eating and living with meat eaters - long answer

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I am sorry about all the pressure around you. The beginnings are

sometimes tough. Well, I am pretty phlegmatic person, so I do not much

care what others think about me, we either click, respect each other

or the relationships just dissolve into oblivion. I do not judge. Live

and let live is a good way to think LOL People keep wondering why they

are not well (physically or mentally) and yet they still consume the

recycled suffering from animal farm related food, products and items.

I believe this energy does greatly reflex and affect our lives.

 

If I make a blunt suggestion about the beach. -- I would not dwell on

it too much. Go on with your live as you wish and let them see that

you are happy and in contempt with your self. I am sure that doing

stuff jointly with your family will be far more beneficial then

staying on a side. Try look at the side dishes menu, I always find

some goodies and make a great meal for my self what everyone end up

envy and nibbling off my plate. LOL Do we really need to be verbally

converting people? Probably not. They will see for them selves how

well you are and how you can go right into ocean for a swim after your

kind of meal, while they will have to take long uncomfortable nap

after consuming so much meat and sat fats. LOL

 

I think it's very nice to be firm in the ground with our agendas, but

it can lead us to very lonely and secluded lives.

I agree with what you said: kill people with kindness, and I dare to

add: respect and tolerance.

 

Oh, I hope I do not sound too preachy my self LOL

 

I am so happy to find another fellow veggie AND turtle lover :-)

I will be more than happy to send you an invitation into our group.

Where are you located? Seems like you travel a lot. Do you have

relatives in Germany? I am from Czech Republic and go there every year.

 

How big is your turtle tank? You mentioned UV light. Is it UVB light?

Turtles need UVB waves in order to metabolize calcium. Feel free to

email me photos of your set up. If you do not have a UVB, (and I do

not have them now because of my small child) take them outside for a

bit sun. I take my turtles out several times a week and put them in

Rubbermaid container with water in a shady spot so they can get some

natural UVB from a sun.

 

What do you feed them now? I have composts in my box turtle pens and

so I can dig out some earth worms and bugs anytime. Earth worms are

high on calcium so it's good for them. I give them pellets very

occasionally and my softshell doesn't even eat them. Canned sardines

in water are good, frozen fish with bones (can be fed raw)

occasionally cooked chicken if I have leftover from a friends visit or

my husbands (sometimes it's not bad to have meat eater in household

LOL - please do not jump on me for this statement people)

Frozen raw shrimps are also good. Aquatics are highly carnivores. I

guess that the only sacrifice I do regarding meat handling and it's

for my turtles. I think it's up to each individual what choice of a

pet companion they will keep. (it's a same situation with cats)

Oh, I am getting too philosophical again LOL, sorry.

 

It's also good to supply turtles with calcium. I get those cuddle

bones in a bird section and peel the hard part off and toss it into a

tanks.

 

Please, feel free to ask any questions. Great website about turtles as

well as to be member of (I am) is World chelonian Trust

www.chelonia.org They put out newsletter and it's a part of members

benefits. They put out information about husbandry not to be found

anywhere else. They also have a link to their discussion group.

 

Gotta run :-)

Have a great day and happy turtleling

Barbara

www.veggiechild.com

 

 

, Christine Bradley

<chaag62 wrote:

>

> Hi,

>

> I got the comment again yesterday from my supervisor (when I told

her that I didn't go to Panda Express anymore because they do not

serve vegetarian dishes as even the vegetables have a little bit of

beef stuff in them, she said, " why do you want them to be like you? "

and " have you ever been really hungry and have had no food? " ) She

scoffs at me whenever the issue comes up in any way. Two other

coworkers are sometimes teasing me, one more in a nice way, the other

is more like a snake, she bites for a second and then retreats.

> I have a question: when I was at my stepdaughters house last

Sunday, she brought up that they would like to go to the beach soon

and my husband said that then we could all go to the crab shack. I

don't eat any meat anymore and I don't think it's really considerate

but then, I don't have the right to hold them back either so that I am

thinking either I'll go with them and hope they have a salad at the

restaurant or I just stay at the beach while they go. This is more

difficult than I thought!! But that's ok, anything for the animals!!

> Thank you for mentioning Jo Stepaniak's book, I bought it last

night and already am half ways through! I got even more shocking

information about the baby calves. Has anybody ever read Gary

Francione? He is very good,too, same philosophy as Jo.The only

difference is that he would not accept living with a meat eater or

anybody who uses any animal products. He stands his ground very firmly.

> Barbara, wow, you have a turtle club?? I have two water turtles,

both rescued (I had never planned on having turtles but it just

happened lol), one Penninsula cooter and one red eared slider. I ave

them right now in a big acquarium but I would like to learn how I can

make their environment even more adapted to their natural needs (in

the acqarium, they have a platform to clinb on, a waterfall pump, and

UV and basking lamps and pebbles), especially when they get bigger

(they're about 2 years old now).My husband found one of them, Emmitt,

on the asphalt of the apartment complex we were living in at that time

in georgia, the other was given to me by a former coworker, Emma was

in pretty bad shape with a hole in her upper shell that has in the

meantime healed. Any epxert siggestion would be very truly

appreciated! What do you recommend feeding them especially when they

get bigger? Could I join the turtle club?

> I am thinking about maybe doing a layover there in Dallas when I

go to Germany this year, at the end of Augsut, maybe you'll have an

event going that I could attend then?

>

> I am glad to be part of such a great group!

>

> Cheyenne

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hello, This is such a great group, and I am so glad that I found you! Barbara, your response is great! I already decided to go to the beach with them and eat what is available for me. I am going to try to contact them by email or loetter and see what their response is. Great point about not having a heavy stomach and therefore being able to go into the water right after lunch (maybe the sharks will stay away from me as I won't smell like meat lol). Trish the nurse in charge really surprised me yesterday, she invited me and my coworker for lunch to a Mexican restaurant, she was very nice and accepting about my meal choices. I don't know if our supervisor had a talk with her (our supervisor is very nice, she's even reading "Fast Food Nation" that I had lent her and she wants to read "Being vegan" when I am finished). When I offered her to have some of my salad because she didn't like the tortilla soup she

had ordered, she said, "nah, this is grass, I won't eat it", and I look at her and smiled and spontaneously said, "MMOOOOOOO" she laughed. I live in Riverside, California, a sleepy city where not much is happening. My parents who are 80 and 82 still live in Germany, I am the only child so it's hard on them that I am so far away. They live in the town I grew up in, Augsburg which is approximately 40 miles from Munich (and not far from those beautiful castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau that King Ludwig the fairytale King had built and put Bavaria into huge debt by building them). Where in Czech Republic are you? So, we are an international group, which is great!!!! So far, I have been feeding my turtles mainly crickets which they love; however, I think I need to introduce some variety of foods now that they are getting bigger. I have a UVB light (we don't have any kids in the house so it's

safe) for them. Having turtles sure is a science in itself! I hadn't planned on ever owning one, it just happened. If an animal is truly carnivore, I don't have much of a problem feeding them meat (I have cats also). It's just nature for them (but not for us ). I will try to take a couple of photos of the acquarium this weekend. It's 26 by 26, they seem to be happy in there, most of the time they're basking. Sometimes, I take them outsode as we have a garden, I put them under the top of a big rabbit cage so that they have room to walk around. I think one of the hardest things when one changes so drastically by becoming vegan is that old issues and the history of a relationship come up. This is the case with us. I am the one who has always made the big changes, one wasn't good, the other was necessary (it involved finding my birth family which he was very upset

about because it took time away from us) and now I changed my eating habits which, of course, have an impact on our relationship. Yesterday, I wore one of my animal activist T-Shirts that I had just bought for my birthday from my parents, when I got home and he saw it, he blew up, called me extreme, said he didn't want to see it and to take it off and that it was stupid (the T-Shirt says , "You're a hypocrite if you say you love animals but eat them") and the whole thing about being a vegan was always in his face (of course, not eating meat alone will be in his face). I replied that that was fine, but what I wore outside the home when I am out by myself was my business. Seems like I can't be myself if I don't want to upset him. I explained to him that I don't go to demos, don't break into labs etc, and wearing a T-Shirt is really moderate compared to that and it sends a message out. Take care, Cheyenne

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