Mixed breeds

[Fred123]

Well put Cheryl, but even those with the same care needs may have different pathogens. By the way I love the names of your tortoises. We have a goldfish called Elvis as he has a black dorsal fin that looks like a quiff.

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by Fred123

Dear Boah, I will lay a few things out for you, firstly this is my final response to you as there are plenty of petty posts on here already and I have no intention of adding to them by humouring you. If you are attempting to use the English language as an attempt to impress or intimidate i'm afraid that you failed to do so. All that you have done is looked arrogant. Your tautological comments simply fail to impress me.
Secondly- you can respond to more than one post in the same box, you simply need to continue typing.
Finally- if you forget to write something or simply change your mind you can use the edit button. I would have thought that someone with your extensive vocabulary would have understood the meaning of the word edit. I hope that this helps you.

To the OP I apologise that your post has turned into this, that was not my intention. The whole point of a forum is for people to express their opinion. I posted my opinion, made it clear that is what it was, and then left the way for others to post their comments. This is the only way people can read other peoples thoughts and come to their own conclusion.

I appreciate your non-address of matters raised and complex regarding language.

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by cherylahutch

What a very odd thread not the OP nothing wrong with asking opinions. Mine is that I personally would not let my tortoises mix species because it just would not happen in the wild they come from different places and need different care. I suppose if you have ones with the same care as long as you are keeping an eyebolt then so they don't hurt each other there would not be too much harm in it. As for letting them breed I don't agree with that because they are all so different you could end up with a very deformed baby tortoise and does not seem fair to allow that to happen deliberately

All understandable concerns.

However, if someone could show me one of the potentially deformed hybrids, I would be interested in seeing it. Every hybrid tortoise I have come across has been very healthy.

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by Fred123

Well put Cheryl, but even those with the same care needs may have different pathogens. By the way I love the names of your tortoises. We have a goldfish called Elvis as he has a black dorsal fin that looks like a quiff.

The pathogens have to be present in order to pose a threat. No pathogens, no threat of communicable infection.

[cherylahutch]

Hens and Eagles are both birds but you would never think of trying to cross breed them. I am sure alot of people will know alot more about cross breeding of tortoises and how it would not be a good Idea but surely the reason there are no pictures is because the tortoises have not survived. Obviously this would never happen in the wild because the tortoises would never come across each other so all that is being done are man made experiments to see what would happen Which I personally don't agree with. But if that's what some people do want to do there is not alot that can be done to stop it happening.

[cherylahutch]

Originally Posted by Fred123

Well put Cheryl, but even those with the same care needs may have different pathogens. By the way I love the names of your tortoises. We have a goldfish called Elvis as he has a black dorsal fin that looks like a quiff.

Our tortoise names have been discussed at length with the whole family :0) We wanted them to have names that would be long lasting if you know what I mean. I love there names as well If I get another girl I want to call her Padme I have promised my little girl we will she loves Star wars at the moment and she is a character on that.

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by cherylahutch

Hens and Eagles are both birds but you would never think of trying to cross breed them. I am sure alot of people will know alot more about cross breeding of tortoises and how it would not be a good Idea but surely the reason there are no pictures is because the tortoises have not survived. Obviously this would never happen in the wild because the tortoises would never come across each other so all that is being done are man made experiments to see what would happen Which I personally don't agree with. But if that's what some people do want to do there is not alot that can be done to stop it happening.

The morphological diversity between hens and eagles is more akin to that of a snakeneck turtle and an alligator snapping turtle than, say, a marginated and a Greek or even a radiated and a redfoot, both of which have successfully hybridized with no observable ill effects that I have seen objectively captured and reported. A lack of pictorial evidence is not evidence for a conclusion outside of concluding there is a lack of photographs availabe upon which to make a definitive conclusion for many instances. I have seen several hybrid tortoises (Indotestudo hybrids, Testudo hybrids, and Geochelone hybrids) and turtles (slider x map hybrids, softshell hybrids, Cuora hybrids, and so on) that are healthy, including the one hybrid I currently keep (I have a thread with some photos of it if you would like to see it even if only out of curiosity). I have not seen any that have been demonstrated as being unhealthy. I do not know what other people's backgrounds are that give them the ability to make a determination regarding the matter based on no or little objective support, but I am a Biologist who has worked with a great many of these animals in my personal life and as a mid-scale hobbyist breeder. In my professional life, I have held positions as a chemist, a microbiologist, an agrotech analyst (including some hybridization work), a genetic engineer, and my current role as a biopharmaceutical scientist (specializing in both biophysics and physico-chemistry). I have the background training to evaluate this, so if there is evidence that ever comes up that is verifiable and substantial, I would be enthralled by the opportunity to evaluate it.

Your disagreement is a valid opinion, of course. To each, his or her own.

[cherylahutch]

I would be interested to see the thread. I honestly think its not a good idea to mix tortoises from different areas as they would never mix in the wild. It may well be that here are very healthy tortoises created this way but this has happened with dogs as well and a lot of breeds now have genetic problems because of it who is to say this would not happen with tortoises.

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by cherylahutch

I would be interested to see the thread. I honestly think its not a good idea to mix tortoises from different areas as they would never mix in the wild. It may well be that here are very healthy tortoises created this way but this has happened with dogs as well and a lot of breeds now have genetic problems because of it who is to say this would not happen with tortoises.

http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/for...ad.php?t=50929

There are a few pics of her in that thread. The only impact I have been able to see thus far is she is big, but her health indicators are all excellent.

Dog infirmities have arisen from extremes in selective breeding within a single species. Dogs are all one species (same species as the gray wolf) instead of hybrids. In the case of a canid hybrid, I am not sure either way there have been any health issues associated with dog x coyote hybrids, but I have yet to see any health impacts for those I have met or read about.

[cherylahutch]

They are lovely tortoises and I guess it could go the other way and potentially you could breed out any genetic problems. I think the thing that bothers me is it seems like a science experiment