My Final Prayer

[chicagojohn]

Please, Oh Lord, I pray,

If reincarnation is true
DO NOT allow me to come back as a tortoise
IF said tortoise is "cared for" by a human being.

If you GUARANTEE I can live out my days in the wild, OK.
If not, bring me back as something that can.
But whatever You do, Oh Lord, NOT as a tortoise.

Moreover, Oh Lord;
DO NOT allow me to come back as ANY chelonian
IF said chelonian is "cared for" by a human being.

Lord, I pray this prayer as a human being who has tried,
Tried to care for one chelonian; a tortoise;
Tried with all my intelligence and resources.

Tried, and succeeded but marginally.
When the last event happened,
I returned to the chelonian forums.

I have read a lot of posts, some very good.
But many clearly show me the fundamental problem.
And if this is the truth, Oh Lord; I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!

Thank you for listening, Lord.

 

[dmmj]

I dis agree I know a lot of keepers here who I would love to come back as one of their tortoises.

 

[Laurie]

Oh brother.....

 

[wellington]

I want to live as a tortoise with either Greg-ALDABRAMAN or Tom-the dog trainer, N2TORT and his flowers too, any of the members really that live in Florida, California, or Hawaii. But Greg and Tom would be my first choices. I like the other animals they have too.
BTW, did something bad happen to yours? If so sorry

 

[Tom]

John, it seems that something bad has happened, but I don't know what this is in reference to. Could you please elaborate a bit about what happened?

 

[Jacqui]

It sounds like a very sad thought based on something horrible that has happened, if you wrote this prayer. Or did you just find it some where? I will say that even a wild tortoise does not have the best possible life at times... thinking of just hatched sea turtles being grabbed by crabs before they ever get to ride the ocean tide or a roadkill animal seen so often by all of us. Yes living with humans can have it's negatives, but there are a few (with TerryO popping to the top of my mind), whose tortoise I would not mind being.

 

[wellington]

I agree with Jacqui. The wild can be harsh, very harsh. Heck, I wouldn't mind being owned by myself. Not to say I have the best housing conditions out there. But I will spend what ever I need to, to make it the best home for my animals that is possible. Just ask my husband, son and well anyone that knows me with my animals. They all think I give them to much and spend to much on them. Oh well, my money. There is no limit to what I will spend or do to make their forever home the best. But, I still would want to come back to some place that stays warm or at least doesn't have snow.

 

[chicagojohn]

I'm going to tell all of you something very clearly before I leave here.

Listen to me and think about this.

Trade in chelonians has become a business. People make a lot of money from this.

Because of their intricate attachment to environment, chelonians are possibly the worst possible animals one could have as a pet.

Because, though we may try, we cannot ever replicate their natural environment, and we will always fail no matter how hard we try.

However, that is the best 2% of us. What about the other 98%? What about the folks who say "my tortoise stopped eating; they only eat the yellow pellets"

Can the rest of us really change this when we ourselves cannot get it 100% right? I think not.

Therefore, ANYTHING one does to further this totally absurd business, just contributes to the misery and suffering.

They may lead you to think you can help these ignorant folks destined to have a sick tortoise that dies and in the best scenario incur huge vet bills from people who don't themselves understand.

I say; put a stop to this by opting out. That's what I'm doing.

I'm going to continue to care for my tortoise, but I will do NOTHING, purchase NOTHING, to encourage others to

This whole thing is a travesty. Leave the tortoises alone. Let them live out the lives God gave them without breeding them into impossible horrible lives of suffering.

If you all knowledgeable people want to pursue this, if you have this desire to try to save the world, do so.

I'm gone. I'm out of it. I cannot stop this insanity.

 

[Laurie]

I suspected this was where this was going based on your posts, hence my response.

Where are you getting your numbers from, might I ask? I'm not sure if I would classify 98% of tortoise keepers as ignorant.

We all need help at one time or another and I think seeking that help is anything but ignorant.

While I can understand your position, I strongly disagree with you.

Good luck to you and your tortoise

 

[JeffG]

Oh the drama!

 

[drgnfly2265]

*grabs popcorn and drink and watches*

 

[Angi]

I would not mind coming back as one of Terry O's turtles. They seem to be living it up

 

[wellington]

Oh the drama!

Is it drama or trolling? Hmmmm

 

[Neal]

The tortoise forum is a good place for one of these types of rants. Is good the right word?

 

[clare n]

Hmm...

 

[RonHays]

The tortoise forum is a good place for one of these types of rants. Is good the right word?

Lmao... Right! Gotta love some of these people.

 

[Michael Bird]

Better to pray that you aren't placed into the body of a chelonian living in Asia where you'll probably end up in someone's stew pot...

 

[RonHays]

I'm just going to pray that I end up in Heaven. I don't want to be any other creature.

 

[Yvonne G]

John:

I'm sorry to have to say this, but you are a snob.

We here at the Tortoise Forum have brand new members every day...members who bought a tortoise and have no idea how to care for it. All we can do for these people is try to give them the info they need to change the way they take care of their tortoises and help improve their quality of life.

How else are they going to learn?

There is quite a bit about YOUR tortoise-keeping that I could hash over, but you seem to have friends in high places, so I figured you'd learn eventually.

I thought we were going to have a nice relationship...you sounded like a pretty nice guy at first, but if you have nothing constructive to offer these new members, then we are better off without you.

 

[RonHays]

^^^^^+1! ^^^^^^