They say if you bring home a tortoise plan on having him (or her! Or them!!!) for a very long time. As a matter of fact, they will probably outlive you, seeing as how the life span of these creatures can be well beyond 80 years.
We got Shelly first. She was a cool little tortoise and would come when we called for her. Unless of course she had burrowed into some deep, dark dirt patch in the yard; then she didn’t want anything to do with us.
These guys do make great pets for small children especially if you want something relatively low maintenance and kinda fun and responsive to you, without being too needy or demanding.
Here’s a hint: it’s a good idea to be holding lettuce, a strawberry or dandelions when you call its name to maximize the fun experience.
After a year we figured Shelly needed companionship (other than the hare who had been sharing the yard with the tortoise).
So, we got Sheldon. Now here’s what they don’t tell you at the pet store about your tortoises: These guys are little Houdini in disguise. They will try and try and try again to escape, even if you’re real nice people. We even had to make a license plate out of their shell, writing our phone number with a Sharpie on their rumps.
Eventually they both escaped into the forest behind our home. And in the end, that left us with two less things to bequeath to our daughters.
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