About Us

When deciding to buy a tortoise for the first time it can be a very confusing and frustrating experience. You will probably find all sorts of different prices and all sorts of conflicting information on their care requirements.

Don't be fooled into buying a tortoise from a company just because the price of their tortoises seem cheap, as often it can be false economy once you have bought the equipment to go with it, not to mention the probability of hefty vets bills due to the tortoises being ill or having been kept in poor conditions, like vivariums etc... For more information about this, please read the section further down on this page about when "not to buy a tortoise".

We at The Tortoise Shop have a vast amount of experience and knowledge spanning over two decades and with the risk of sounding like we're blowing our own trumpet we can guarantee that our advice and husbandry is the very best that you'll find. We will not try to sell you uneccessary equipment nor push you into buying a tortoise which we don't think is suitable for you to keep. We will however give you unlimited amounts of correct advice whenever you should need it, not just before you buy but also for a lifetime thereafter.

The Tortoise Shop and it's staff genuinely care about the welfare of the tortoise and are not simply out to make a quick profit.

However, don't just take our word for it, please have a look at the customer survey graph below and also read through the customer comments page.

To give our customers complete peace of mind we...

• Only sell captive bred tortoises, not wild caught.
• Give a guarantee against death from any illness.
• Supply the correct legal paperwork (where applicable).
• Supply a comprehensive care guide.
• Offer free advice for life.

To ensure that our tortoises are in the very best of health within our control we...

• Keep them in accomodation of the highest standards.
• Feed them the best possible natural diet.
• Hibernate them in strict temperature controlled environments.

To limit the possibilities of disease we...

• Never keep different species together.
• Only keep a small number of tortoises in each pen.
• Use disposable latex gloves between entering each seperate pen.
• Walk through disinfecting dip trays between pens

NEVER BUY A TORTOISE FROM A PERSON OR COMPANY WHO....

• Can't supply you with legal documentation
  (certain CITES registered species need licences)
• Sells other reptiles
  (due to high risk of cross infection)
• Sells vivariums or tanks as suitable tortoise homes
  (this shows a total lack of knowledge of tortoises, as vivariums and tanks are totally contraindicated with regards to the tortoise's health.)
• Sells heatmats for tortoises
  (once again these are not suitable for tortoises, so to sell them for this purpose shows a complete lack of understanding of tortoise husbandry)
• Sells pelleted tortoise food
  (this is far too high in protein & extremely addictive. It is one of the worst culprits for causing metabolic bone disease)
• Tell you not to hibernate a tortoise until it's "X" amount of years old
  (This is the quickest way to shorten your tortoise's life. Sadly though the above statement is preached far too often by people claiming to be " tortoise experts")
• Tell you not to put the tortoise outdoors until it's "X" amount of years old
  (We've heard this statement dozens of times and it never ceases to amaze us. Anybody telling you this has no tortoise knowledge in the slightest)
• Tell you that it's ok to keep different species together
  (A real recipe for disaster. Any person's who are happy to sell you a different breed of tortoise to cohabit with another is purely thinking of profit and not the animal's welfare)