Why?

[expo tort]

First I did not know where to put this so I put it under debatable. Now the question. Why is there so much misinformation about tortoise care even though there are so many tortoises out there. And as evidence by this forum, so many knowledgeable people.

 

[JoesMum]

Because a tortoise lives for a long time and every owner has different experiences.

I don't think of it as misinformation... It's just that what works for one owner on one part of the world with one specie may not work for someone else somewhere else.

 

[alben909]

It is because some of the people out there make their own "theories" about tortoise care. "Feed your tortoise fruit! Its good for them" tortoise owners say to other tortoise owners. That's how certain fake info passes. Some people thinks they know everythinkg

 

[Neal]

What some consider misinformation might not be to someone else, there's a lot of ways to raise healthy tortoises, and therefore lots of different opinions. Is there something specific you saw that you are concerned that might be misinforming people?

 

[Laura]

it also might be old info you are reading.. or from company's wanting to sell product, but have never really used it to see what is best.

 

[Madkins007]

It is not just tortoises. There is the same problem with parakeet care, horse care, baby care, etc.

Some of it is that old information is REALLY hard to get rid of. Some of it is misunderstood, mistransmitted, garbled, etc. Some is over-reaction (this happened to someone once- never do this again!)

Some of it is a person honestly trying to be helpful by sharing what worked for them, but something that works in a backyard pen in South Florida won't necessarily work in an apartment in Canada, and things that make sense for a person with a big herd don't always make sense for a guy with just 1-2 animals.

Some of it is the fact that we just plain don't know as much as we should about these animals. We are learning more every day, but even for the species that live where human cultures evolved, we don't know very much.

 

[terryo]

IMO, There are many refutable breeders who have much success, and put out sites giving information on how they breed and raise their tortoises. Some of these people refuse to change with the times, and why should they if they have been successful so far. I know people who have their own forums and sites, who think it's terrible to raise young tortoises in glass tanks with so much humidity, even though others have been successful doing it this way. So, I don't think it's really a case of mis-information, I think it's just that people who have been doing it one way for years don't have an open mind to change. When I first got my Cherry Heads, I was so confused reading all these different sites with different care sheets. I finally came across Terry K's site and basically stuck to that one, incorporating a few idea's of my own, and that's what worked for me.

 

[N2TORTS]

Very Well said Mark!