Do people think you’re weird for owning tortoise/turtles

Maggie3fan

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I had a mail carrier see me outside walking Ink in the front yard. She said "That is a disgusting pet, why would you have that?" I said "I find some people disgusting and rude should I tell them? I would be careful..he bites." She then apologized. She still thinks he bites?
Well... my Sulcata dosen't bite either...but when they do...
 

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Viola B

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Here is what I tell my teenage daughter: Pursue excellence in whatever interests you. Don't care what other people think. Show no interest in their opinions. Ignore the detractors, and thank the complimenters, and then go about your business of pursuing excellence. People who are interested in conforming never achieve greatness. If some people don't like you or what you are doing, then you are not doing it right. Lead by example. Don't be a follower.

When you can truly stop caring what other people think, you free yourself from the terrible shackles of mediocrity. You only get one life (I think...), so you better LIVE that life, rather than hiding from it and playing it safe. Be bold and adventurous. You'll make mistakes. Learn from them and do better next time.
Well said and so very true.
 

ArmadilloPup

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Ooh, support group time!

I have anxiety too. It can be a really wild horse to wrangle. I took a year of DBT (no meds, just simply retraining your brain to think positive) and it helped me enjoy life more and embrace my weirdness. Yes, I'm an adult that likes dinosaurs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I just had a tort shipped to my workplace because of my/Fed Ex's schedule. I'm still new there and I expected to get teased by co-workers. I tried to keep it on the down-low, but workplaces and small towns are the same, everyone heard about my shipment right away.

The support was unbelievable. Everyone was peeping around the corner watching for Fed Ex, and they were upset for me when the shipment got delayed. Everybody gathered 'round on Delivery Day Part 2. I'm not sure how many Tik Tok videos and pictures now exist of my new pet. Co-workers and the maintenance guy are always asking me how my new tortoise is doing ?
 

Cathie G

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Before I started collecting Redfoot, I once made the decision to NOT date a certain woman because she kept turtles and I found it to be just too weird.
That's hilarious!!! Don't call someone weird cause it'll rub off on you ?
 

Maggie3fan

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When you get to the point in life that you're standing in the yard wearing sleep clothes, collecting dandelions and clipping the grass with scissors, you're beyond worrying about what others think.
How in the hell did you know I do that exactly???!!! I also collect slugs and worms for my box turtles in my jammies...one morning I was cutting some grass for my cats actually, when a carload of teenagers drove by (our speed limit is 10 mph) anyhow, one smartas* hollers...that really would be easier with a lawn mower...lol
 

TaylorTortoise

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Ooh, support group time!

I have anxiety too. It can be a really wild horse to wrangle. I took a year of DBT (no meds, just simply retraining your brain to think positive) and it helped me enjoy life more and embrace my weirdness. Yes, I'm an adult that likes dinosaurs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I just had a tort shipped to my workplace because of my/Fed Ex's schedule. I'm still new there and I expected to get teased by co-workers. I tried to keep it on the down-low, but workplaces and small towns are the same, everyone heard about my shipment right away.

The support was unbelievable. Everyone was peeping around the corner watching for Fed Ex, and they were upset for me when the shipment got delayed. Everybody gathered 'round on Delivery Day Part 2. I'm not sure how many Tik Tok videos and pictures now exist of my new pet. Co-workers and the maintenance guy are always asking me how my new tortoise is doing ?
Het whats dbt?
 

ArmadilloPup

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Het whats dbt?

"Dialectical behavior therapy"

You learn how to to balance logic and emotion to change self-destructive habits. Example, if you tend to hyperfocus on negative thoughts to the point of it affecting your life or relationships with others, you can learn how to stop those feelings with logic and put yourself back in control.

There are a lot of (not exciting, but educational) videos about DBT skills on Youtube if you want to learn more.
 

SPILL

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How in the hell did you know I do that exactly???!!! I also collect slugs and worms for my box turtles in my jammies...one morning I was cutting some grass for my cats actually, when a carload of teenagers drove by (our speed limit is 10 mph) anyhow, one smartas* hollers...that really would be easier with a lawn mower...lol
I tell my wife that one of these days some young kid is going to record me and make crazy old man videos for YouTube.
 

Yvonne G

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How in the hell did you know I do that exactly???!!! I also collect slugs and worms for my box turtles in my jammies...one morning I was cutting some grass for my cats actually, when a carload of teenagers drove by (our speed limit is 10 mph) anyhow, one smartas* hollers...that really would be easier with a lawn mower...lol

There are slugs and worms in your jammies?
 

Cathie G

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"Dialectical behavior therapy"

You learn how to to balance logic and emotion to change self-destructive habits. Example, if you tend to hyperfocus on negative thoughts to the point of it affecting your life or relationships with others, you can learn how to stop those feelings with logic and put yourself back in control.

There are a lot of (not exciting, but educational) videos about DBT skills on Youtube if you want to learn more.
When I'm down I force myself to count my blessings. It changes my mood. Most of my blessings are little interactions with me from wild animals and pets. I can remember the special ones from years ago. Animal memories are my favorite. And they work.?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Aww, that's kinda sad !
She had a cardboard box with some sort of turtle or tortoise inside that had pooped in there.
I never got over the smell.
I couldn't look her in the eyes.
Of course I wouldn't hold that against her now. Some 35 years later.
 

Cathie G

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I
She had a cardboard box with some sort of turtle or tortoise inside that had pooped in there.
I never got over the smell.
I couldn't look her in the eyes.
Of course I wouldn't hold that against her now. Some 35 years later.
It had to have been a turtle cause my tortoise only poos ?
 

newCH

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Life is great when you don't care what other people think.
Owning a tort, I think it's funny to tell people :
"It's like the dog that never barks !" ?
 

Jan A

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I tell my wife that one of these days some young kid is going to record me and make crazy old man videos for YouTube.
Sometime around the Christmas holidays, some crazy guy dressed up as Cousin Eddie from "Vacation" in a bathrobe & used a flame thrower to clean the snow off his driveway. Was that you??
 

SPILL

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Sometime around the Christmas holidays, some crazy guy dressed up as Cousin Eddie from "Vacation" in a bathrobe & used a flame thrower to clean the snow off his driveway. Was that you??
That could never be me. I might be the only Midwesterner under 80 that refuses to leave the house in the snow . If we get even a dusting everyone knows I won't be at work. If we have more than an inch in the forecast I'm running to the store and stocking the pantry like a Cold War era bomb shelter.
 

Cathie G

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Sometime around the Christmas holidays, some crazy guy dressed up as Cousin Eddie from "Vacation" in a bathrobe & used a flame thrower to clean the snow off his driveway. Was that you??
That sounds more like Maggie ?
 
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While researching the type of turtle I wanted I did have a fleeting thought that it was a pet for children not adults. Recently a guy told me he knew I was single because I have a turtle. Do people think I'm weird? Yes. Do I care? No. Nowadays people think I'm strange for not having social media, tattoos or apple products. Not being true to myself is not an option.
 

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