Morbid?......Are you sure he is using that word in the right context? There is absolutley nothing morbid about an animal that can live such an incredibly long time. Turtles and tortoises unlike mammals, get better with age. While humans and other mammals eventually stop reproducing at a certain age, chelonians produce more and better as time goes on. Most female North American Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) do not lay their first clutch of eggs until they are 20 years old! That is amazing. Most of my tortoises didn't start producing eggs until their 7th or 8th year with me and they were already adults when I got them! Turtles and tortoises are unique and complex animals and for no reason other than human error should they die at an early age in captivity. Last week a friend of mine saw a female wood turtle get smashed by a car. Now here is this animal that has been around for probably 40 or more years and at the blink of an eye....she is gone..forever. We may never understand why these small and illusive animals live such long lives but recent studies in Michigan have begun to prove that turtle longevity may be the answer to finding a cure for cancer. It's the truth and there was actually a big article in Discover magazine about it. I'll find it and post it.

I do not think a turtle/tortoise is for you. When you take on the responsibility of a pet you should be sad to think that one day it's going to die. Hoping you'll only get a few years out of it is what's morbid. That's the great thing about these animals...you can kinda have them forever.
Sounds like your man isn't the animal lover type... you need to make your own decisions and if you think you can handle a turtle or tortoise make sure you do it right. There's already too many of these poor animals without homes, and more than enough of them becoming sick or dead at an early age.

Goodluck with whatever you choose.
-Chris

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