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Original poster

Daughter moving out and won’t take her tortoise

180 replies

Questionsquestions23 · 03/07/2025 17:20

My daughter got a tortoise when she was 18 - she’s now 22. She’s moving out in September and says she can’t take him. I have done most of the work for him. I get up every morning and forage for healthy greens for him change up his water - I do the same when I get in from work. I prepare him for hibernation, give him a bath a few times a week.

daughter went to uni and looked after him in the holidays but since leaving she works full time so it me.
the tortoise is about 25 so will Probably out live me.
I don’t want this responsibility!
what can I do?

OP posts:
Zanatdy · 04/07/2025 06:08

yes they can live for years. We went to Oxford uni open day yesterday and one college had a 90yr old tortoise. I’d ask the exotic vet for recommendations. My parents sold a tortoise to a local lady, she had 2 others and my dad used to call and see him sometimes (he was a gardener for local authority and found him when cutting the grass verge of a bypass one day). But i’d rehome via a specialised place to ensure he goes to a good home.

TroysMammy · 04/07/2025 06:10

We've had our family tortoise for 53 years and she's spoilt rotten. After my parents days it's going to be tricky because of our gardens not being ideal for tortoise ownership. She is much loved though.

Casperroonie · 04/07/2025 06:21

Hatty65 · 03/07/2025 17:21

Offer him to your local primary school?

Someone will take him over the holidays, I'm sure. Like the class guinea pig.

Please don't do this!! Take it to rspca.

PigglyWigglyOhYeah · 04/07/2025 06:23

BoudiccaRuled · 03/07/2025 23:57

Tim Dowling has written some lovely columns about his wife's tortoise in the Guardian recently. Even more lovely, perhaps, are the reader comments. If would seem that tortoises capture human hearts!

I love his columns. I am very attached to the tortoise and dogs. Not so much the cat.

Coinkydink · 04/07/2025 06:35

Hatty65 · 03/07/2025 17:21

Offer him to your local primary school?

Someone will take him over the holidays, I'm sure. Like the class guinea pig.

Schools stopped allowing them due to salmonella risk

DangerousAlchemy · 04/07/2025 06:39

Hatty65 · 03/07/2025 17:21

Offer him to your local primary school?

Someone will take him over the holidays, I'm sure. Like the class guinea pig.

Poor tortoise! A proper home would be better really

mummydoorgirl · 04/07/2025 06:43

I had two as pets when I was a child.
they were originally the childhood pets of a great aunt, she died in her 80s have had them most of her life, they lived over 20 years with me!

these are not just pets for life, they are pets for your relatives lives too when you die.
They were an ill considered idea.
re home them, there are enthusiast societies who will put you in touch with keen people

Quittingforlosers · 04/07/2025 06:49

Learning a lot from this thread!

I love that the Tortoise Trust are famously slow at replying 😂

MyGhastIsFlabbered · 04/07/2025 06:52

I’ve always wanted a tortoise…this makes me so sad.

DelphiniumDoreen · 04/07/2025 06:56

Hatty65 · 03/07/2025 17:21

Offer him to your local primary school?

Someone will take him over the holidays, I'm sure. Like the class guinea pig.

Jesus wept.

Agree that you should rehome with the help of a tortoise rescue. There used to be loads of tortoises people kept as pets but much less now I think. We used to have one visit our garden that regularly escaped.

Bonbonthechewyone · 04/07/2025 07:04

Meem321 · 03/07/2025 17:33

Can you not just sling him a handful of kale or some cucumber?
Foraging seems quite high maintenance...
Mine is 44, eats anything I pop down and sometimes gets some juicy dandelion leaves if I find some when walking the dog.
Do they need bathing three times a week? I don't remember the last time I bathed mine. Occasionally I forget to bring him inside and he has a lovely night of stargazing ⭐

Show quote history

No, you can't! You are not looking after your tortoise properly. And you should be bathing it at least weekly. You really do need to research the correct diet for the type of tortoise you have.

Bonbonthechewyone · 04/07/2025 07:11

When my in laws got too old to look after the tortoise they'd had for 60 years, he came to us. He's a lovely boy and we wouldn't be without him. People really underestimate the commitment a tortoise needs. They're going to be with you your entire life!

ultraviolet4753 · 04/07/2025 07:18

Questionsquestions23 · 03/07/2025 17:49

I couldn’t give him to anyone on line - it’s honestly so much work. I think a cat is easier. And they can climb and the escape if given a chance and the need so much space to roam. And the exotic vet is a 40min drive away. It’s a nightmare!

Thank you so much for going about rehoming him sensibly, making sure he doesn't end up in the wrong hands.

You seem to really care about its welfare and take the time to make sure it's healthy and happy, even though this was just dumped onto you.
It's so easy for them to be neglected, as with many pets.

Hope it goes well,

Lilactimes · 04/07/2025 07:24

Pricelessadvice · 03/07/2025 20:34

Where are you Op? Experienced torty owner here looking for another at the moment…

Hi @Questionsquestions23 I feel your pain.
Perhaps rehoming to a kind and caring home and doing some research would be the best option for you?
I think it’s good he’s not gone with your daughter - doesn’t sound like it would work.
I have learned a lot from this thread ❤️

ForWittyTealOP · 04/07/2025 07:24

TerrysCIockworkOrange · 03/07/2025 23:56

This is your daughter’s problem to solve OP. She’s 22, not 12, and needs to feel every ounce of guilt that comes along with the lifelong responsibility of taking on a pet that you subsequently choose to give up because it’s no longer convenient.

To be fair we got our wonderful dog from someone of a similar age who found she wasn't convenient after all. His dad was also looking after her and finding it difficult. She died last year and we miss her every day. She had a lovely life with us. I'd hate anyone to choose between lifelong guilt and keeping a pet they're not that into. I'd rather they accepted they'd made a mistake and looked for someone to give the animal the love and care they deserve.

Newblackdress · 04/07/2025 07:33

Rehome the tortoise responsibly whatever your DD says. She doesn’t care enough to look after him properly so don’t agree to her taking him to avoid him being rehomed.
But I am surprised he’s so high maintenance. As a child mine lived outdoors, ate vegetables and hibernated in a box of straw in the garage. That may not work now with global warming.

Shellyash · 04/07/2025 07:34

I had one as a kid and it wasn't anything like high maintenance and once I left home my mum found someone for it. I wonder if you are over worrying about it? Read some other tortoise forums, or tortoise owners club (joke) to find out if there are ways you could make keeping it less hard work?

AelinAG · 04/07/2025 07:36

There’s a sanctuary in wales. My aunt gave our family tortoise to it….i was absolutely livid as she’s eighty with no children and I really thought he was coming my way soon, I’d love a tortoise. It’s in North Wales, within an hours drive from Liverpool.

they have loads of tortoises, and when she went to visit a week later, worried she’d done the wrong thing, he was cracking on happily with a lady tortoise.

DelilahRose25 · 04/07/2025 07:42

Questionsquestions23 · 03/07/2025 17:20

My daughter got a tortoise when she was 18 - she’s now 22. She’s moving out in September and says she can’t take him. I have done most of the work for him. I get up every morning and forage for healthy greens for him change up his water - I do the same when I get in from work. I prepare him for hibernation, give him a bath a few times a week.

daughter went to uni and looked after him in the holidays but since leaving she works full time so it me.
the tortoise is about 25 so will Probably out live me.
I don’t want this responsibility!
what can I do?

Where are you based? I used to have a tortoise and I am looking to rehome one atm. You are right in saying they are not as easy to look after as people may think so it would be better going through a re homing process. There are pages on Facebook for this where you can ask to see their indoor and outdoor set up. I am in Birmingham and would love to have him if you’re local.

ClassActlaptop · 04/07/2025 07:46

Awww you sound so nice OP!!! So caring!

Mayve · 04/07/2025 07:49

There are so many people out there desperate to have tortoises, you will have no problem rehoming him. Ask around to friends of friends.
My mum got her tortoise when she was 10… she’s now 71. She got her little tortoise about 30 years ago and they all live quite happily. Nothing has even been foraged except the occasional buttercup, neither of them have ever seen a UV lamp or the inside of a fridge, neither of them have ever had their legs soaked. Bathed twice a year if that. Feels like a lot of over complication here from a lot of posters!

BarMonaco · 04/07/2025 08:08

Halsall · 04/07/2025 00:38

We've had a family tortoise for over 50 years too. He’s a character and we’re very fond of him but he’s a big responsibility. In the old days people knew no better than 'bung him in a cardboard box of straw to hibernate in the garage' but we’re all more clued up now, thank goodness. Nobody should have a tortoise if they’re not prepared to look after them well.

OP, you sound as though you’re doing a great job, but I’m sure you could find him a loving home with an experienced owner who’d care for him just as carefully.

I remember Blue Peter showing us how to do that.

SuburbanSprawl · 04/07/2025 08:09

Thatsthebottomline · Yesterday 19:01

I tried the tortoise trust to take me old tortoise but they seemed to take such a long time to be back to me.

....resist, Sprawl, resist. Too easy....

MissDoubleU · 04/07/2025 08:30

Tortoises are pretty easy to care for and don’t take a lot of time or effort when you prepare and set them up for success. You shouldn’t need to forage every day for 20 minutes to find food for them? That’s actually insane ? And surely their enclosure has a water bowl they can soak in and drink from ( cause yes, tortoises do also drink water into their mouths!)

If you don’t want the tortoise you need to advertise it for sale/rehome in an exotics group or reptile rehome page. There are many people who would love to take the tortoise off your hands. It’s a cared for pet and unfair to be lumping it on a charity with limited recourses.

BitOutOfPractice · 04/07/2025 08:30

Op I just wanted to say that, having had no previous interest whatsoever in tortoises, I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

I hope you find your tortoise a happy new home.

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