Igor the Russian
New Member
Some people breed animals as if they are prize tomatoes.Good post Yvonne. I'm always surprised when people don't understand this concept. Gradual desensitization. If done correctly from the time they are babies, this transition is seamless and easy for the tortoise. I think all the daily handling of moving them in and out is also a great desensitizer and gets them used to people and being handled too. Also allows the keeper to put their hands on the tortoise daily, which will hopefully allow any problems to be seen sooner, rather than later.
I know of a very experienced tortoise breeder that moved from a cold climate with all indoor housing to FL. He talked about how he moved them all to indoor housing in FL and when the pens were ready, he moved them all outside. He was pleased that his losses and sickness were minimal. I asked him why he didn't gradually desensitize them with short sessions to the great outdoors and he looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. It was as if the thought never occurred to him. He stammered an answer: "Uhh, because you can't..." What? I said: "You already had them set up indoors. Why couldn't they go outside for an hour a day and then back inside? Over time, you could leave them out longer and longer until they stay out all day eventually." Essentially, I outlined the same plan you just explained in your OP here. It was clear that this was a totally new concept for this man and he'd never done anything like this before. Since this is how I have always done it, I couldn't comprehend his lack of comprehension!