Exactly correct. We had 1.5 years of clinical medicine. You cannot learn much. There are three main tracks- small, large (often divided into farm / food animal) and exotic zoo in most curriculums. A few schools have nice poultry programs. Regardless of amount of exposure- when you pass the board...
as a veterinarian (it’s 4 year degree in the US) the animals I see locally are mostly from big box pet stores and they routinely have parasites, oral fungal disease, impactions, hepatic disease etc. While most vets do not specialize in exotics many are capable. I see plenty of animals suffering...
This is not entirely accurate. Most vets are offered courses on exotics and tortoises are very common pets. There are also absolutely illnesses in which tube feeding a tortoise are indicated. Make sure you ask your vet / find one who is comfortable with the tortoise. Most times they are just as...