Truly a pet for life (Tortoise)

Member Name: h27gooner

Product:	Tortoise
Date:	11/06/09 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low maintenance, unusual

Disadvantages: Disappears for 6 months of the year

I have had my tortoise, Fritz, for 30 years now. He is a fascinating animal and, strange as it may seem, is a great pet. As a cold blooded animal, the hotter the weather the more energetic he is. On a hot day he moves very quickly and can cover my 60 foot garden in 5 minutes. You should bear this in mind and make sure that your garden is secure.

His diet consists of dandelions, lettuce, cabbage, the odd tomato and wet bread. Be careful if you give them something by hand because their mouths are beak like and they can give you quite a nip if your finger gets in the way. Fritz has the run of the garden in summer but I also have a little hutch with some straw in it which I put him in at night. Sometimes, however, I can't find him and it's usually because he has buried himself partially in the ground in some bushes somewhere.

When I was a child I used to polish his shell with baby oil and it would gleam beautifully, but I don't bother now. As a male he also gets a bit frisky in the summer so I've got a brick which he flirts with. I would recommend you keep them away from steps because he attempts to climb them and they can easily fall over either damaging their shells or on to their backs where they find it hard to get back up. Also be careful introducing a tortoise to a dog. One of my mum's previous dogs used to pick him up in her mouth and drop him. My current dog like to cock his leg on him.

Fritz normally hibernates from around late October to early March. He goes in a cardboard box in the shed so the frost doesn't get to him but it's not so warm he thinks its time to wake up. Try to make sure that they have been well fed and watered in the days before hibernation as they need to have good body weight for the long sleep.

If you're looking for a low maintenance pet who provides some fascintation then a tortoise is the way to go!

Summary: A great introduction to pet ownership.