should not be placed directly on the substrate (unless you’re using hay). You can leave a bare spot on the cage bottom, or feed from a dish or bowl to attempt to limit the amount of substrate the tortoises are eating. Newspaper or paper towels are used by many breeders, but I believe it's better for the tortoises if they have something to crawl through, burrow into, and burrow under, rather than a flat hard surface. Outdoors, we use sand, peat moss and many other substrates; we just attempt to have them eat on a clean surface instead of picking foods off the ground. |
