Happy b’day, you ol’ tort!
Slow & steady, pet sets record at age 121
It’s time to shell-ebrate! A tortoise named Tommy has become the world’s oldest living pet by reaching her 121st birthday this week — and, boy, has she seen a thing or two.
The endangered Hermann’s tortoise has been in the same British family since she was bought for one pound in 1909, living through 21 US presidents, six English monarchs and two world wars.
“She’s been through the family all these years, and we all love her to bits,” owner Sheila Floris, of Surrey, told the UK Metro on Monday.
Tommy was born in 1898 and was purchased by Sheila’s grandmother Margaret Cloonan when she was 11 years old.
At that time, William McKinley was in the White House and Queen Victoria reigned over the United Kingdom.
New York City as we know it today didn’t exist, either.
Manhattan, Brooklyn, the East Bronx, western Queens and Staten Island were consolidated that year.
Floris, a 62-year-old property developer, has been caring for Tommy since she was 5 years old and said the beloved pet was presumed to be a male — until she began laying eggs.
“It was too late to change the name so the name has stuck ever since,” she said.
Floris said her earliest memories include Tommy crawling around her family’s backyard in the 1970s and noted that the turtle at that time was exotic compared with her friends’ pets.
“She was lovely to grow up with. I remember her racing around the garden and being quite speedy.”
Tommy hibernates six months of each year and has reportedly never been to the vet.
According to Floris, the tortoise wakes up on the same two days every year: On April 1— the birthday of Floris’ mother — or Mother’s Day.
“It’s funny how she wakes up on those two days,” Floris said.
Hermann’s tortoises typically live to be 50 and are native to Turkey, eastern Italy and Greece.
They were listed as an endangered species in 2012 and are known for having individual personalities and developing a bond with their owners, according to PetGuide.com.
Floris credited Tommy’s excellent bill of health with plenty of love and a healthy diet of garden weeds.
“Tommy still makes us laugh by racing around the garden. If I go outside, I’ll call her name and she’ll come out to me,” Floris said.
She likes to spend her days under a hedge and being treated “like a duchess” by her centurylong owners who are confident she will live another 50 years.
“The future is bright because she’s got people around her who love her and are very protective of her,” Floris said.