could use a few suggestions

[latazyo]

I'm looking into picking up a fully terrestrial tort here and am looking for a few suggestions

A) species
I'm not looking to spend much on the turle, hopefully around 30-50 dollars for the animal
B) location
in another post I read that it is recommended not to purchase from a pet store, so where do you all purchase yours from?
C) requirements
what are the enclosure requirements for terrestrial animals, such as lighting, heat, substrate, size
D) feeding

I have had a RES for 11 years, but I must say that I don't know anything about box turtles or similar animals

any advice or linking to sites would be much appreciated

TIA

[Turtle Matt]

No rudeness intended at all,but good luck finding one for that price range...Likely, you'll have to spend a minimum of $150...
Matt

[eyespy]

It's much easier in the US. Box, painted and wood turtles and some of the Mediterranean torts are often under $50. I paid $38 for my Russian tortoise, although he is a wildcaught as most are. You might find breeders at reptile expos or can apply to adopt a captive bred tortoise from organizations such as turtlehomes.org.

Turtles and torts are ramblers in nature and the bigger the enclosure you can provide the better. My tort pen is 4x4 feet and that wasn't big enough to keep His Majesty happy so I gave him to my sister and her kids where he can have a 12x8 outdoor pen for most of the year. They need good quality ultraviolet lighting during their waking hours.

Requirements will vary depending on species. www.chelonia.org has a number of good caresheets and info.

Hay such as Bermuda, timothy or orchard grass is a very good substrate for grassland torts. Omnivores like box turtles can handle mulch or coconut husk substrates but full herbivores tend to get impacted on that kind of stuff.

[Dani33]

I have also been looking at getting a tort or terrestial turtle next year. I think that you would be dissappointed in prices. For a CB russain tort or an ornate box turtle, you would be looking at least $200-250. I also thought about a red foot and pcpc has them for $350-$450. I decided to not get a redfoot because of their indoor caging needs - at least an 8x3 pen. Anyhow, next spring I think that I'll be getting an ornate box turtle. Good luck turtle hunting : )

[Dani33]

Oops, sorry-didn't realize that you are from the states!

[latazyo]

yes, this is all sort of new news to me there are always "box turtles" at pet stores here for like 25-30 bucks

russians at Petco are pretty much consistently 89.99

[Dani33]

Holy! I wish that the prices were the same here. The torts at petco are probably WC. It would probably be more for a CB. There aren't many CB because they have small clutches. Check out the internet for care sheets and whatnot. Just research as much as you can. That way you can find which animal would be best for you. They are such a huge commitment. They often live for 30 years plus!

[latazyo]

yeah, the commitment is not much of an issue for me

and I know all about reserach, the reef keeping hobby has been a huge research hog, but I like it so I gotta do what I gotta do