Hate to be a wet blanket here...(and ducking for cover)

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Posted by Annie Lancaster on July 20, 2001 at 13:52:38:

In Reply to: Re: CA Desert Tortoise Eggs posted by Toby on July 19, 2001 at 12:09:09:

But you should know that breeding Desert Tortoises (G. agassizii in any state) is illegal for numerous reasons.

There are so many adults in need of good homes...especially GOOD homes our this desert climate.

Bringing babies into the world who often succumb to MBD (they need stong desert sun and a very specific diet to flourish) or who are latent carriers of mycoplasma or herpesvirus (adults can carry this without showing bad symptoms for extended periods of time) inflates the problem for adult animals..increases the liklihood of captive tortoises being released to the wild (also illegal) which can spread disease to wild tortoises who have been fortunate enough to remain disease free.

No desert tortoise ever bred in captivity by a keeper will ever be re-released to the wild. Many people think they are helping the desert tortoise by breeding, when in fact, it often has the opposite effect. We deal with desert tortoises every day, TortoiseAid is located in the Mojave Desert.

Regards,
Annie Lancaster
Director, TortoiseAid

TortoiseAid

Follow Ups:

Re: Breeding DT's IS legal in AZ Cindy R (Phoenix, AZ) 07/21/01 (1)
- Re: Breeding DT's IS legal in AZ... BUT Annie Lancaster-TortoiseAid 07/24/01 (0)
Annie, that didn't answer Nick's question... Dave E 07/21/01 (2)
- *Thank you Dave... Nick 07/21/01 (1)
  - Re: *Thank you Dave... Annie Lancaster-TortoiseAid 07/21/01 (0)

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: But you should know that breeding Desert Tortoises (G. agassizii in any state) is illegal for numerous reasons. : There are so many adults in need of good homes...especially GOOD homes our this desert climate. : Bringing babies into the world who often succumb to MBD (they need stong desert sun and a very specific diet to flourish) or who are latent carriers of mycoplasma or herpesvirus (adults can carry this without showing bad symptoms for extended periods of time) inflates the problem for adult animals..increases the liklihood of captive tortoises being released to the wild (also illegal) which can spread disease to wild tortoises who have been fortunate enough to remain disease free. : No desert tortoise ever bred in captivity by a keeper will ever be re-released to the wild. Many people think they are helping the desert tortoise by breeding, when in fact, it often has the opposite effect. We deal with desert tortoises every day, TortoiseAid is located in the Mojave Desert. : Regards, : Annie Lancaster : Director, TortoiseAid

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