is a tortoise a good idea for a 11year old girl?

Question

please help me my daughter really wants a tortoise but is a good idea because i think they are really hard to look after but are they?

Answer 1

No they aren't..maybe a kitty is better or a puppy~

Answer 2

sorry honey people may thing it is a good idea but it is not advised to get a child a tortoise unless you are prepared to take over the care of it if she gets bored, if you get the set up and diet right then tortoises are good pets to have but it is a pet that is not as exciting as some people think they are , they eat bask and sleep a lot of children are disappointed that the pet they thought was fun is in fact quite boring, you do have to monitor temps and humidity and make sure the tortoise is bathed regularly and kept healthy when the y get sick it can happen quickly and to be honest the vet bills can get high with a sick tortoise, yes tortoises are great pets if you are prepared for them and only get a tortoise if your daughter is mature enough to handle the big responsibility that goes with owning a tortoise, you know your daughter and how good she is with responsibility we don't so if she is a mature young lady and is good with long term commitments then a tortoise is a nice idea but if she gets bored with things then a tortoise is not a pet for her, if you decide to get one here are some sites that will help with your research

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/ this is a good one as it has lots of articles on tortoise keeping including what can go wrong

http://www.tlady.clara.net/id16.htm

http://www.slowcoach.org.uk/

http://russiantortoise.org/care_sheet.htm this site has been included as i think the best torotise to get is a russian or horsefield as they are also known, they are a hardy tortoise and one of the easiest torotises to care for,

here is a general list of what you will need to house a torotise, a tortoise table, tanks are not suitable for them as they do not allow enough air flow and can get too damp, which can lead to illnesses so please if you get one don't let the shop convince you they can live in tanks, you will need a basking spot lamp and a uv light as well for heat a ceramic bulb is best as it can be left on all the time even at night as it does not glow so will be best to provide the constant back ground heat a tortoise needs, the uv light should be on for 12 hrs a day, you need a thermostate fitted to the heat lamp so the temp stays constant, a water dish, a small hide, and a good substrate, stay away from the tropical torotises like the res or yellow footed these are hard to look after, also stay away form the sulcatas they get really big and require a lot more care the greeks look good but they can be prone to infections if not cared for properly so would not be suitable either, hope this information helps please research them first before you decide to buy one as with out the proper care they do get sick, best of luck honey

Answer 3

I have two Redfoot tortoises, they are great pets! Once you spend money to get the setup right, they are not that expensive. A few things you may want to consider is the size the tortoise will grow, smaller probably better. When your daughter goes to college you probably will be looking after it (which I know my mom would be more than happy to look after mine). Food is not that expensive and the main vet bill would be the occasional respiratory infection.

Yes they are great pet, you just need to have a "pet care plan" who will take care of it if you can't.

It may end up being a wonderful pet that she may be able to share with her children.

Whatever breed you may get, do your research.

Answer 4

There's a lot of bad advice up already. Most species of tortoises should not eat fruit or veg. The majority of tortoises available in the UK need a 100% weed diet, no fruit and no veg. Such species include Horsfields, Hermanns and Iberas. Some tropical species are available but are more challenging to care for as they often grow very large and require different environmental conditions that can be challenging to achieve.

I don't wish to judge your daughter but generally kids tend to get bored of their pets after a while. But when i was 11 i got my first bunny and i loved her to bits for 5 years until she sadly passed away. I was hooked straight away and now have six beautiful bunnies the oldest been 8 years old. I really think you should check out these links on tortoise care and decide for yourself if you can make the commitment say if she did get bored of the tortoise.

There's already a lot of bad advice on here. So please check out all these links. The first is the tortoise trust website, it has plenty of in depth caresheets on the care of numerous species of tortoise. I would recommend you look into Horsfields and Hermanns as they are easier to maintain in terms of an enclosure and diet. Both these species require a 100% weed diet so you can pretty much feed your tortoise for free.

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/backidx.html

Please read up on herpes in pet trade tortoises too. I recommend you find a breeder and not a dealer or a petshop to purchase your tortoise from. Petshops often give out bad advice and convince you to buy unnecessary expensive equipment such as vivariums and heatmats and recommend you feed your tortoise pellets. A good breeder will recommend a tortoise table set up and a highly suitable diet for the species concerned.

The next link is an excellent tortoise forum. I suggest you check out the housing section. There are plenty of pictures of both indoor and outdoor set ups. Any tortoise you plan to get will require both. Your tortoise will be perfectly fine spending much of the summer in your garden in a safe suitable enclosure. You may require an indoor set up for unsuitable weather, and of course in winter you will be most likely hibernating your tortoise which also saves on running costs.

Also check out the edible weeds section as weeds are a far more superior diet than supermarket salads and veg. Plus weeds are generally free so won't cost you penny to feed your tortoise. If your a little affraid of picking weeds then you can always purchase weed seeds off the internet. I buy some off ebay just type in tortoise seeds.

http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/forum/

I know i'm going on but i do love my tortoises as much as my bunnies. And i think its best you do as much research as possible before you and your daughter make a final decision on whether to get a tortoise. If you wish to buy a hibernating species from a breeder you may have some difficulty as many breeders will be winding down their hatchlings for their first hibernation.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

A tortoise is a very good pet because they are life long pets and are quite easy to look after. they are interesting pets and they can be left to rome around they house. they can live in a house with other pets because they just hide in their shell if they are attacked. (try not to let that happen though!) they have an easy diet to supply which is mainly grass and veg.

Answer 6

They are not too hard to look after actually very simple as long as you have somewhere peaceful for them to hibernate such as loft or ideally a cellar.



Diet is very easy and can get most of what they need from a green grocer - just ask them for unsold produce.



A simple wooden house for them will be suffice with straw or similar for bedding and give them the roam of a secured garden if you can



Hope this helps

Answer 7

it's a good choice as long as you are willing to be the one to look after the tortoise after your daughter loses interest in it. is she going to take it with her when she goes off to college. is she going to feed it consistintally when she is a teenager and has other interests. if you get the tortoise i wouldn't leave it in her room.

Answer 8

First of all, the biggest thing you need to remember is that it will probably outlive YOU !

They eat greens and fruit are not huge eaters. They will need feeding every day, even if they don't eat it all everyday



it may outlive your daughter, so make sure she is prepared to give it away at some point in her life... and think about if it a good idea or not!

Answer 9

heya!

well i dont know much about them, they do live a long long time and children do lose interest quickly perhaps search google and see what info you can find on them

a great pet for an 11 yr old may be a guinea pig, i have 2 called timone and pumba, they love to be handled and make such loveable pets

goodluck

Answer 10

Yes, i wanted a tortoise when i was 11, but the thing is they are very boring, they live for 100 years and you cant get them out of their incubator they have to stay in. Also they use a lot of electricity because they have to be under that special light, i think its a uv lamp.

So might be costly, plus their food is sooooo expensive.

Answer 11

I always wanted a tortoise .. use to imagine throwing it a stick or going for jogs together .. though I thought it was scary that one would outlive me... I didn't want to leave it to pine so I never got one.

Answer 12

I think thats an excellent idea

- Easy to care for just need to be washed every now and then

- they hibernate for the majority of the year!

- you can feed them the leftovers of your vegetables etc, they arent very picky with food!

- they arent exactly going to run away..



the only problem is, which my friend often has because she has a turtle, is that she can trip over them because they go along the floor - but i guess the turtle will be fine because theyve got a very strong shell and you could always build/buy a large cage for it where its free to roam instead of your floor

Answer 13

all animals take a lot of looking after and care, i would think long and hard before getting her one, kids get bored quickly and no doubt you will find you will be the one who eventually is looking after it

Answer 14

i don't think they are too hard to look after,

but they don't really do much

will your daughter get bored of it?

if not i think they would make a great pet (=

Answer 15

my younger sister got one at about that age, and she did fine with it, the thing to keep in mind tho, they live as long as we do, so she will need to understand that she will have the thing for her entire life...



but in general they are easy, and you cant keep them small by keeping them in a smaller tank, they dont have to be huge.

Answer 16

very good but she will start to lose enter est in it just clean habitat and feed veg and water take outside

Answer 17

it matters if you have the right Equipment

and how your child does with animals and if your child is responsible.



God Bless America

Answer 18

dont do it in 2 years she will become a teenager and be into perfume make-up and boys and she will have no interest and you will have to sort it out

Answer 19

i would say they are fine for a 11 year old as they are easy to care for especially Herman's or horsefield . you can grow your own food too which would be fun

Answer 20

yes its easy to take care of and helps to learn responsibility and if she out grows it it will be easy to get ride of i had one when i was about 10 and i loved it!!!

Answer 21

Believe it or not, they are. Especially when they get "shell rot" or infections or sickness...which they do.



Fish or a Guinea pig, my suggestion...or a small rat.

Answer 22

WOW i'd love to be in her place

its an excellent choice







:)

Answer 23

They are not too hard to look after.

but look on the bright side.

It wont run away.

Answer 24

well if you dont mind taking care of it!

Answer 25

Terrible idea. they have Salmonella all over them.

Answer 26

no.