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I was asked to voice my opinion on this matter, and i want to disclose thats all it is. I’m not telling people what they can and can’t do. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer for this specific topic. There are opinions that can be made, which will be poo poo’d by someone with an opposite opinion. For large breeders that are successful, it’s a business. Breeding is a way of life and a way of feeding your family, it’s tough to not have that species available. To call a spade a spade, it’s a good source of income and if someone denies that, then they don’t rely on sulcatas to pay a mortgage, etc. I consider breeding and selling sulcatas similar to giving someone advice when they ask for it. Once you give a person some advice, it’s their responsibility to act on it. If they choose not to, that is on them. I don’t like to assume, but in this situation, i would like to assume that sulcata breeders make buyers aware of how big these animals get, and the commitment that goes into raising them. I know i do. At the same time, sulcata buyers need to take responsibility in educating themselves. Releasing them into the wild is a complete different subject that shouldn’t be ignored. The only positive thing about it, is a sulcata tortoise isn’t going to eat a child at Disney world. If anything, it would continue to add a smile to an innocent persons face, that doesn’t know the ramifications of releasing CB anything into the wild. Sulcatas are cute, pretty, hardy as hatchlings, and prolific breeders as adults, which makes them a staple in most tortoise breeders availability list. In my neutral emotional opinion, and i want to make this very clear that it’s just an opinion, not a forceful suggestion, one way to prevent this is to not breed or sell sulcatas. Look at Chris Leone, he is a successful tortoise breeder, refuses to breed sulcatas. Now he might offer some here and there if he received in a trade or something, but to my knowledge, he refuses to breed them due to how readily available they are in the market he competes in. They next question you might ask is “why does tortstork offer them as eggs?” The answer is because i think sulcatas are amazing animals. I make sure customers are well educated. If a sulcata inquiry goes past just finding out how much they are, then i make sure the buyer is well educated in what their future beholds. After that, it’s their responsibility to care for that tortoise for life. I’m also pretty understanding that life throws curve balls. S*it happens, plans change, and sometimes you have to move in a different direction. Releasing them into the wild isn’t the right action to take, so maybe something positive can come out of this thread. Maybe someone here owns a sulcata rehoming farm and can share how they are helping change these gorgeous animal’s lives.
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