Why Buy Captive Bred?

I am often asked by people why they should buy CB (captive bred) rather than WC (wild caught) turtles and tortoises. To that end I came up with the following reasons.

I intentionally am not belaboring the impact on populations depleted by removal of a non sustainable number of adult animals in low recruitment populations. While to many people that is a prime motivator, people that are sympathetic to such pressures being put on the wild populations do not need economic reasons. These reasons were formulated to appeal to even those most ambivalent about conservation. Nor am I addressing those species that possibly will only survive in captivity because of habitat loss, food market or traditional medicine pressures in their native habitat. This paper addresses the WC pet trade.

1. Vet bills - assuming that you do get a semi healthy tortoise or turtle it still will at a minimum need deworming and an examination, that is assuming you can find a qualified vet. CLICK HERE to find a qualified reptile vet.

2. The likelihood of getting an animal that has not been severely stressed is nil, at the best you are looking at a three year acclimation period before normal behavior is manifested.

3. Any WC animal you get has almost certainly been exposed to other species. What might be a minor ailment in another species may kill your animal - fast. An example is cited in the WCT care sheet for Geoemyda spengleri, it reads as follows, " In holding areas and shipping, terrestrial chelonia are mixed with aquatics which carry entamoeba. This then infects the terrestrials who have little resistance to it leading to mucosal GI erosions. These erosions lead to bacteria in the bloodstream which leads to liver, lung, renal abscesses and subsequently death. "

4. How about the possibility of importing an exotic disease with the WC animal? While there are very few known diseases carried by reptiles that can infect humans, there is no such thing as "zero chance", infection of native species in your collection with a pathogen that they have no resistance to is a very serious threat as well.

5. Because of stress factors wild caught animals are much more difficult to successfully breed, particularly in the first few years after purchase.

6. Exposing your captive bred animal to a wild caught cagemate effectively negates a lot of the advantages associated with being captive bred. There are numerous records of entire herds of breeding tortoises killed by the addition of a wild caught animal - AFTER quarantine.

7. Why allow anyone to make a profit off you? Most breeders break even at best, wholesalers and importers are in the business of making money. This is not a hobby to them.

9. A wild caught collection requires much more or your time to take care of, rather than general husbandry you need to also become an expert at disease recognition and prevention. How much is your time worth?

10. Wild caught animals are often treated by the importers with various drugs. They use these to worm, fight disease, force egg laying, and generally minimize loss (the "shot gun" approach) while they are in his hands. He often concentrates on the short term results. The long term dangers of such a procedure are borne by the final purchaser. Kidney failure and the like take many WC animals long after they are purchased.

11. Generally a breeder stands behind his or her animals, making themselves available even years later for help. They generally have an emotional tie to the animal. Importers vary in their follow-up with customers but none have this emotional tie.

The above are some things to think about, and maybe you will consider paying an extra 30 dollars or so and possibly waiting a few months to get a captive-bred animal.

In addition to what Darrell said above about the reasons not to buy wild-caught animals, I would to add that it is truly horrific how these animals come to this country. They are all thrown into a crate where they are overcrowded and given no food or water. It could take months for them to get to the states. By then, they are usually dehydrated, diseased, or dead.

The following is an article on what conditions turtles and tortoises experience when being exported.

BELOW ARE SOME PICTURES THAT SOME PEOPLE MIGHT FIND DISTURBING, BUT IT IS THE TRUTH

The following pictures and text are reprinted with permission from the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society

WIL LUIIJF

ABSTRACT: The expanding international wildlife trade has contributed significantly to the decline of many tortoise and turtle populations in the wild. Regulations set forth by the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) could be used as a tool to help stem these declines, but serious problems in enforcement have prevented their successful application. While serving as a CITES enforcement officer, the author made observations in the course of day-to-day inspections of wildlife shipments. These are reported here as a series of case studies that document many of these enforcement failures. These cases also reveal extensive failures in compliance with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Live Animals Regulations for the proper air transport of chelonians. The consequent inhumane and often deplorable conditions frequently result in the death of high numbers of the transported animals.

In this shipment from Kazakhstan to the USA (intercepted in Amsterdam), 3,000 Russian Tortoises, Testudo horsfieldii were packed in 60 crates; 127 were dead.

In this shipment en route from Tanzania to the USA (seized in Amsterdam), 511 pancake tortoises, Malacochersis tornieri, in extremely poor condition, were packed in layers on top of one another.

A shipment of 500 Testudo horsfieldii, en route from the former USSR to Hong Kong, was opened because of the foul odor emanating from the cartons. In this photo the inspector points to a maggot at the bottom of the crate.

In addition to the crushed animals in this same shipment of 500 Testudo horsfieldii, numerous individuals had fractured carapaces, crushed skulls, and severed limbs.

References Cited

Luiijf, W. 1997. CITES and the tortoise and turtle trade. In: J. Van Abbema (ed.), Proceedings: Conservation, Restoration, and Management of Tortoises and Turtles—An International Conference, pp. 125–134. July 1993, State University of New York, Purchase. New York Turtle and Tortoise Society, New York.

CITES and the Tortoise and Turtle Trade

WIL LUIIJF