given the age that some species of tortoises live to id say they would be an ideal species to uplift for space travel. not sure how they handle g loads though.
We see that the turtle folk would be a winning space people. Kittens, yeah.
Salamander seem cool. Space for the salamanders but quail.. Quail belong on the ground, eating ticks. No space for quail.
Interstellar quail is NOT a thing.