Sulcata tortoises have made their way to one of the more popular pet tortoises, but that doesn’t mean they are for everyone. The cute $50 baby sulcata won’t stay small long and you have children to think about… Sulcata tortoises and children can make a good match.
Teach Children Proper Handling and Care of Sulcatas
Owning and raising a pet sulcata tortoise can be a great way to teach children how to care for a pet. But, the adult(s) in the house need to take on the bulk of the responsibility. Like dogs, cats, and even hamsters and fish, tortoises need to be fed and cared for.
Children should be taught proper hygiene when handling tortoises, as well as how to be safe around tortoises.
Sulcatas can be super cute when running to you (for food), but they are not like dogs. They don’t have human emotions. They come to you for food, not belly rubs. But, they can find food on their own too. If you want to bring a sulcata into your home with children, they can get along and can be great teaching tools for responsibility.
Here are two reasons you may want to reconsider a pet sulcata around children… Besides the obvious of size, housing requirements and overall care (possibility of expensive vet bills).
Tortoises Can Bite Children
When feeding a large sulcata tortoise, tiny fingers can get in the way. A large tortoise may not mean to, but when taking a Mazuri pellet or a bite of a rose flower, he may grab ahold of a child’s finger and chomp down.
There’s a lot of force behind the bite. Plus, they have a beak-like mouth with ridges that are incredibly sharp. The larger the tortoise, the larger and thicker the ridges on the beak. Needless to say, the larger the tortoise, the more the bite hurts.
Ramming
Sulcata tortoises are known to ram. Mating season, hungry, territorial, aggression. You want to be careful of large tortoises that are known to ram. A 100-pound tortoise can hurt a grown man if he’s not paying attention and is rammed.
When a sulcata rams, it will rise up on its front legs and thrust its body towards you or whatever object it is ramming. Sometimes they will shuffle and push something out of its way by tucking in the head inside the shell and pushing with its legs and shell. If you’re the object being rammed or shuffled, it isn’t going to feel good, especially if you’re talking about a large, adult sulcata and a small child.
Don’t leave a 40-pound child unattended.
Salmonella
Yes there is a risk, but with safety precautions, salmonella shouldn’t be a major concern. Wash your hands and the child’s hands after touching a sulcata tortoise. Don’t kiss a tortoise. Don’t eat after a tortoise. Use common sense.
Yes… Reptiles can carry salmonella, but so can money, raw chicken and hands that don’t wash after using the bathroom. In reality, most domestic animals, including ducks, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs and cats have been found to carry and transmit salmonella. There are even cases of contaminated water.
