How did you know your pet was the one?

[richalisoviejo]

People are always asking me this question about me mostly since I got the Sulcata’s and I began thinking about how I 'knew' the other loved ones in my life were the ones for me. This for me includes my animals. Most of the pets I have had the pleasure of of having found me of their own accord, like my cat for instance, but my torts were one of those spotlight from heaven type moments.

 

[Isa]

I like your question Rich
I had 2 cats, Caramel and Pistache. My parents bought them when I was 8 years old. One was mine (Caramel) and one was my sister's (Pistache) When we went to the petstore, I thought they were 2 baby tigers (they had the same colors as a tiger ) I was telling my parents that I wanted them! They were trying to get out of their cage and I loved them at fisrt sight . For Hermy it was the same thing, I knew I wanted a Hermann, the pet store told me they had 2, so when I went for the first time, I fell in love with Hermy. It was so sad to see him with all these bigger tortoises (he was the smaller one) and the cage was very dirty, no water, no food! I do not really know how to explain it, I just know my 2 cats and Hermy were made for me

 

[tortoisenerd]

I picked Trevor out from some photos online. He had the neatest coloring (he's kinda green for a russian). So cute! Fell in love with him by the time he got home.

 

[terryo]

Most people think that the more color a Redfoot has the better he is. Because Pio didn't have too much color he was a little cheaper, and since I wanted a Redfoot and couldn't care less how much color he had, and didn't have a lot of money to spend, it looked like we were meant for each other. He took me out of a deep depression, and the last two years with him have really meant a lot to me.

 

[Candy]

I knew when I looked across the room and thought to myself; "Standing right in front of me is what every women is looking for." and then I married him. Oh, I'm sorry we're speaking about our animals? Although sometimes there are moments. Anyway when we first got married my husband wanted a Labrador so I found a 7 month old Chocolate Labrador in the paper and we went to see her within a couple of hours of Cal getting home. After arriving there and seeing her I knew Shyanne was everything he had said he wanted in a dog. They had named her Shyanne because they said she was shy and they were right, but what a great watchdog she became. Cal (my husband) wasn't sure because they also had a 4 month old Black Lab named Elmo (that was soooooo hyper). He couldn't decide so the next day he took me to work and he went to get the dogs. Yep, before he left the house he decided to get both of them. Well things worked out just like they were supposed to because Elmo was already gone by the time he got there. So when he picked me up from work that day he opened up his van and there was Shyanne. We loved her so much, what a wonderful dog that she turned out to be. She loved my husband so much. We held onto her as long as we could, but then it was that time that we had to let go. That was in October 2005. It took us three years to get another Chocolate Labrador, but it was worth the wait. Her name is Emma and she also loves my husband very much.

 

[Meg90]

Well, my first "pet" in a long time, was my first ball python (almost 2 yrs ago) but I will tell the Nigel story instead!

At the time, my boyfriend and I only had my two snakes. And I was spending alot of time with them, and on another forum that had parts just for ball pythons. And then Reid told me that he had always wanted a tortoise. He said that ever since he was a kid, he'd wanted one, but his parents were the warm and furry types, so he never got one. Wanting to get Reid involded in the hobby I love so dearly, I put out a post, looking for a tortoise. I didn't have any specifics in mind, and started doing research right a way. (all I knew was no sulcatas---I knew we couldn't handle one with apartment living)

During my search, I passed up hatchling sulcatas at a reptile show (as well as a little redfoot juvie--the humidity requirements were daunting to me) And all the while we looked in person (went to petco/petsmart almost daily) I was getting replies online from people who had torts that needed new homes.

And then Kelly (Cvalda) offered me a male Greek. I was thirlled. It was the perfect species, and he was full grown at just over 5". These are the pictures I saw, when I first found the tort who would become my Nigel:

We were hooked. I mean, just look at that FACE! It was love at first sight for Reid and I. We drove 3 hours to get him, in the middle of November (and if you know about WI, its darrrrrn cold even then---we had lots of snow!) and its been love ever since! And little did we know that I would fall so hard for Nigel, that after a few months of having him, I was so immersed in torts, I put in a payment for a little greek hatchling too!

 

[BigBiscuit]

There was something about the way Smiley looked at me at the pet store. We shared a moment. When I held her, she urinated on my hand. That is when I new she was the one.

 

[Candy]

There was something about the way Smiley looked at me at the pet store. We shared a moment. When I held her, she urinated on my hand. That is when I new she was the one.

I love that BigBiscuit!

 

[tortoisenerd]

Awesome! Nothing like bodily fluids to bond a child/pet and a parent.

 

[Mow'scaretaker]

Lol. Wow you guys have some really cute stories!

Let me start at the begining I wanted a Bearded dragon so I waited for a reptile show to come up! I started looking around for them and there were these little RFs. I thought hey what the heck (why not look right??). I knew absolutly nothing about tortoises, but when I held Mow in my hand he looked up at me with his little eyes and it seemed like he was saying "I'm yours now!" I mean how could I say no to that little face!

So I came home knowing absolutly nothing about tortoises and I couldn't be happier! It's been about a month and he has such a personality.

-Trina

 

[Chewbecca]

Let's see...I found my dog, Ella, online on a Chicago shelter's website.
I saw her ears, and I KNEW I had to at least meet her.
We met her, and knew she was coming home with us.

My reptiles, there really wasn't a "magic moment" when it clicked with me.
Not with any of them except for my Eli Chimbley (crested gecko).
I went to Petco, asked to see their cresties. He was nice and calm in my hand for the first two seconds. Long enough for me to get out an "AWWW", and then he jumped out of my hands.
He did this about 8393 times while he was out of the cage. I knew then he was going home with me.

But he's one of the best behaved cresties I have. He jumps very little considering his age.
And he eats right out of my hands.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

One? Most of us have more then one. I have 25 turtles and tortoises, 2 cats, a betta and a loud mouthed bird named Tweets...and the only one I actually picked was the bird...I think...I was just supposed to keep Bob for a couple of weeks, that was 4 years and 70 pounds ago...

 

[Stazz]

Well we knew Tallula was ours when we saw her....Nick and I went to the pet store to look for a PUPPY! We walked around after finding out the astronomical prices of the puppies they had there, so we had a squizz around the store. Nick called me over and said " Love, LOOK! We have to take one home!", I peered into the cage and there were two Greeks inside....one TINY hatchling, and a much bigger one (Tallula), so we both said at the same time to the torts "Hey guys....you're so cute" , and Tallula came bounding for us with her bright eyes. I said to Nick, " Angel we know nothing about tortoises, we cannot take one of them home, we came for a puppy !" He sulked the WHOLE way home and I could not get the bigger tort out of my mind. We got home and he moaned to our housemates that he wants the tortoise and I said no, and this look he gave me won me over hahaha....we drove all the way back and picked up Tallula, who didn't hide in her shell, but stuck her head out even more to sniff my arm.
She came home with us and we've never looked back - the most amazing, beautiful little 5yr old girl we have