Other Turtle Discussion :: where to find one

[theartbook35]

Lol? so your going to let turtles/animals suffer just to avoid giving them profit on their neglect?

thats my logic on it..if they are kept in such poor conditions go and rescue one of them

give them a good home..stop worrying about giving them your money and do it for the turtle

stop worrying about who you buy it from and do it for the turtle

its not the turtles fault he/she ended up at petco/petsmart and not at a breeder

stop making a big deal about buying things from them and look beyond that fact and do it for the turtle

Animals from pet stores have a higher mortality rate than animals from backyard breeders. Backyard breeder keep turtles in small, but surprisingly clean places, most of the time. If you walk into a pet store, you see six adolescent turtles crammed into a 20 gallon with murky water and tons of food particles and poop floating around.

Pet stores really need to be boycotted.

[jay2487]

Thats the point, if no one buys petsmarts turtles, do you really think they will just keep buying them and letting them die in their enclosures? They are a publicly traded company, they are worried about one thing and one thing only, profit. If they can make a profit selling you poorly kept and sick turtles then they will continue to do it regardless of how the turtle is treated. YOu pay $20 for that turtle to "rescue it" then they go buy 4 more with the profit they made off you. So you are basically causing the discomfort of even more turtles than your rescuing. And no, not all pet stores are like that. I can take you to my local independent and he has a better set up for turtles than anyone on this page. It is absolutely beautiful and all his animals are kept in great condition, thats why I shop there, prices are a little higher but all his animals are happy, healthy and guarantted to stay that way with proper care.

[theartbook35]

There is a local family run business on the Boston Post Rd., in Milford, CT, and their animals are very well cared for and super healthy. They had an African side-necked turtle last time I went, which looked super healthy. Independents are much better than pet store chains, too.

The staff however, are a bunch of morons and very rude. I only keep going there because their prices are cheap.

[insanejstr]

Knock off this B.S. take that argument somewhere else. I just wanted to know where to find a turtle,that's it.I plan on it lasting a lifetime,and just wanted all the options.

[Sir Max]

Im not argueing..

im just sharing my opinion

[jay2487]

Insane, you know more about where to find them in your area than I do, I would never had thought to go to a Chinatown, actually, I have never even seen a chinatown outside of movies lol. It seems you have answered your own post.

Sir Max, I understand your point of view, and by no means are saying your wrong. I too have bought a turtle from a store simply because it was being terribly housed and I couldnt stand it. But I never went back to that store either, on our side of the fence it seems that we just spent $20 or so rescuing a life, but on the sellers side of the fence, he just made $17.50 profit on a turtle that he cared for like crap and was about to die. Now if he had lost money because no one bought his turtles, maybe he would stop buying them as he cant afford to lose money, or even better, maybe he will see by you complaining about how terrible they keep their animals that if he built a nicer habitat and kept his turtles happy and healthy more people would buy them. I dont know about you, but when I go in a store and see 8 turtles in a 40 galllon tank with yellow water and half eaten pellets floating around, everybody in that store knows exactly what I think about it and about the store and the owners thereof. I have been asked to leave Petco for just that reason. That and making the sales people look like liars and idiots.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Now, now kids, why all of the petstore hatred? Allow me a brief example of petstore versus breeder. I wanted mice. During the winter, I researched mice, got a nice habitat setup, and waited out getting my mice from the petstore. It was bad, not a single mouse until the middle of February. Anyways, during this time, I was asking around on mouse forums about where people got their mice. I was told 2 things: Pet store mice die early of terrible diseases from poor breeding and that everyone who knew anything about mice got them from a breeder. I asked around, searched high and low, and I was appalled at what I was told. I was expected to travel 2-8 HOURS away from my house, to get ONE mouse from a breeder, at a cost of 30 DOLLARS (not to mention gas money). I was also told that mice liked to live in at least pairs, so I would be needing to make several trips, and that was if I could even find a breeder who had mice available.

I got my pair of mice from Petsmart for $6.99 each. Far as I know, they are still happy and healthy.

The moral of my example is, without pet stores, we would be left at the disposal of breeders (which aren't any better than pet stores, dogs are bred in terrible conditions just to make maximum profit, breeders experiment with genetic mutations so you end up with weird looking animals that, if they escape, breed with the locals and potentially destroy the genetic code, etc.). Pet stores have their place.

And turtles in pet stores aren't meant to live there forever. The habitats, crowded or murky as they may be, are intended as temporary spaces. If every pet store kept each turtle for sale in their own 100 gallon, perfectly kept tank, would you buy one? Probably not, cuz they would cost more, and you'd think, wow, they have a pretty good life, I'll go rescue one from down the street instead.

And to jay - I just avoid the sales people. No reason to speak to them, already know they don't know anything, why create conflict if I don't have to?

[jay2487]

And to jay - I just avoid the sales people. No reason to speak to them, already know they don't know anything, why create conflict if I don't have to? -Quote-

Because it's fun lol, especially when they are telling other people false info just to land a sale, and I get a book from there literature section that says they are lying and show it to them. I haven't purchased much from breeders. I believe the only turtles I got that came from breeders were from turtleshack [not reputable] before I knew better and were UPSed from breeders. I was talking about the benefits of the average independent pet shop where they dont have nationwide profit making policies that lead to poor care and the spreading of misinformation. Now there are independents that have poor practices as well but in my experience, not at the level that most big boxes do. I can complain at my independent and the next time I come in what I complain about could be changed and taken care of. That never happens at big boxes. Now of course, the habitats are temporary, but what about when they put 15 hatchlings in a 40gal, murky nasty water, they sell 13 the last two grew to quick and no one buys, so those last two sit there in terrible conditions until they die or until somebody feels too bad for them and buys them for full price showing the company that they can get away with it and people will still buy them. Then the person who had a heart takes home a turtle on its deathbed and puts tons of money in trying to heal it, then it dies anyways. I'm just saying, in my experience, independents are much more caring of their animals and much more willing to listen to customers problems with their operations.

[jimmy,angus and victor]

gonna have to agree with turtle man on this one. i never buy from petco or petsmart because from what i have seen their turtles habitats are poor and why buy a turtle that is poorly taken care of and probably close to death when you can save a hatchling who would never have to experience that. plus for the money these stores charge i wouldn't want an ill turtle. theres a place right outside of philly, PA called the hidden reef where their turtles, fish and other pets are taken care of and i don't mind taking the hour and a half drive to support them and to give them a profit since it seems a lot of it goes back to their animals.