No debate here...

[kbaker]

I think we need a well published (on this forum) way of sorting information. I am sure what I am saying is not clear, but hopefully we can all get on the same page.

We all have tortoises and love them and try our best for them. No debate, right?

One of the things that need to be made clear when posting is the following:
Is your tortoise housed indoors?
Is your tortoise housed outside?
Is the topic about a wild tortoise?

These three things will never cross no matter what people say or try to do and no debate will be done fairly while these lines are crossed.


I am not sure how this next idea will fit in, but I will start it and hopefully it can develop on its own.

Breeding/Production should never be considered a sign of success or good health. In general, all creatures' main goal in life is produce offspring - Its the cycle of life. Tortoise start out eating, pooping, sleeping, growing and then move towards eating, pooping, sleeping and breeding. No matter how badly you take care of your tortoise, that tortoise will do what it will do and die trying. Female are the biggest concern here because they will cycle and can easily die with out completing their cycle.

To help make it a little more clear...
On a scale from 0-10...
10 being Full Potential (we may never know what that is so don't push it! And we all want this, right?)
0 being dead.

From 1-10, a tortoise will do what comes naturally and continue the life cycle no matter how hard you try to stop it.

 

[onarock]

Kbaker, for the most part I like the idea. The information given by the person starting the thread is very important.

As far as breeding goes.... If only all torts were the same...If only all species behaved the same. I agree that its the natural instinct of animals to want to reproduce, but some are more difficult than others. Beyond that, there is egg incubation and successful hatchings, which bring about a whole nother list of issues.

I think it was RedfootNerds (Terry) who asked... Who can lay claim of having their own produced F1's produce F2'? A feat not many have done, my self included and not many that I know have either. To do such says many things about that keepers ability.

 

[Az tortoise compound]

KBaker,
I can appreciate what you are trying to accomplish....your post is a little confusing though.

Sidenote:

As to the satement, "Breeding/Production should never be considered a sign of success or good health."
I completely disagree.
If a tortoise (females in particular) are healthy enough to go through the breeding process, devote precious nutrients and energy to produce eggs, dig a proper nest, lay a decent sized clutch and have a high hatch rate that will tell me TONS about the health and happiness of that animal.
There is more to good health than just breeding/ production but is a huge sign things are going well.

 

[dolfanjack]

Knowing how people keep their torts would be good but it is not always black and white. Right know my torts are outside in a tortoise table under the carport with heat lamps. Lights go on at night when the temps are coldest and then go off during the day when outside temps are warmest. The table is covered in plastic and has a wool blanket to keep in warmth. When night time temps get warmer I'll reverse their day/night cycle and they will be allowed in the yard. Not black and white for sure.
I also believe breeding goes along ways in accessing the health and well being of most non-domestic animals. That said, its not the only sign. I would believe lonsome george is probably the best kept and heathiest tortoise on earth but refuses to copulate with females offered.:shy:

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Interesting points.