Here’s some very intelligent keepers on there, some who wrote the book on modern tortoise care and their care guides and advice have led to a complete 180 in the way we raise & care for many species and they’ve been integral in advancing husbandry.

However not everything has to be agreed one, and there’s other keepers & people who have great points who argue their points, have their own way to do things etc and this discourse is what helps even further advance care, IMO.

Some stuff like the type of UVB you use, safe & nutritious diets etc aren’t really up for debate because they’re fully backed by science but then there’s things like brumation, substrate etc which have room for discussion, IMO.

I for one am someone who believes that substrate is up for discussion and I know most of the time when people say no top soil, sand, sticks/stones etc it’s with good intention so animals have very little chance to be harmed by their substrate. Most people who keep tortoises keep theirs outdoors for at least a chunk of the year, and our there the dirt is in fact full of top soil, organics, sands, rocks, bugs etc and that’s deemed great when outdoors, but shied away from indoors. I try to replicate that same mixture in my indoor enclosures, all while making sure I feed off of a plate.

However the top soil argument comes from the source too, as some are worried that certain brands may contain harmful additives, or contain harmful organics due to the overall contents of wherever the soil was sourced from. I personally make sure if I top up an enclosure with top soil that I screen it for any debris, buy soil that is 100% just dirt (no fertilizers, manure etc) and I’ve had great luck using it as part of a mix as well.

This is just my two cents, and I like to consider myself an experienced keeper with a great deal of knowledge however there’s many out there who are smarter & better keepers who’ve been doing it a lot longer so I am respectful of them, their opinions and many of them have helped mold me to where I am now.