Why buy captive bred turtles and tortoises?
Unbelievable numbers of turtles and tortoises are removed from the wild each year for the pet trade. Two thirds of the world’s turtles are currently threatened or endangered and for many species their mass exploitation for use as pets has become a major conservation issue. By purchasing only captive bred turtles and tortoises the buyer is not contributing to the continual decline of these gentle and lovable reptiles. As a secondary benefit to purchasing captive bred animals from reputable breeders the buyer is assured of acquiring a healthy animal. Wild caught turtles and tortoises often support heavy populations of parasites and various diseases. Some real issues! Many dealers are passing off wild caught turtles and tortoises as captive bred individuals, while others being imported from foreign countries are labeled as captive bred when actually they were wild caught or hatched are from eggs removed from turtles butchered for food. Some commercial farms are breeding turtles in mass fo
