People lough at me because I remember the birthdays, or I should say the hatching days of my tortoises. For those people, celebrating a tortoise’s life doesn’t make any sense or they see it as “crazy”. Well, I don’t consider it crazy. We usually remember the birthdays of our love ones and if my tortoises are part of my love-ones, then it makes sense to me.
When I think of my tortoise turning 1 year old I can’t help thinking the obvious: my tortoise will outlive me. We usually don’t think about it when we have dogs or cats because our furry friends don’t live too long, unfortunately. But well, that’s another subject. Tortoises do live a very, very long time. They live longer than dogs, than parrots and longer than us, humans. Just to put it in perspective: the current life expectancy for the U.S. in 2023 is 79.11 years1 while a radiated tortoise is a very long-lived species, with recorded lifespans of up to 188 years2 . The tortoises can basically live two human lives. An I am already in my 30s.
When Venus turns 50 years, I will be in my 80s. Probably trying to remember if I had a tortoise. Anyways, we can’t fight time. I am sure I will have 40 or 50 beautiful years with Venus ahead but what I can do now -and it’s on my list- is planning on what it is going to happen with all my animals when I pass. Estate planning for my tortoise does sound a bit crazy. I can give that to the people who lough at me for celebrating my tortoise’s birthday but I am starting to see it as a way of not being selfish. Animals that were raised in captivity can’t survive in the wild and they can be a burden to a family member or a friend that decides to take care of them, specially when that person is not expecting new pets. Just something to think about.
Going back to Venus, Happy birthday to it!!! I still don’t know whether it is a female or a male, but it doesn’t matter because it is adorable in anyway. Since I got it, back in June, Venus has melt my heart with her beautiful scratches-seeking shell and her cute tiny yellow face.
- It is a very long-lived species, with recorded lifespans of up to 188 years. ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiated_tortoise#Lifespan ↩︎
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