A tortoise is not a short-term pet. With proper care, many species live 50 years, and some live well past 100. That is the first fact to sit with before you ever look at a hatchling. If you are ready for that kind of commitment, our sister company Tortoise Town is a tortoise breeder that hatches and hand-raises captive-bred baby tortoises, along with box turtles and aquatic turtles.
A farm program in New Jersey and Florida
Tortoise Town describes its work as a tortoise and turtle farm, with facilities in New Jersey and Florida. Through captive breeding, the program has hatched thousands of baby tortoises across more than 25 species (the site also notes more than 28 species hatched at those facilities). Animals are 100 percent captive bred and never wild caught. They are shipped overnight, year-round, and come with a full live-arrival and health guarantee.
The program also has a biologist available to help customers with care guidance, and it offers lifetime customer support after an animal goes home. That ongoing help matters, because diet, lighting, heat, and habitat design are what decide whether a baby tortoise grows into a healthy adult.
Choosing a species by adult size
One of the most common mistakes with baby tortoises is picking a species by how small and charming the hatchling looks, then discovering the adult will need a much larger yard or indoor habitat. Tortoise Town groups species in a way that makes that planning easier.
Small species typically mature at about 4 to 8 inches. This group includes animals in the Testudo family, such as Hermann’s tortoises (including eastern and western), Russian tortoises, Greek tortoises, and the Egyptian tortoise, which the site describes as the smallest captive-bred tortoise commonly offered in the United States. Indian star tortoises also fall on the smaller end.
Medium species generally reach about 10 to 16 inches. Colorful South American tortoises such as red-foots, cherry-heads, and yellow-foots are in this range, along with Burmese star and Sri Lankan star tortoises. Large and giant species, which can reach 18 inches or much more, include African sulcata tortoises (including ivory and albino lines), leopard tortoises and the larger South African leopard tortoise, Burmese mountain tortoises, and the Aldabra, among the largest tortoises in the world. Some giant tortoises can exceed 200 pounds. A sulcata or Aldabra is a wonderful animal only if you truly have the space for the adult it will become.
Turtles as well as tortoises
Not every shelled reptile is a land tortoise. Tortoise Town also offers box turtles, including three-toed, ornate, eastern, and Chinese box turtles, as well as aquatic and semi-aquatic turtles such as sliders, pond turtles, wood turtles, painted turtles, and spotted turtles. If you want a water turtle rather than a grazing tortoise, that side of the collection is the better starting point.
Among the most popular baby tortoises are sulcatas, leopard tortoises, red-foots, cherry-heads, Russians, Hermann’s, and Greek tortoises. Red-foots and cherry-heads are often singled out for color. Whatever species you prefer, research housing and diet first, then look at available animals. A healthy hatchling is only the beginning of a decades-long project.
If a French bulldog, rather than a tortoise, is the companion you have in mind, visit Designer French Bulldogs. Call or Text: 609-827-2645.