TTPG Speaker List

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Neal

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Yup, that's right...this thread is getting bumped.

Send all hate mail to me via PM if you must, but I think these types of events are good for our hobby and it's only a couple of days away.
 

Neal

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It's been a pretty good conference so far. The turtle stuff is a little dry, but there's still a few tid bits that have been very valuable. And of course the tortoise stuff has been phenomenal.

It's been almost the exact same people for the last three years that attend this event. I know there's a thousand reasons not to attend, but I would encourage anyone who might consider this type of thing even remotely interesting to put all those reasons aside and attend next year. I was talking to another forum member (who almost didn't make it out here) about how rarely we get to discuss in person with someone else who has the same level of passion and respect for this hobby. If you're like me, you learn so much more and so much easier by meeting in person than reading words on a screen. I feel like I've learned more in the past 12 hours than I have in the past year discussing on the forum. I'd really hate to not have this conference, and like anything, the more people that are involved and participate, the better it is for everyone.
 

theTurtleRoom

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This is so on my list for the future. Mainly, when I've got the time and cash to spend.

I'm in school doing graduate work getting certified to teach Math and getting a Masters of Math Ed. Once I'm finished with that, I'm really hoping to expand all the turtle/tortoise activities; get a bigger place with more space to keep stuff, and make it to some of these conferences.

The only snag with TTPG's conference is the time of year - not easy for a teacher, haha.
 

Jacqui

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theTurtleRoom said:
The only snag with TTPG's conference is the time of year -

That's a big thing with me too. Too close to a major holiday and also the start of the bad weather (snow and ice). Not mention for those of us who would be driving, it's a pretty bland time for seeing things along the roadway too. I want to go to AZ, when I can pick up a few plants for my enclosures also.

Still if it hadn't been for Jeff, I would have been there. Even bought a truck in the spring, so I would have something to drive there in. :cool: Maybe next year.


Neal said:
I feel like I've learned more in the past 12 hours than I have in the past year discussing on the forum.

So tell us Neal, what are these things you have learned, for those of us unable to attend.
 

Tom

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Tyler should have shown up here. Very disappointed in you young man! {stern look, pointing finger...}

Where's Elliot? Are you here man?

For future reference for anyone even remotely interested: Just disregard the speaker list. It doesn't matter. There are amazing tidbits and facts from EVERY speaker, even if you are not all that interested in yet another type of snake necked aquatic turtle. You still learn all sorts of new stuff about housing, incubating, feeding, breeding, etc... It's all related and some of the best stuff I've learned has come from presentations I wasn't initially very interested in. Likewise there are often presentation subjects that I'm interested in, but the delivery is a bit dry. This has only happened twice in my three years here. My point is, you NEED to attend! You will learn nothing, and make no new friends or contacts by NOT attending...

Some highlights, so far:

Neal's Mexican food place was everything that was promised. Excellent!

My friend Tomas from Senegal is in attendance again. Many facts were re-affirmed and delved into a bit more deeply. He found 20 more wild hatchlings this year. ALL in marshy areas at the start of the rainy season. He explained that once the rainy season really gets under way, the grass and brush is just so thick, that you simply cannot find them. I see this as a clue for how to house them, and it certainly works with my new gardening adventures of late. A trip to Senegal is now officially being planned. I will spend time at Tomas' African Chelonian Institute, and he is going to arrange it with the locals in the area of his reserve where he has been reintroducing them, for me to stay with them for a couple of weeks, so I can camp out and try to follow some wild ones around and study them. We have the time of year nailed down, and now it's just picking the year and making it happen. On THIS trip to Africa, you better believe pics will be taken and shared. My camera will get a serious work out!!!

Dr. Peter Pritchard is here. Need I say more? If you don't know who that is, go get your Google on right now.

We had a great presentation on the state of wild Galapagos tortoises from Dr. Fred Caporaso. This one was full of good info. He explained, with pictures, about why he thinks lonesome George did not breed. Too much to type, but basically due to circumstance, the female in with him was too dominant and he seemed to enjoy food more than her. They are also head starting some babies form one particular subspecies at the Darwin station. Apparently, their island is over run with introduced black rats. The rats don't bother the eggs or the older tortoises, but they eat the babies alive. No babies have survived on this island for 70+ years. Luckily, around 1500 have been head started and then moved to the island since the 70s. Of note was that the babies with the 5 year captive head start are significantly larger than their wild grown counterparts. It seems that the first five years puts them on a trajectory to achieve a much larger final adult size. Dr. Caporaso wonders if this larger size will be a disadvantage on an island with very limited resources for tortoises. Only time will tell. Too many details to type it all out here. This little tidbit was one of many from just this one presentation. Even if you are not interested in Galops, the implications are worth considering for any species.

They are videoing this year. I'll bet that interested parties could contact Russ Gurley of the TTPG and buy a copy of this years presentations. Not as good as being here, but better than nothing. Some of the most interesting conversations are had in the reception area, just outside the conference room. All sorts of useful info and "insider" info.

This is a very worthwhile experience. Anyone who is at all interested in turtles or tortoises should really be here. You are missing out on an amazing education by not attending. I would not trade this for anything.
 

Tim/Robin

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I wish I could have gone this year!! It was simply too expensive this year. Airfair was double what I paid last year.
 

tortadise

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Has alan spoke yet? When he does you will find out exactly I did not want to spend the money to attend this year.
 

Tom

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tortadise said:
Has alan spoke yet? When he does you will find out exactly I did not want to spend the money to attend this year.

He is up next this morning. Should I assume that you do not like him? I sense another phone call coming on...
 

Tom

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He's about to speak right now. Maybe I will understand what you mean after he speaks.
 

tortadise

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Probably. He might not speak about it since his basis is legal issues. Im sure if you talk with him after you will get a whim. Hes a great guy. Been a curator for 30 years before in zoos, before he started doing legal issues and stuff like that.
 

Tom

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Nope. Still don't understand why you did not want to come.
 

Neal

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Alan's talk was one of the more interesting from today. Obviously, his line of business isn't something that concerns me at the moment.

After I make my millions, I may have need of his expertise to get some rare stuff imported in here ;p
 

tortadise

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I wanted to go. I had planned on to. But decided to not go and keep the funds back for other things. Are you guys going to the show manana(thats tomorrow in spanish) haha
 

Neal

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tortadise said:
I wanted to go. I had planned on to. But decided to not go and keep the funds back for other things. Are you guys going to the show manana(thats tomorrow in spanish) haha

Oh...I think I know what you meant...;)

I will be at the show tomorrow. Tom speaks fluent Spanish, so I'm sure he got the manana part.
 

tortadise

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LOL yeah im not fluent fluent but im getting very good at it. Especially working in the construction management field as a profession. Well hopefully the show is awesome.
 

Neal

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Jacqui said:
So tell us Neal, what are these things you have learned, for those of us unable to attend.

I'll try to write something up, but the most interesting has been about the Galapagos Tortoises. Obviously with the recent death of Lonesome George and Peter Pritchard (among others) in attendance, there was a lot of talk about Lonesome George. There were a couple of theories presented as to why they thought the breeding program they had him set up with was not successful. Those being genetic mismatches and possible dominance and aggression issues from the females.

Pritchard gave a talk today and showed a few pictures of Lonesome George a day or two after he was found in the early 70's. Very neat to see that.
 

Yvonne G

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Jacqui and I talked about going, but its just so hard to get me out of the house. And I really don't like to travel alone. Yeah, I would have met up with people I know (Jacqui), but getting there I would either have to drive by myself or fly by myself. Very hard to get me to do that. Tom: Do you drive or fly?
 
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