HIGHLANDS TODAY (Sebring, Florida) 15 April 08 For 100-Pound Tortoise, Grass Is Always Green On His Side (Kathy Waters)

Lake Placid: He's 100 pounds, three-feet long, nibbles on grass and lives in Lake Placid.

When Lynn Connolly bought Connie the tortoise as a newborn, he weighed 3 ounces and measured the size of a 50-cent piece. She remembers paying $99.99 for the Great African Spur-thigh, at a exotic pet store on March 1, 1997.

Now, the 100-pound pet quietly spends his life in the Connollys' fenced-in backyard, with girlfriend Medusa. They live in the roofed "tortoise condo" and have four cats, two parrots and a 10-year-old squirrel for roommates.

"He's a family member and the last of the prehistoric," said Connolly. "He doesn't bark, and we don't have to clean up after him. He's vegetarian and good for the environment.

What does a 100-pound tortoise eat? It isn't always whatever he wants.

Connolly is careful about Connie's dietary habits.

When he's not grazing on grass, weeds and hibiscus flowers in the backyard, he's devouring two pounds a day of fruits and vegetables, including cauliflower, broccoli, extra mangos and all the turnip greens that neighbors grow.

Connolly does not feed Connie anything rich or with seeds, since certain foods might cause intestinal infections.

So where do all those fruits and vegetables that aren't fully digested – or add to Connie's significant girth – end up?

"It all turns to fertilizer and compost," Connolly said, "and doesn't smell."

"In order for him to digest food, he needs to be in the sun," said Connolly. "He keeps the grass down pretty well – grazing, just like a cow.

"In the morning, he scavenges; in the afternoon, I feed him."

Connie once made a dash for freedom and escaped from the backyard.

Not knowing that her tortoise was on the loose, Connolly went to open the front door and found him wedged outside into the doorway, keeping the door from opening.

For Connie's one big move from house to house, he rode in a car and a wheel barrel.

Tortoises can live up to 80 years, and Connolly expects that her son Arthur will raise the pet to its full-grown weight of about 150 pounds.

Three heat lamps take care of those days when the temperature dips below 50 degrees.

A power cord leads into the tortoise condo and is controlled from inside the house. On cold days the lamps keep the tortoise warm.

Florida summers can be brutal, and a thick-skinned pet with a shell can get hot under the collar, so a fan circulates during the hottest months to keep the beloved pet cool.
For 100-Pound Tortoise, Grass Is Always Green On His Side

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