How can anyone say they are ugly?!

[Angi]

I was just looking at the beautiful picture of the orange box turtle and a thought came to me. Most my friends, sister, niece and husband think my torts and turtle are ugly. My husband has called Trudy that thing and My sister and niece have said " How can you think they are cute?" or "Ughhh!" Yet I and it seems all of you see them (all Torts and Turtles) as cute, pretty, sweet or even beautiful. Does anyone else get wierd reactions from friends and relatives to loving a tort or turtle? I wonder what it is in a persons brain that causes them to see beauty in their little faces and yet another person can't stand to look at it.

 

[Mao Senpai]

Its like the whole snake or bug thing too. Most people are terrified of snakes that I know of, I personally think they are awesome. However I hate bugs with something fierce. I am terrified of them and want them no where near me. I'm scared they'll get on me, I'll end up squishing it and getting bug juice all over me. YUCK. But there are some.. that love bugs... way gross!

 

[zoogrl]

I get that reaction, I work at a vet's office & people ask me all the time what pets I have & when I get to the 2 ball pythons & a russian tortoise I get a "Why would you have snakes?" and a "What is a russian tortoise?" or "Why do you have a turtle? What's the attraction?" And I pull out her pic (yes I have a collage of pics on the wall of my kiddos) and go "Look how cute she is!" and get weird looks or a you're crazy. They just don't get it & they never will. Their loss! That's what my TFO buddies are for! You all get why I love Betty White so much and share in my stories & pics

 

[Jessicap]

My husband calls my torts, turtles and says "just keep them away from me! "

 

[Cameron]

I get a "Why would you have snakes?" and "Why do you have a turtle? What's the attraction?"

I'm the same way with dogs and cats. I just don't understand the appeal in having a hairy animal. I have tried to keep dogs before, but I can't. I'm allergic to them and even if kept outside (which was my last attempt at keeping them) I still can't interact with them without getting thier hair and drool all over me. It makes me itch, swell up. Even if I weren't allergic though, having an animals hair all over the furniture and your clothes is gross, then the smell. My wife and I have concluded that dogs definitely aren't for us. I don't know. It's interesting though to see different peoples interests and likes. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round.

 

[Angi]

I like dogs. I like to talk to them, hike with them and have their company when I work in the yard, but I hate when they touch me. So I kind of get what you are saying Cameron. I don't care for cats at all. I also can't understand why my sister loves a big smelly animal that could fill up a trash can with poop every day. It is a hourse and it seem a bit dangerous to me also.

 

[tobibaby]

i love my tortie so much that i talk about him to everyone who listens or not, i dont care. i have had people call him ugly, boring, pointless all sorts of idiot things but i just sit back and smile and say to myself they have no idea what they are missing out on.. my tortie completely relaxes me and makes me smile everytime i look at him and yes i carry his pictures and show them off hahahaha, they may think im crazy but i dont care..

 

[Tom]

I think we all get the same reaction from people. I had someone tell me yesterday that tortoises were boring and he didn't see the attraction. The conversation started when he asked me why I was collecting dandelion seeds. He professed his ambivalence for torts RIGHT after I professed my opinion of how fun, interesting and great they were. I asked him if his mother didn't give him enough hugs when he was growing up.

You think its bad with torts. Try telling someone about your really cool collection of 18 species of beautiful roaches from around the world. Right Mao?

 

[Mao Senpai]

I think we all get the same reaction from people. I had someone tell me yesterday that tortoises were boring and he didn't see the attraction. The conversation started when he asked me why I was collecting dandelion seeds. He professed his ambivalence for torts RIGHT after I professed my opinion of how fun, interesting and great they were. I asked him if his mother didn't give him enough hugs when he was growing up.

You think its bad with torts. Try telling someone about your really cool collection of 18 species of beautiful roaches from around the world. Right Mao?

Yuck! That's enough to make me run off a cliff. Which I nearly did once when a grasshopper flew or hopped whatever at me... grrr. Nothing against hobbies or what not... just don't want them anywhere near me lol

 

[Cameron]

You think its bad with torts. Try telling someone about your really cool collection of 18 species of beautiful roaches from around the world. Right Mao?

Forgot about them! No one understands them either, do they??

 

[B K]

You think its bad with torts. Try telling someone about your really cool collection of 18 species of beautiful roaches from around the world. Right Mao?

Forgot about them! No one understands them either, do they??

I am with you on that, when we talk to new people I have to make sure my wife doesn't tell them about the 20,000 roaches she has.

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

I guess we just love what we love.I personally do not like cat's or bugs but I am the crazy lady that ttales baby talk to everything else from the foxes that come in my yard to the horses that live on either side of my street. For me, I feel like I understand certain animals. I do not understand cat's at all, so I guess it makes me not like them.

 

[Nay]

That's why it is sooooo important in life to make you you go for what you want. And it applys to relationships BIG time.
One of my first 'loves' ( 1 of 3) was the guy most everyone thought was perfect. Tall, dark, handsome, funny, had some bucks, loved to travel, he gave me a trips for presents! We lived in apartments so never had the chance to have pets and he felt the same aversion as many above in this post,(dirty smelly hairy. ) I snuck in a kitten, that I claimed to have rescued from the rain outside, was actually blow drying him when Paul came home to set the stage. (Oh how conniving some women can be!!)I had really answered an ad. He caved and would come to at least tolerate him, should've seen the hand writing on the wall. Finally moved into a rented house and the first thing I did was go to a pound to get a dog. Oscar was a big hairy terrier type and he and Paul never really hit it off. After I took home a house rabbit and he chewed the window sills,(we had a couch right up to the window). Paul about lost it. After a time, he convinced me he had a friend who really wanted Wilbur (the rabbit) and knowing how unhappy Paul was I relented. Shortly after that, I started to question things and asked PAul what he really wanted in life, he claimed he wanted my happiness. When I said I wanted monkeys hanging from my canopy bed, could he live like that??He had to say no and we parted.(Those were my exact words!) No one could believe I let that catch go. Hard but BEST thing I ever did. I went with my heart and shortly after met Jim. Our times together were planned around what we could do that included Oscar. He knew the way to my heart and soul and it was not trips!!! I can't believe I am writing this, but it is important. We have been together since 1985 and probably hundreds of animals later, he still dosen't say a word when there is a baby chipmunk in the oven, (in a container, so the cats don't get to it as we fix it!!) I took home a little dachshund a few months ago, and when Jim came home and saw her on the couch, he just said, oh she's cute, should be easy to get a home for her! (The last rescue took 4 months)
Don't settle!!! (sorry so long a post and possibly off topic)

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Awwwwww Nay, so true. I raise my coffee to love this morning. I might even try and hug a cat today!

 

[kbaker]

I know someone that when they see my Sulcatas they get a little speachless. They can't get past the elephant-like feet.

 

[harris]

That's why it is sooooo important in life to make you you go for what you want. And it applys to relationships BIG time.
One of my first 'loves' ( 1 of 3) was the guy most everyone thought was perfect. Tall, dark, handsome, funny, had some bucks, loved to travel, he gave me a trips for presents! We lived in apartments so never had the chance to have pets and he felt the same aversion as many above in this post,(dirty smelly hairy. ) I snuck in a kitten, that I claimed to have rescued from the rain outside, was actually blow drying him when Paul came home to set the stage. (Oh how conniving some women can be!!)I had really answered an ad. He caved and would come to at least tolerate him, should've seen the hand writing on the wall. Finally moved into a rented house and the first thing I did was go to a pound to get a dog. Oscar was a big hairy terrier type and he and Paul never really hit it off. After I took home a house rabbit and he chewed the window sills,(we had a couch right up to the window). Paul about lost it. After a time, he convinced me he had a friend who really wanted Wilbur (the rabbit) and knowing how unhappy Paul was I relented. Shortly after that, I started to question things and asked PAul what he really wanted in life, he claimed he wanted my happiness. When I said I wanted monkeys hanging from my canopy bed, could he live like that??He had to say no and we parted.(Those were my exact words!) No one could believe I let that catch go. Hard but BEST thing I ever did. I went with my heart and shortly after met Jim. Our times together were planned around what we could do that included Oscar. He knew the way to my heart and soul and it was not trips!!! I can't believe I am writing this, but it is important. We have been together since 1985 and probably hundreds of animals later, he still dosen't say a word when there is a baby chipmunk in the oven, (in a container, so the cats don't get to it as we fix it!!) I took home a little dachshund a few months ago, and when Jim came home and saw her on the couch, he just said, oh she's cute, should be easy to get a home for her! (The last rescue took 4 months)
Don't settle!!! (sorry so long a post and possibly off topic)

What a great story! You have to accept my reptiles and canines or NO SOUP FOR YOU!! My story is kinda the opposite. I just ended a 3 year relationship with a gal that absolutely adored all of my creatures. When she'd come over she would head straight to the reptile rooms and bring them treats then hang with the pups for a few, and then we would do whatever together. It sucks cause I just kinda fell out of love with her, and I know in my heart I will never find anyone as accepting of my animals as she was.

 

[Angi]

Nay~ I loved your post.
Tom~I have to say roaches creep me out. My sister lived in an apartment that was crawling with them. It was all she could afford. I used to stay and babysit for her a lot and had nightmares for many years about them.
I does not really bother me that everybody does mot think my torties are cute I just think it is wierd that they don't see how adorable they are. I do wish my husband liked them a little bit. He is a dog lover. My boys like them.

 

[moswen]

ugh i often am confused about the same thing angi. my older sister is actually "scared" of tortoises... she's pretty wierd though. actually, she's probably what most people would call "normal," but i think actually being "scared" of a tortoise is a little much. borders on being a little silly, in my humble -and what most people would probably call "odd"- opinion! but when i want to talk about my torts to my cousins, parents, most of my friends, husband... pretty much everyone i know, they all look at me with the raised-eyebrow and feigned-interest look, like they're politely tolerating a 5-year-old child's mud pie making stories... haha. my husband said something about mos's little tortoise head when i first brought him home...lol, i won't repeat it, but i can definately see how he would have thought that. but, other than that thing which i am not saying, i don't understand other people when they say torts, and other reptiles and bugs, are ugly...

at my parents house when i was growing up my room window was right over one of mom's gardens, and pretty much almost every year a black and yellow garden spider would make her web in my window, and whenever there was one i would catch crickets or grasshoppers for her every day and toss them into her web. it was one of my favorite things to do... i think i have an affinity for the odd or rare pets. lol, it makes me feel special to have such special pets! everyone has labs, labs are boring. not everyone has a snake or a spider or.... a tortoise!

 

[Edna]

I'm feeling pretty lucky here because my BBFF treats my pets as his own. When we got together I had two dogs, an Aussie and an aging Beagle. He has made the Beagle his own, takes her to agility classes, treats her like a little queen and in general has made her senior years much better than they might have been. He wanted me to delay the purchase of my first tortoise, but I didn't. He treats that tort like it's another pup in the house, lobbies for treats for him, fusses over him, talks to him. The more recent tortoise additions get treated the same way my Aussie does. Boyfriend takes very good care of them all while I'm at work, but the on-going joke at our house is that they are somehow inferior, so the needs of Torty and the beagle have to come first.

 

[yagyujubei]

Years ago, I had a girlfriend that had pet rats. She loved them, all I could see was vermin. Little rat faces and rat smell, I couldn't stand 'em. Just a matter of perspective, I guess.