The introverted vs extroverted tortoise owner

[terence]

Hi all fellow tortoise enthusiasts. I always wonder if tortoise owners are extroverted or introverted. My thoughts are that good tortoise owners are generally more introverted. Well I definitely am quite introverted. For me, weekends are best spent at home observing my tortoises. The slow and peaceful demeanour of a tortoise sniffing around his enclosure never fails to put a smile on my face.

Or maybe, an extroverted owner will never be contented with solely tortoises as pets. They may go for other pets such as dogs or parrots. What say you? Also, do you think that good tortoise owners are more introverted?

 

[Jacqui]

I don't think one way or the other makes you a "good" keeper. If your going with the shy meaning of introvert, then that is me. I am very shy/quiet and in a crowd of people I am the one you will never notice. I love spending time out with my tortoises or with my other animals (dogs and cats). I LIVE in my yard and tortoise enclosures, I just sleep in the house.

 

[wellington]

I don't think one way or the other makes you a "good" keeper. If your going with the shy meaning of introvert, then that is me. I am very shy/quiet and in a crowd of people I am the one you will never notice. I love spending time out with my tortoises or with my other animals (dogs and cats). I LIVE in my yard and tortoise enclosures, I just sleep in the house.

Jacqui you blow my mind every time you say your quiet and shy LOL. However, it's funny, because I am the same way in a crowd of unknowns. Hard for me to meet new people, as I not only won't have anything in common with them, but I really don't care about them either. I like animals way more. Now, I can talk to animal people, like tort owners, dog breeders, dog show people, etc. all that we would have in common and that interests me and i would care about. Now with friends and family, oh, ya, your gonna know I'm there LOL
I agree with what Jacqui said too. I am what I call a home body. I say I'm probably 75% into and 25% extro

 

[Spn785]

I'm definitely an extrovert. However I will also say growing up I was a definite introvert. During my Junior year of high school I decided I was sick and tired of always being so shy and scared of people, so I changed, not quickly or easily, but I changed. I don't think being introverted or extroverted has much of an influence on how good of a keeper you are, but I think there is probably a corralation between people being introverted or extroverted and choosing a tortoise as a pet. I personally think there are probably more people who are introverted who keep turtles and tortoises.

 

[SpdTrtl]

I am a social butterfly. I am the weirdo that will strike up a conversation with anyone.

 

[lisa127]

I'm very much an introvert.

 

[Kerryann]

I am an extrovert but I do love my torts and all of my animals. I don't think the two things are interdependent. My husband is more of an introvert and he loves our animals too.

 

[farber2028]

I'm very introverted. I gotta say too that I don't think they're correlated but it's definitely interesting to see.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm not good in a crowd of people. I do my grocery shopping at a small, neighborhood store. If I ever have to go to large stores for clothes, etc. I go when they first open to avoid the crowds. At Christmas time I shop online. I'm just fine one-on-one, but crowds, no thank you.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I'm an extreme extrovert. And an extreme tortoise/animal keeper. Karen, my wife, is more of an introvert.
We were shopping at a store which specializes in paintings, (Karen was shopping, I was looking bored) in under 15 minutes the owner of the shop was telling me her life story and all about the trials she was going through with her kids. While this was going on, the FedEx delivery showed up, and we both knew each other and had to interact as well. Karen was getting tired of this gal sharing her story with me and we left. When we got in the car, Karen was like, “Really Ken, everyone needs to be your best friend?" We both agreed though, that I had done nothing to encourage her, and that people just find me comfortable to be with. People remember me and most end up seeing pictures of my tortoises.

---

All that said, Karen and I would both rather stay home. We like where we live, and we like hanging out with our pets.
We host summer weekend bashes here at the, “Circle Double K Ranch" during the summer months, and we have guests that fly in just to camp for the weekend at our place and have been doing so for 5+ years.

 

[farber2028]

Ken i get that all the time too. People like to talk to me but little do they know i really don't care. I'm good at faking it though. I'm really introverted

 

[wellington]

Ken i get that all the time too. People like to talk to me but little do they know i really don't care. I'm good at faking it though. I'm really introverted

This happens to me too. I don't know what they see to think I am a friendly, caring person. LOL, I always try to walk through with a "don't mess with me attitude" I guess it's not working. Now, if they have a dog with them, well, that's who I'm talking too. I will remember the dogs name, never the owner if I know ya, I care, if I don't, I don't.

 

[RuthJanice]

Well I am the worst kind I suppose.... I dont know which I am. I hate crowds. However I am not shy as I can talk to anyone.... but like many of you, I typically have little interest in what most people babble on about. I prefer the outdoors. I have always found more joy in being around animals and nothing makes me ill tempered quicker than seeing or hearing of abuse. I will and have rescue anything animal in need - much to my husband's dismay. The last was a "dirty bird" (crow) that was injured on the side of the road. I love my tortoise and my bulldog. So what does that make me?????

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I am introverted, and I have also wondered if torties and boxies might be more appealing to introverts than extroverts. Judging by the poll above, it seems they might be.

For those of you wanting to learn whether you're introverted or extroverted, as well as about other aspects of your personality, I highly recommend the following resource. It's the website of psychologist David Keirsey, and it uses the Jungian Myers-Briggs personality test to determine your type and help you learn more about yourself:

http://keirsey.com/

Enjoy.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Will I have to answer embarrassing questions about my mother? LOL.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Will I have to answer embarrassing questions about my mother? LOL.

Heh heh ... no, more like questions about what how you approach situations, and what kinds of environments you feel most comfortable in.

 

[farber2028]

Well I am the worst kind I suppose.... I dont know which I am. I hate crowds. However I am not shy as I can talk to anyone.... but like many of you, I typically have little interest in what most people babble on about. I prefer the outdoors. I have always found more joy in being around animals and nothing makes me ill tempered quicker than seeing or hearing of abuse. I will and have rescue anything animal in need - much to my husband's dismay. The last was a "dirty bird" (crow) that was injured on the side of the road. I love my tortoise and my bulldog. So what does that make me?????

Being an introvert doesn't mean that you're shy. I'm not shy. Hell, I can talk to anyone about anything it's just a matter of if I want to or not. I just don't go out of my way to talk to people about nothing. I prefer in-depth conversations on something I may be passionate about or whatever catches my interest. I find people exhausting and need time to myself. Which is why I think I'm so interested in torts. They are so much fun to just watch and quietly observe, also they require work that one can get lost in.

A big difference in introverts and extroverts is "recharge" time. I need peace and quiet and often to be alone to feel rejuvenated, as do most introverts. Extroverts tend to find being a lone cumbersome and stressful because they can't stand it, so they "recharge" around people. It's actually pretty interesting stuff once you start reading into it a bit.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Being an introvert doesn't mean that you're shy. I'm not shy. Hell, I can talk to anyone about anything it's just a matter of if I want to or not. I just don't go out of my way to talk to people about nothing. I prefer in-depth conversations on something I may be passionate about or whatever catches my interest. I find people exhausting and need time to myself. Which is why I think I'm so interested in torts. They are so much fun to just watch and quietly observe, also they require work that one can get lost in.

A big difference in introverts and extroverts is "recharge" time. I need peace and quiet and often to be alone to feel rejuvenated, as do most introverts. Extroverts tend to find being a lone cumbersome and stressful because they can't stand it, so they "recharge" around people. It's actually pretty interesting stuff once you start reading into it a bit.

Bingo. Great description. I'm also pretty sociable, which is why for a long time I thought I was extroverted, or "ambiverted," meaning halfway in between. However, after taking the personality test, I realized I was actually an introvert, and it explained a heckuva lot, like things summarized in Farber's post above.

 

[farber2028]

One other thing I just thought I'd say, there's a spectrum of being an introvert/extrovert. Most people will fall into the middle, with tendencies more towards one side. However, there's people that are mostly introverted or extroverted. Then there's outliers like myself that are the ends of the spectrum. Weird too, I never could put my finger on why my fiance likes me so much but when I started looking into this it dawned on me that her father and I are pretty much at the same point in the spectrum, as she too is slightly introverted.

 

[jjsull33]

I would say I am extroverted, I have a BS in hotel management so not only do I not mind talking to people and being in crowds I was kind of trained for that.
I guess as a child(I got my 2 russians 10 years ago in high school) I was more introverted, as I am a gamer and was really into anime (can you tell my my russian names), I preferred to sit at home and chill with my games and torts, but now I show them off to everyone even unprovoked haha.