In the reptile show, snakes and lizzard/dragon are still much more popular than tortoises

[Tom]

Well thank you Dr. Reptile. I assume you must have a PhD in Canine and Feline research as well. You probably could make a generalized statement, however it would be inaccurate and uninformed. The “Nuisance” behavior of dogs is normally due to uneducated breeders who don’t understand the biology of breeding out negative genetic traits. I can accept you may find a peaceful feeling from a lizard, but what you call “Bond” is not a two way street. Cats and dogs “Destroy Everything”? That is not at all true. You do have to understand the difference in dog breeds. Specifically “Working Dogs” who were bred to perform physical tasks. When they do not receive the stimulation that was bred into their DNA by their owner, they are going to act out. People do need to do their research and make sure they provide the enrichment that any breed requires to have successful results. Your statement about Tortoises only caring about the person that feed them is simply incorrect and not true. I am sure you will reply with a snarky rebuttal, but you should take all of your knowledge and education to the Lizard forums. This is a “Tortoise Forum” why do you have your nose in here. P.S.: Your wasting your time rushing to your keyboard to “Hunt & Peck” your reply because I will not give you the satisfaction of wasting my time to read it. ❤️🐢U💩

I find this reply rude and snarky. We are just talking here. You shared your POV, I shared mine, and MoD shared hers. The first three words of your very first post here sum it all up: "I don't understand..." Me and some of the other posters here tried to share our experience with you. Because we've kept a lot the animals that you commented on for a lot of years, some of us DO understand, and we tried to help you understand.

I thought @MotherofDragons did a great job explaining about her Ctenosaura, and her doberman. I used to keep Ctenosaura in the early 90s, and I can attest to what she says. The breeder I got my dragons from also breeds Ctenosaura and she had a few that had amazing outgoing and engaging personalities. She called them like dogs and they came over and walked right up her arm. It was so "dog tame" that it would even walk up a stranger's arm and did so with my daughter. I don't know how that doesn't qualify as a "pet" in your mind. It seems like you have
not experienced snakes and lizards as some of the rest of us have.


I'm a career professional dog trainer. I love dogs, but I have been around a few dogs that were annoying and a pain in the arse, like what she described. I can understand when people don't want the responsibility, work load, expense and hassle of having a dog. I find it rewarding and worth it, but man there are days when I can understand why a person wouldn't want one. You don't seem to understand dogs either. Nature vs. nurture. The breeder and breed certainly have something to do with bad behavioral traits, but the vast majority of the blame for ill-behaved dogs goes to the person doing the training, or in some cases, not doing the training when they should be. What I frequently say to clients is: "Would he be doing that if I was holding the leash?" Their answer is always a resigned, "No." I have been to many households where the dog really did "destroy everything", working dog breed or not. I don't blame the dog or the dog's breeder. I blame the person who gave an untrained or undertrained dog free access to "everything".

Anyhow, there is no need for sarcasm or rudeness. No sense in asking another tortoise owner why their nose is in a tortoise forum and telling them to go elsewhere. That's just mean. You stated that her comment about tortoises only caring about us because we offer food was incorrect and not true, and then you went on to insult her. Why not make your argument about your tortoise experience instead? I want to know what makes you think your tortoise likes you for more than the food you offer. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with you on that point. I'm saying that I was looking forward to you making your point about it and instead you decided to lash out. Bad form.

 

[Tom]

Snakes are beautiful to observe, as well as therapeutic and relaxing to hold. Feeding live is extremely unpopular now. Most people buy frozen rodents; it’s a serious business, and seriously convenient. Even if they were just pretty to look at, people get tortoises for the same reason.

My “lizards” are incredible. Ctenosaura Melanosterna are a rare endangered species of Iguana, they actually are incredibly intelligent and DO learn to recognize their keepers. Very interactive, amazing, and fun to feed- not because I love watching them kill roaches, or bananas (the horror!!), but because of the priceless interaction and bonding with them. It’s a relationship far more involved and developed than the ones people can hope to have with their tortoises. In fact it’s completely different. Your tortoise doesn’t care about YOU, it just knows you feed it. Isn’t that everywhere on this site? You can develop an actual relationship with lizards, a bond of trust. It’s far superior in that way as a pet. You aren’t even supposed to hold tortoises, but you can hold an iguana!!

Go ahead and love tortoises best and thats great they are a better fit for you. Still, you don’t have to decide everything else isn’t a pet or inferior in quality (and make gross assumptions about why those keepers would have them) because you don’t understand what that pet has to offer, simply because you’re a different person with different preferences. Honestly your ignorance is showing.

The older I get I think cats and dogs make awful pets, or any animal that makes noise and can’t be contained in a nifty enclosure. I had a Doberman- what an awful “pet,” but you can change that to any number of breeds. He had anxiety and barked enough to shake my house, my consciousness, and my patience. Cats and dogs destroy everything. I could make a generalized statement (and fair point!!) that those aren’t pets, but predators. Dogs and cats are AWFUL pets, FOR ME. To each their own.

I agree with each of your points here, and I share your observations on lizard interaction too. Your dog statements hit home and make perfect sense. I thought this post was well thought out, well written, and explained your point of view very well. Maybe that's why it stuck a nerve.

If you have not posted pics of your lizards, please do so in the lizard section. I love Ctenosaura and I'm on the waiting list for a banana baby.

 

[tortlvr]

What's this thread about again?

Thank you. Let's stop the 3rd grade sparking and realize we all have personal feelings we want to defend. Bottom line here is to give all
animals the very best care.

 

[OliveW]

The last two REPTICONs I went to here in Fort Lauderdale were more or less snake and gecko shows

A show full of geckos in Florida is slightly entertaining. I have at least a couple dozen of them on my deck at any given time. 😂

 

[ZEROPILOT]

A show full of geckos in Florida is slightly entertaining. I have at least a couple dozen of them on my deck at any given time. 😂

Three live outside behind my mailbox and come out at night to ear moths. One lives inside and hangs out on the wall behind the tv..
They're not a bother at all

 

[SasquatchTortoise]

When I got our tortoise from a convention, I made a lot of beginner mistakes (mostly because I hadn't found this site yet). That year, they probably had over a dozen vendors each selling several species. I think if they didn’t have so many, I wouldn’t have impulse bought. I’m not ready to give up yet, though.

 

[William Lee Kohler]

I agree with OP at disappointment with few unusual chelonians at our relatively nearby reptile/exotix animal expos. The best I've seen was the Phoenix Expo last Nov. Quite a few critters we NEVER see up here in the hinterlands. Even got to see a genuine Coconut crab.