I recently got a delightful birthday present my new horsfield Tilly, my husband not knowing any different purchased her from the ark in Plymouth, although I had concerns about importing as such I contacted the ark and requested where there tortoises come from, they provided me with a uk breeder and have left me assured she was captive bred in the uk, there set up in store appears very good as I've been back and had a nose, also the advice sheet that was given matches most of what I've seen on here, I'm still a little concerned that her shell is showing signs of pyramiding so have uploaded a pic of her and have asked on people's opinion, I'll post up the outcome but so far everything seems ok, and at the moment I'm happy with everything 

Just an update, I took Tilly to a vet that specialises in reptiles, just incase Nyone in the area is looking pets at home in Plymouth have a vets in store called pet companions he has confirmed that Tilly is in excellent health and that her she'll isnt pyramiding, so relieved, so it seems the ark did all they promised, so not all are bad.

All dealers say they're UK bred.

They gave me the phone number of them I did call them, I can only speak for the ark in Plymouth as they were based just outside, I'll see if I can get the email address etc, obviously I can't be 100% yet but I'm working on it, we did visit another pet place yesterday not sure if I can put the name on here, but I was so shocked they had three torts of different species in a viv,with no lights or heat being fed pellets, the "viv" was tiny, more like a very small fish tank, the baby torts were just laying around, I pretended I needed help and after 20 mins spoke to a member of staff, they tried talking me into buying pellets and a heat mat to put in her bed section, they told me if she gets cold at night, even though she is indoors she would go into hibernation, I did advise them re the vivs and was basically told I did t know what I was talking about, what do I need to do about this?, there a huge company a garden centre, but the conditions and advice were appalling there was also snakes, turtles, spiders, all in tiny plastic boxes the tortoises via had condensation running down as it was on top of a turtle tank, it was horrible

As I always say - good pet shops don't sell animals.

Endsleigh garden centre in lee mill just outside of Plymouth, I saw hermanns, horsfields and possibly leopards

This is a place members should avoid !!

Hi (I know its from last year but the last bit of this one is worth the bump!)

 Reptiles 1 - 0 Neglectful Useless Shop 

Useful thread! We are trying to locate a breeder local to plymouth so heat we can be sure of a healthy pet - no luck in the south west - considering buying one from gum tree who's family have lost interest in him :( how can you buy from reputable breeder when there isn't one local ? Thanks for detail  re The Ark!