Tortoise On A Half Shell

Animals have always been a big part of our household. If we had the land for it, we would currently have horses, chickens, goats and whatever other type of barnyard animal we could enjoy.  Since we're in a very small house that's owned by the government, well, we don't have that type of space and we are limited to how many larger animals (dogs and cats) that we are allowed to have. However, that doesn't stop my family from having a menagerie of animals that do not violate the pet limit rule..

Up until now, we had our cats and a dog, two White's Dumpy tree frogs, crickets (okay okay, they are to feed the frogs),  and two tanks of fish.. We also keep our feeders out so that we can enjoy the various birds and other wildlife that visits our yard. 

Last night, my husband ran inside the local Petsmart to pick up some crickets. It's usually not a good thing to send the husband into the pet store alone as he often comes out with another type of critter.. That's kinda how we got our first frog.. and our second frog.. and a few of our fish as well..   Luckily, he didn't come out with a critter, but he did come out with that look in his eye..

Today my husband and I drove back to Petsmart after a trip to pick up an enclosure. One hundred dollars later (I guess you can't pay enough for a good tortoise) we walked out with a small female Russian Tortoise.  

The kids were super excited when they saw what I held in my hands when we got home.  They watched as Dad gave her a bath and got her nice and clean and then we took her outside in the front yard to get acquainted with her.  We watched as she moved around, checking out her surroundings and as she snacked on the various dandelion plants in our yard.

Russian tortoises live to be about 40 years old so I told Charles he will have to figure out which kid he plans on leaving her to in his will..  For now, she'll be an easy pet for the kids to start learning responsibility with who won't require too much time, money or special requirements..