Welcome to Our Farm

Lately I have found myself referring to our household as a farm.

People thought Sam and I were pretty crazy to adopt two dogs while in college. During that time we were constantly moving between apartments and our parents homes. Now we have finally settled into a home, which happens to be a tiny 600 square foot cottage, and there is barely room for the four of us. As in I can’t even see the floor next to our bed because dog beds take up the entire space. But we manage, happily.

Well for Sam’s birthday I decided to finally give in and get him his “dream pet” … a TORTOISE. Lord knows why but getting a tortoise has been an obsession of his for the past year or so. I’m pretty sure he was picturing a giant zoo-sized tortoise that would be big enough to ride and cool enough for the neighbors kids’ to talk about for years to come.

We did the research and my response was “NO WAY!” our house is too tiny and I thought it would be best to wait until we settle into a long-term home. Plus if we were to get another pet it should definitely be a dog, right? (Is there such a thing as Dog Adopters Anonymous? I should probably join). If it were up to me we would have at least two more dogs… but that’s another issue.

Somehow I ended up giving in to the idea of having a tortoise months ago without telling Sam. We would get a baby and he would be living in a temperature controlled tank for a while before we would even move him to the yard. It could work.

Just before Sam’s birthday, I went to a local reptile store and got way too much information from the manager. All of a sudden I found myself putting down a deposit on the cutest tortoise I have ever seen (yes there is such a thing & no I never thought I would say that.) He is a year old white leopard tortoise. Eventually he will grow to be around 16” and 40 pounds, but right now he is the size of a tennis ball. I came home and immediately spoiled the birthday surprise a few days early and we have been obsessed ever since!

Welcome to our farm. Current members: Meet Jackson, Lauren, and Captain the Tortoise.

A couple of instagrams (#ohcaptainmytortoise) to show how itty bitty he is!