Hooray, a change from salad.

Oh Bless...........

Oh Doc b .. lovely pic guess we should consider who to leave the parrot too as only young ..erm not us the parrot.

Thanks BB, can the parrot talk? he might be able to let you know.

Can the parrot talk Doc b ? Oh please its female need I say any more lol

Point taken BB!!!!

By the way so is Mrs. Tommy but as tortoises can't talk why do you think I chose one?.

wow i like him how long do they live for?

Think I read somewhere that female tortoises chatter in very lower frequencies inaudible to human ear but drives the male crazy forcing him to hibernate for long periods .

Being so slow the poor chap never gets his chores finished so needs his sleep ready for the next spring clean.

Think the human equivalent would be Ray, Milkys husband ...those pics of the poor chap trying to to hibernate lol

Hi Jewells,
I hear they can live for 100 years or more, so could be a long time yet, as I said we have no idea how old she is.
So, BB you've met my wife LOL. They make the ideal pet as you don't have to take them for walks or feed them all winter.

LOL Doctorbob !

Mrs. Tommy is lovely... just a youngster, really...
Leave her to someone who can feed her yellow antirrhinums, in the manner to which she has become accustomed. Lol. :o)

The thing is TT, she already has her own house and garden, we don't want her getting too comfy. Lol.

Too late for that..... seems like Mrs. Tommy lives the life of luxury. Lol.

Yes, but she has still made several attempts at escape, she once crossed two roads and was found walking down a pavement by a lady who took her home, when we found out where she was she was having a wonderful time in her rockery. Some time ago she disappeared completely and was found a week later on the edge of a neighbours swimmimg pool. She is quite a character and some people say Tortoises are boring because they don't do anything.

lovely photo. When I was a child I had a tortoise called Billy. He was given to me by a boy called Billy (I was a very imaginative child) He was blind in one eye so could'nt feed himself 'cos he kept missing the leaf ! I had to put the leaf in his mouth when it was open and ready:-))

Thank you Bornagain, great story about your Tortoise, they are very interesting pets. How old did yours live to be?.

Well I'm afraid it's a rather sad story Doctorb. I already had a tortoise called Tommy when I was given Billy, and they were happy together for years. We had no garden and they lived in the house most of the time or outside in the yard weather permitting (city girl). Apart from what we fed them, everyone in the street used to bring us lettuce leaves or whatever they had left over that was suitable (Tommy even used to pinch a bit of our dogs food occassionally) Unfortunately this kindness led to their demise, they were poisoned, probably by herbicide or insecticide on one of our neighbours offerings. Very sad:-( Interestingly they never hibernated, as they never got that cold, so we didn't lose them as some of my friends did in hibernation. Tommy must have been at least ten years old.

Oh! that's really sad. We do have to be very careful. Mrs. Tommy loves dandelions and we only get them from neighbours who don't use any treatments on their gardens, we definitly would not pick them from the roadside.

Bob, I didnt know you had a tortoise, she's lovely. Have you seen Gee19's she has 3. We had one when we were little and it sounds cruel but its shell was drilled so that it could be tethered, poor thing, but it didnt make any difference it often broke free and was often found in gardens up the road. In fact, it was returned once but I suspect it wasnt ours. There was a shop in town that sold them, I can see them now, lots of babies in oak barrels :-( I think they are amazing creatures.

Ah yes Dawn she is lovely. Children are fascinated by them, our children, then the grandchildren and any other children who come to visit adore her. We used to have two but the male died many years ago.
When we go out with food she comes rushing over to us, ( yes they can rush). Yours was very adventurous, they do like to wander.

Sorry to hear you lost one of the tortoises Bob. I keep dropping hints here that I would like one for Christmas :-) I'll get Charlotte to remind John nearer the time. So does she hibernate these days? If she does, where do you put her?

I'm not sure you can still buy them Dawn. Yes, she hibernates, you have to be sure their stomachs are completely empty before they go to sleep otherwise their insides burst while they are asleep, so she gradually spends more and more time in her house when the weather gets cold, usually at the end of October. After she has not come out of her house for a week so is totally empty I put her in a cardboard box with lots of straw and put her on a high shelf in the garage. She usually goes down a day or so before firework night, we hear her scratching in her box round about the first few days of April, depending how warm it is. She comes straight out and goes into her little garden with lots of lovely new straw in her house. We really miss her during the winter, we are always relieved when she comes back out again.

Thanks for the info Bob - I find it amazing.
I havent looked around for a while but I believe you can buy ones that have been bred in this country. They were available at a local aquatic shop a few years ago but quite pricey - about £150 each, I seem to remember.
I can imagine how you must feel when she re-emerges each Spring.

Only just noticed this pic - haven't seen a tortoise for years, she's lovely. Doesn't look that old, either - I can understand why you're thinking of willing her to somebody. I thought I had trouble enough with the goldfish I got for the children - they lived 18 years (the fish, I mean!), seems a heartbeat compared to the tortoise.

Thanks Bamboo, yes we are seriously thinking she will outlive us both, hope the children won't fight over her, LOL I think that is very unlikely.

Today I've included this nice pic. in GoYpedia Pets In The Garden. :o)

Thank you so much TT, Mrs. Tommy will be very honoured, although she won't know until next March as she is nice a snug in her box in the garage now.

lol... I hope Mrs. Tommy enjoys her long snooze, while all winter we are admiring her on GoYpedia.. :o)

I love her ....

I heard recently about someone bringing 3 tiny ones back from Morocco. They were small enough for all three to fit in a sunglasses case. Two died within days but the other lived for about 6 months. I'm sure that's illegal.

Goodness They must have been tiny, how terrible. Yes I am sure it is illegal, I think you have to bring them in under licence these days. The poor things must have suffered.

wow you got some pictures in doc . havent you been busy lol . only joking .your tortoise looks lovley .your gran children could be handing her down to there children.there was a tortoise but a much bigger breed died about 2 years ago and was a good size when napolian was about.it was in captivity 295 years how mad is that.anyway mate i do hope your well and looking forward to spring just like i am.take care mate bye for now .i think all tortoises are home bread as most of them are very rare in the wild .theres a bird called the snowy owl and its one of the rarest birds in the uk yet you can get them as pets for want of a better word as easy as pie.just doesnt seam right.

I remember reading about that tortoise Leigh. I don't think anyone will want her when we are gone, except possibly one of our daughters, I hope she won't last 295 years, as you say a diffrent breed.

no i think your type live about 120 years as it goes.glad your ok take care bye for now doc.

That is a delightful picture. Never seen a tortoise eat much less accept
food from one's hand. There is much to learn on this site and I am
appreciative.

there is much to learn from nature to .