Lack of knowledge

[Natalie44]

Hello 👋
Right….so there’s this Facebook group where you can ask people for advise, post pics of your tortoise etc and I stumbled across someone posting a picture of their baby tortoise in an opened top enclosure…..so I reccomend they get themselves a green house cover to hold in the humidity and heat- after that I received a comment saying this…..(picture attached)
Where on earth is this person getting their information from? It’s shocking how much some people lack in knowledge and then wonder why their tortoise is starting to pyramid or whatever. Is there ANY truth to what this person is saying? I feel like they’re just there to annoy people 😂

 

[Natalie44]

I’ve asked her where she gets her info from. I thought it was a well known fact that torts like humidity?

 

[COmtnLady]

People don't like to think they are doing something wrong and will defend what they are doing. Unfortunately, the tortoises suffer.

FB isn't noted for being experts on much of anything. You tried to let them know they were harming their torts. If you push too much they will ban you (not to mention all the rude comments like the one you've shared here that you will get... perhaps being banned isn't bad afterall.) In a few years they will be bored with their tortoise and be looking for someone to foist it off onto. (Hopefully the damage, while it can't be undone, won't be so bad that a caring home can't give the tortoise a good life for the rest of its life.)

 

[Tom]

Ask Gill how many Testudo babies she has raised with humidity and what was the result? What about other species? Ask her to show pics of her tortoises and share the growth rates too?

What is usually happening in these cases is that the person subscribes to, and follows, all the typical old advice and they espouse it religiously. They have never tried it any other way, and certainly not the way I recommend, and they have no idea what they are talking about.

I've been keeping chelonians of many species since the 70s. I currently have over 50 if you don't count the babies, and over 100 if you do count the babies. Over the decades I have traveled the world, had countless conversations with tortoise keepers everywhere, observed countless keeping techniques and the results produced by each, and I have done many side-by-side experiments with clutch mates to determine what works best and why. I've kept tortoises every which way you can imagine, always trying to learn. The assertions I make are based on real world facts and experience. Gill is like a person who has an apple tree in their back yard, arguing with someone who has planted thousands of trees of many species all over the world and generated whole orchards. No doubt Gill means well, and no doubt Gill believes what she is saying, but Gill is ignorant. If she had ever tried a closed chamber she would know what positive results it brings. If she simply clicked on a few posts here on this forum, the overwhelming evidence would be obvious. If Gill took a few moments to look over posts from people in the UK with "vivarium" enclosures for baby Testudo, and compare what she sees with people in the UK using "tortoise table" enclosures for the same species, this would be obvious to her. Her words clearly demonstrate that she has done none of the above, and instead keeps blindly following the old wrong traditional way of doing it.

This is why I constantly tell people that info found everywhere but this forum is going to be the same wrong info all over the world. FB, YT, reddit, pet shops, books, vets, breeders, reptile "experts", etc... All saying the same old wrong stuff. I used to say it too. I believed what I was told, just as Gill does. The problem was: It didn't work and it produced poor results and failures. I had to figure out why that info failed, what info was correct, and why. Its been a long journey, and we will never know everything, but we have learned a lot along the way. You don't have to learn the hard way, as I and so many others before you did.

 

[Natalie44]

Ask Gill how many Testudo babies she has raised with humidity and what was the result? What about other species? Ask her to show pics of her tortoises and share the growth rates too?

What is usually happening in these cases is that the person subscribes to, and follows, all the typical old advice and they espouse it religiously. They have never tried it any other way, and certainly not the way I recommend, and they have no idea what they are talking about.

I've been keeping chelonians of many species since the 70s. I currently have over 50 if you don't count the babies, and over 100 if you do count the babies. Over the decades I have traveled the world, had countless conversations with tortoise keepers everywhere, observed countless keeping techniques and the results produced by each, and I have done many side-by-side experiments with clutch mates to determine what works best and why. I've kept tortoises every which way you can imagine, always trying to learn. The assertions I make are based on real world facts and experience. Gill is like a person who has an apple tree in their back yard, arguing with someone who has planted thousands of trees of many species all over the world and generated whole orchards. No doubt Gill means well, and no doubt Gill believes what she is saying, but Gill is ignorant. If she had ever tried a closed chamber she would know what positive results it brings. If she simply clicked on a few posts here on this forum, the overwhelming evidence would be obvious. If Gill took a few moments to look over posts from people in the UK with "vivarium" enclosures for baby Testudo, and compare what she sees with people in the UK using "tortoise table" enclosures for the same species, this would be obvious to her. Her words clearly demonstrate that she has done none of the above, and instead keeps blindly following the old wrong traditional way of doing it.

This is why I constantly tell people that info found everywhere but this forum is going to be the same wrong info all over the world. FB, YT, reddit, pet shops, books, vets, breeders, reptile "experts", etc... All saying the same old wrong stuff. I used to say it too. I believed what I was told, just as Gill does. The problem was: It didn't work and it produced poor results and failures. I had to figure out why that info failed, what info was correct, and why. Its been a long journey, and we will never know everything, but we have learned a lot along the way. You don't have to learn the hard way, as I and so many others before you did.

I very much trust your knowledge and expertise…and that’s why is very frustrating to hear people like gill giving out wrong information. Shes kicked me out of the forum because I advised someone to get a green house topper lol

 

[Tom]

I very much trust your knowledge and expertise…and that’s why is very frustrating to hear people like gill giving out wrong information. Shes kicked me out of the forum because I advised someone to get a green house topper lol

That is what they do. I can't figure out why they are so closed minded and angry about it.

Seriously, ask her what happened when she tried this technique. I'm curious what the answer will be. If she's never tried it, which is obviously the case, how does she know its not a better way to do it?

 

[JoJosMom]

Hello 👋
Right….so there’s this Facebook group where you can ask people for advise, post pics of your tortoise etc and I stumbled across someone posting a picture of their baby tortoise in an opened top enclosure…..so I reccomend they get themselves a green house cover to hold in the humidity and heat- after that I received a comment saying this…..(picture attached)
Where on earth is this person getting their information from? It’s shocking how much some people lack in knowledge and then wonder why their tortoise is starting to pyramid or whatever. Is there ANY truth to what this person is saying? I feel like they’re just there to annoy people 😂

I too recently joined Facebook pages about torts to see what kind of information is out there. My husband and I have recently built a non profit rescue for torts and turtles and my focus is to provide as much realtime accurate information as I can to the public about their care. I quickly learned that 18 out of 18 Facebook tortoise pages are hands down feeding the most inaccurate information. So I understand completely how you feel and I can only recommend one thing.......unfollow those groups or you will spend your time irritated and arguing with unintelligent people.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I too recently joined Facebook pages about torts to see what kind of information is out there. My husband and I have recently built a non profit rescue for torts and turtles and my focus is to provide as much realtime accurate information as I can to the public about their care. I quickly learned that 18 out of 18 Facebook tortoise pages are hands down feeding the most inaccurate information. So I understand completely how you feel and I can only recommend one thing.......unfollow those groups or you will spend your time irritated and arguing with unintelligent people.

lol I too stared following some tortoise pages, not for advice because I already knew it’d be dire, but I was curious haha. The amount of crap I see on the daily is wild!
Just yesterday I saw a video of someone laughing about how their male Russian chases their female around, in the background was a group of red foots and what looked like a few young sulcatas, all cohabiting in the same ‘free range set up’ on laminate wood flooring.. pure chaos🙄

 

[JoJosMom]

lol I too stared following some tortoise pages, not for advice because I already knew it’d be dire, but I was curious haha. The amount of crap I see on the daily is wild!
Just yesterday I saw a video of someone laughing about how their male Russian chases their female around, in the background was a group of red foots and what looked like a few young sulcatas, all cohabiting in the same ‘free range set up’ on laminate wood flooring.. pure chaos🙄

Wow!!!! It honestly doesn't surprise me. It is a very unfortunate situation, I can only imagine all the torts that are suffering from incorrect care truly makes my heart hurt!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Wow!!!! It honestly doesn't surprise me. It is a very unfortunate situation, I can only imagine all the torts that are suffering from incorrect care truly makes my heart hurt!

Same! I try not to think about it too much, would drive me mad💔

 

[JoJosMom]

Same! I try not to think about it too much, would drive me mad💔

Happy Birthday by the way!! Hope you have/had an amazing day!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Happy Birthday by the way!! Hope you have/had an amazing day!

Aw bless you! Thanks you🥰

 

[Tom]

I too recently joined Facebook pages about torts to see what kind of information is out there. My husband and I have recently built a non profit rescue for torts and turtles and my focus is to provide as much realtime accurate information as I can to the public about their care. I quickly learned that 18 out of 18 Facebook tortoise pages are hands down feeding the most inaccurate information. So I understand completely how you feel and I can only recommend one thing.......unfollow those groups or you will spend your time irritated and arguing with unintelligent people.

I tired to do this with YouTube videos. I quit after about 12 of them. It was just awful.

 

[Anastasia 22]

"PetSmart"'s educational brochure..... 😑😬

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

"PetSmart"'s educational brochure..... 😑😬

Recommending fruit.. the tiny tank.. such a joke🥲🙄

 

[Anastasia 22]

Recommending fruit.. the tiny tank.. such a joke🥲🙄

They are...
Happy Birthday!!! 🎂 🥳 🎉

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

They are...
Happy Birthday!!! 🎂 🥳 🎉

Thank you!!❤️🥰

 

[ryan57]

Ask Gill how many Testudo babies she has raised with humidity and what was the result? What about other species? Ask her to show pics of her tortoises and share the growth rates too?

What is usually happening in these cases is that the person subscribes to, and follows, all the typical old advice and they espouse it religiously. They have never tried it any other way, and certainly not the way I recommend, and they have no idea what they are talking about.

I've been keeping chelonians of many species since the 70s. I currently have over 50 if you don't count the babies, and over 100 if you do count the babies. Over the decades I have traveled the world, had countless conversations with tortoise keepers everywhere, observed countless keeping techniques and the results produced by each, and I have done many side-by-side experiments with clutch mates to determine what works best and why. I've kept tortoises every which way you can imagine, always trying to learn. The assertions I make are based on real world facts and experience. Gill is like a person who has an apple tree in their back yard, arguing with someone who has planted thousands of trees of many species all over the world and generated whole orchards. No doubt Gill means well, and no doubt Gill believes what she is saying, but Gill is ignorant. If she had ever tried a closed chamber she would know what positive results it brings. If she simply clicked on a few posts here on this forum, the overwhelming evidence would be obvious. If Gill took a few moments to look over posts from people in the UK with "vivarium" enclosures for baby Testudo, and compare what she sees with people in the UK using "tortoise table" enclosures for the same species, this would be obvious to her. Her words clearly demonstrate that she has done none of the above, and instead keeps blindly following the old wrong traditional way of doing it.

This is why I constantly tell people that info found everywhere but this forum is going to be the same wrong info all over the world. FB, YT, reddit, pet shops, books, vets, breeders, reptile "experts", etc... All saying the same old wrong stuff. I used to say it too. I believed what I was told, just as Gill does. The problem was: It didn't work and it produced poor results and failures. I had to figure out why that info failed, what info was correct, and why. Its been a long journey, and we will never know everything, but we have learned a lot along the way. You don't have to learn the hard way, as I and so many others before you did.

Gill is like a person who has an apple tree in their back yard, arguing with someone who has planted thousands of trees of many species all over the world and generated whole orchards.

Stop talking about me that way. LOL!!

 

[Tom]

Gill is like a person who has an apple tree in their back yard, arguing with someone who has planted thousands of trees of many species all over the world and generated whole orchards.

Stop talking about me that way. LOL!!

Are you the single apple tree owner, or the fruit tree orchard generator?

 

[ryan57]

Are you the single apple tree owner, or the fruit tree orchard generator?

Well I've only got two apple trees and a guest box turtle for a week ATM. NO MORE! Those Facebook groups sure are chock full of garbage for sure. The latest debacle... 40.5 lbs yesterday. 18.75" long. 2years and almost 4 months. Won't eat Mazuri anymore (2 months) even if I crush it and try to slip it in. All he can eat grass, weeds, hay, etc.