Rightmove house with a tortoise room!

[CornedBeef451]

We're thinking of moving to this area and saw this house. It seems to have reasonably sized rooms but one bedroom seems to be a tortoise room. I'm torn between what a lovely idea and WTF.

Will the floor be soaked in tortoise pee? Is there visible mould in the tortoise room or just an unfortunate shadow? Anyway, thought someone might like a look at it, otherwise perfectly normal house.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120511961#/?channel=RES_BUY

You put tortoise in the fridge??? A separate fridge or your kitchen fridge, does the light upset them?

@ThisIsGroundControl

You put tortoise in the fridge??? A separate fridge or your kitchen fridge, does the light upset them?

A separate fridge. As pp said, you box the tortoise inside the fridge so it doesn't get disturbed by any light.

@NinaDefoe

Agreed. That staircase is a thing of beauty. Let's hope the person that has purchased it treats it and renovates/restores with the respect it deserves.

@AlternativePerspective

A colleague of mine went to view a house once where all the doors from the kitchen cupboards had been removed and replaced with wire mesh, and they were all filled with birds. 😱.

@Hellocatshome

The tortoise room definitely has mould on the ceiling in the corner. The whole house needs a lot of cosmetic work except for perhaps the kitchen. Unless you can be bothered with doing it all I would look for a different house. Can I ask how you know its a tortoise and not a rabbit room or other small animal?

There a tortoise under the stool!

• "that's exactly how my sister hibernates her mediterranean, on advice from the various specialist societies she's a member of."

I'm grossing the British Chelonia Group and the Tortoise Protection Group. The Tortoise trust is a bit outdated now after the petite that followed it were told it was the worst thing ever to feed your tortoise salad bags from the super market. Only fresh foraged weeds would do! But the TT were secretly feeding their Egyptian tortoises a salad diet at their U.K HQ. The scandal was shocking. Within a week, the Pearl clutchers that INSISTED on weeds only only ( and told you were asking to an animal abuser if you breached this) were happily spending ££ every week on salad. It was hilarious.

The bowl on the radiator is probably to replace lost natural humidity. This species can be VERY dusty and normal houses are anywhere from 35-65% relative humidity. With the heat lamps the tortoise needs that room would be very dry and dusty with the hay etc.

Tortoises go in a separate fridge. I've got a spare one in my bedroom that I use for any hibernating species I've got in ( I only personally keep rarer species of tropicals that don't hibernate but a lot of rescues come my way as I'm a dab and at rehab and reptile care in general. ). The fridge is only used for tortoises and mycology ( mushroom cultivation).

Not my picture but I've attached on to show people hope it's done responsibly. The tortoise needs to be weighed every week to make sure they haven't lost too much weight. The temperatures need to be watched closely too. If a tortoise goes to -1c they can potentially survive but are often blinded as the first thing to freeze is the liquid filled eyes. Breeding tortoise that hibernate naturally in the wild or captivity need the hibernation as it boosts sperm stores and within a few weeks of walking the masters are literally humping everything. When mating, the mates make very distinctive noises and depending on the species can sound like snakes, seals , barking dogs and even geese

I'm grossing the British Chelonia Group and the Tortoise Protection Group.

Yes, and she's also in some tortoise groups on Facebook. She has the fridge for winter, a heated (solar lights) indoor vivarium for in between times and also an outdoor glass enclosure with heat lamps. In the summer he'll go out onto the lawn when it's hot, and go into his house to bask under a lamp when the sun goes in. It's very much a myth that tortoises are low-maintenance!

I feel like I'm in a parallel universe, but love this thread

@AlternativePerspective that makes the tortoise bedroom look a bit amateurish!

I don't think the tortoise house is too bad. It looks tidy and decorated neatly. It needs updating but it could be done over time, it's not like you'd have to live in a caravan while doing it (and having grown up with a bird room I don't find a tortoise room that odd!).

Brilliant info on tortoises everyone. I do think it's lovely they have their own room but it does put me off a bit!

We have four cats and a selection of scratching posts and beds scattered around the house so I'm not going to judge indulgent pet owners!

Yuk.

I wouldn't even look. How vile

The roof is in a mess, hence the damp in the ‘tortoise’. Which I’m totally adopting!

‘Tortoise’ room

That house in Stourbridge is beautiful and the garden is stunning. So sad, though, as it’s clearly a probate sale and must have been a beloved family home for many years.

On another note, I have a tortoise too and he’s hibernating in the fridge (specially reserved for him) right now

I know this a really stupid question, but doesn’t the tortoise suffocate in the fridge? I thought they were airtight?

@ShavingTheBadger

I know this a really stupid question, but doesn’t the tortoise suffocate in the fridge? I thought they were airtight?

You have to open the fridge once a day for a change of air. Because the tortoise is hibernating, its breathing is extremely shallow, so it doesn't use oxygen very quickly.

@PeterPomegranate

Bedroom 1! They’ve given the master bedroom to a tortoise!

😂 that is totally crazy!

@Hellocatshome

The tortoise room definitely has mould on the ceiling in the corner. The whole house needs a lot of cosmetic work except for perhaps the kitchen. Unless you can be bothered with doing it all I would look for a different house. Can I ask how you know its a tortoise and not a rabbit room or other small animal?

I think the tortoise in the picture is a clue.....

I would imagine they probably keep the door shut to that room a lot of the time and that’s possibly why there’s mould along the ceiling - condensation and all that. If the house was the right price and whatever else for me then I’d go and look.

Would it be wrong for me to go and look at the house just so I can meet the tortoise?

I don't think they'd mind too much as they're the kind of people who give their tortoise the main bedroom!

I got over excited at another house we saw as the owner had a very cute cat, luckily DH is not as easily swayed by pets.

Would it be wrong for me to go and look at the house just so I can meet the tortoise?

I'm imagining a queue of Mumsnetters waiting to greet the tortoise or offer advice on its husbandry!

Has the picture gone, picture 16 is just a normal bedroom with stripey wallpaper?

You can see the tortoise under the window in a box

Photo 16

Am I in a different Universe???!