# ???Tuatara???



## Dizzylizard (Nov 2, 2008)

Hi, Im new to the reptile forum (or any forums!), so please forgive me if i do anything wrong. As with everyone on this forum I LOVE REPTILES and own quite a few. But there is one reptile that i would simply love to have and thats a Tuatara. One problem, i have searched and searched and cannot find anywhere online to get one or possibly two. Would anyone be able to tell me firstly if its possible to have one in England and if so where i could get one/two from?


----------



## in5omniac (Mar 2, 2008)

As far as I know they're very rare/endangered, and if you were to be able to get one somehow, you'd be paying a fortune for it.


----------



## Sambee (Jul 4, 2008)

According to Wikipedia, the tuatara has been classified as an endangered species since 1845 and there aren't many captive breeding programmes for them, only professionally run ones in New Zealand.

Tuatara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## Trice (Oct 4, 2006)

You're likely to have pretty much no chance of getting them, i believe they dont grow until maturity for a good few years, and even then dont lay many eggs. So yeah.


----------



## Dizzylizard (Nov 2, 2008)

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately i had a feeling they would be hard to find and rather pricey. 

I think there is only one breeding pair left in the wild in New Zealand, but i believe they are quite popular as pets over there and they are actively encouraging captive breeding to keep the species alive.


----------



## 0bytes (Jul 25, 2006)

Chester zoo have a huge group if you fancy a great day out:2thumb:
But i'd give up on hoping to own one.


----------



## katelikesfun (Sep 19, 2007)

someone put a pic up, I'm dying to know what they are.... I'm sure I must have seen them at chester zoo if they are there


----------



## cooljules (May 20, 2008)

katelikesfun said:


> someone put a pic up, I'm dying to know what they are.... I'm sure I must have seen them at chester zoo if they are there


google it..

they dont mate until over a 100 years old IIRC, so thats the same age as andy the mod


----------



## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Dizzylizard said:


> Hi, Im new to the reptile forum (or any forums!), so please forgive me if i do anything wrong. As with everyone on this forum I LOVE REPTILES and own quite a few. But there is one reptile that i would simply love to have and thats a Tuatara. One problem, i have searched and searched and cannot find anywhere online to get one or possibly two. Would anyone be able to tell me firstly if its possible to have one in England and if so where i could get one/two from?


In a nut shell sorry it not gona happen .However do some homework a Ozzy eastern water dragon or a Beared dragon may fill your gap you will deffo have some money left:lol2:.Both Very similer in build and length to the Turtara.Adult males Ozzy water dragoons are very impressive from what i've seen they tame very well.I'm not sure of the going rate but i beleave around £100 max possibly less.I've seen full set ups with adult beared dragon with viv'etc for £100-£150.

Ozzy eastern water dragon.








Beared dragon.








Tuatara.


----------



## rockwork (Oct 25, 2008)

Dizzylizard said:


> Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately i had a feeling they would be hard to find and rather pricey.
> 
> I think there is only one breeding pair left in the wild in New Zealand, but i believe they are quite popular as pets over there and they are actively encouraging captive breeding to keep the species alive.


:bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash:

hi it is illegal to have one in capitivy here in new zealand unless you are part of a breeding programme and to do this you got to apply for premits and hold some kind of zoo licence.

as for owning one in the UK unless you have a good contact in the black market i very much doubt that you will get one. they are worth about 7g on the black market here.

as for the one breeding pair in the wild there are a cupple here but they only breed every 7yrs if you are lucky we have an iland just off the coast were they are.
:2thumb:


----------



## Dizzylizard (Nov 2, 2008)

It seems that im going to have to give up my dream of owning a tuatara! Im going to blame this months bbc wildlife magazine for making me fall in love with such an amazing reptile! Although im glad they have dedicated 3 pages to a reptile for a change. Thanks for all your replies!


----------

