EVENING NEWS (Norwich, UK) 18 June 08 Tortoise still going strong at 100 (Kate Scotter)
Anyone else her age would be looking forward to receiving a telegram from the Queen, but 100-year-old Ruby is just as happy to have found a new home.
The century-old tortoise, who has spent the whole of her captive life in Norfolk, has been re-homed through a Norwich-based tortoise club.
Originally from Africa, the female whitei tortoise was brought over to the country in the 1960s, before the importation ban, and was taken in by the Norfolk and Coe Tortoise Club a couple of years ago after her previous owner felt she was getting too old to look after her.
She has now been taken in by a Norwich family.
Her new owner Kim Meadows, 49, who lives with her 17-year-old daughter Lucy, to the east of the city, said: “She's lovely and she's got such a nice personality.
“She's very active for her age and likes to wander around the garden. She also loves coming into the house even though she's not supposed to. She has a very pale shell, which is slightly damaged after all these years, and she has black beady eyes. She's just beautiful.”
Living with the Meadows', Ruby now has a shelled friend called Frieda, who is in her 40s. She has also got a new name, as she was originally called Mrs T.
Mrs Meadows said: “Ruby and Frieda didn't get on with each other at first but they've come out of hibernation as the best of friends.
“Ruby's got much more up-and-go than the other one - she's always the first one up and always the last in bed.”
It is thought Ruby was brought into the country as an adult and was bought from a pet shop. Her first owners emigrated to Australia and gave her to a friend who kept her for about 15 years. It will now be her second summer with the Meadows'.
Eleanor Tirtasana, who runs the Norfolk and Coe Tortoise Club, which is based at Bracon Ash, said: “You can tell she's very elderly because she's really worn and battered. Her whole shell has lots of character.
“It's quite common for them to come into the club when they are quite old but it's unusual for us to get one that's 100 years old.”
The tortoise club is holding a special talk on what wild Norfolk plants people can feed their pet tortoises as well as health problems they should look out for. The talk will be held tonightat St Francis Church Hall, Rider Haggard Road, at 8pm to 10pm. Entry costs £1.
The club will also have a stand at next week's Royal Norfolk Show, on June 25 and 26, and will be running family-friendly workshops in July. For more information, contact Eleanor Tirtasana on 01508 570984 or go to www.tortoiseclub.org.
Tortoise still going strong at 100

[ Show Entire Thread ]