TRLI strongly urges anyone considering a turtle for a pet to do his or her research first. There are many reliable sites on the internet providing species specific care. You may be able to buy a turtle for ten dollars, but to properly keep a turtle it can cost hundreds of dollars to provide a proper environment. Veterinary care is also a factor, so before you take home that turtle be sure you have a good reptile vet that knows how to treat turtles.
If after doing your research you decide a turtle is right for you please consider adopting from one of the many rescues dedicated to them.
We are fully supportive of captive breeding to stop the harvesting of turtles and tortoises from the wild. In an ideal world there would be no pet turtles, but we do not live in an ideal world so we believe that captive breeding is the best alternative to ensure our wild turtles do not become extinct.
We also support captive breeding programs of species that are on the verge of decline/extinction because of years of harvesting from the wild.
We do not condone the mass breeding of turtles and tortoises for profit or otherwise which are overwhelming rescues, especially Sulcata tortoises which end up in the wrong climate.
We do encourage anyone with a pet turtle to do their research and give it the care it requires/deserves.