Other Turtle Discussion :: I'm curious about your thoughts- online turtle purchases

[Trevor's_Mom]

So, surfing the net last night I stumbled upon http://www.theturtlesource.com website and was shocked. I was really taken aback by the sheer volumes of turtles (and tortoises) offered and at the low cost and "easiness" of being able to order whatever you wanted and have it delivered right to your house.

Now, maybe I'm being sensitive or naive, but the existence of this site really bothered me, and the visual of live turtles being boxed up and mailed around the world as easy as DVDs, clothing or books just doesn't sit right with me.

I'm wondering what other turtle parents think about this? I mean, I got Trevor 18 years ago from our local pet store in BC, and back then of course I didn't think about where the pet store would've got him from to even sell to me.

[Jaysea]

Turtles should be shipped overnight shipping for early am delivery. Usually there isn't any problem with this from reputable breeders because they do it all the time and are well aware of how to properly package their turtles for shipment. The boxes are also marked "live animal" so the shipper is aware of the urgency and know to be more gentle with those packages. I've known many people to get their turtles shipped to them and if they were packaged properly and shipped the way they should be there is 0 problems. You just need to ask around about the different breeders to find out who does things these ways and it should be no problem.

[Trevor's_Mom]

Jaysea- I totally get your point and appreciate it, I guess the word I was looking for instead of "sensitive" or "naive" for myself was "old-fashioned". I wouldn't want to be adding a new member to my family by ordering them online- I'd want to meet them in person at a store etc... and fall in love with them before deciding to purchase/adopt. A picture on the internet wouldn't be good enough for me. But- to each their own.

Thanks for the details on shipping... it did set my mind at ease a bit.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

I wouldnt go with turtlesource [not reputable] though. Their prices on some turtles are way higher then they should be and I know their shipping costs were way to high. No idea why theirs is so high.

I use http://market.kingsnake.com/ Go to the turts/torts classified parts. Lots of private breeders post turtles for sale at the lowest prices and shipping is good. You will certainly see alot of species for sale there. Ive ordered most of my diamondbacks and other random turtles from random breeders there. Never have had a problem yet with any breeder. The closer you live to the breeder the less the shipping costs usually.

[SINI5T3R]

Also, she you say you want to see them in a petshop and fall in love with them, almost all the turtles on those sites....you will NEVER see in a petstore

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Also, she you say you want to see them in a petshop and fall in love with them, almost all the turtles on those sites....you will NEVER see in a petstore

This is actually a bad thing of you think about it. Thats why people buy them and never do the research. Also you have a good chance you buy a sick turtle fi you dont know what to look for. The love at first site has gotten me my first res with over half it body with shell rot but he is good now and two diamondbacks with respitory infection which both died. Now that was an expensive fall in love at first site mistake.

At least with online purchases with private breeders they have low stock of turtles and make sure all are in perfect health and get good attention and will replace them if anything goes wrong usually in the first week. A pet store deals with mass amounts and not everyone turtle gets that special care.