Tortoise could be the UK's oldest resident
Meet Tommy the tortoise, who at at least 110 years old is believed to be the UK's oldest resident.The Hermann's tortoise hatched when Queen Victoria was still on the throne and is understood to be years older than the UK's oldest person.
Tommy was given the manly name because she was thought to be a boy when she was bought from a market in Streatham in 1909.
Her age means she lived through first powered flight and astronauts walking on the moon for the first time… not that she'd know, she's a tortoise.
Tommy was discovered as part of a search by Practical Reptile Keeping, to find the UK's oldest tortoise.
David Alderton, Editor of Practical Reptile Keeping magazine said: "Although many people have contacted us about tortoises over 50 years old, some of which they’ve had since childhood, we’ve only heard to date of one individual who is more than 100 years old.
"Tommy is a Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni) who now lives with Sheila Floris, in Coulsdon, Surrey, and could well be the oldest-known example of her species ever recorded.
Owner Sheila Floris from Surrey says her mom bought Tommy 50 years ago from her original owner, who in turn bought her from a market in Streatham in 1909.
"We only discovered later that she was actually a female when she started laying eggs, but we never renamed her," said Sheila.
"She’s always been very much part of the family, and lived with my mother until she passed away last July, and then she moved in with me.
*The oldest recorded tortoise in Britain was Timmy, a Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise who was believed to be 160 years old when she died in 2004 at Powderham Castle in Devon.
LINKS
Practical Reptile Keeping
David Alderton, Editor of Practical Reptile Keeping magazine said: "Although many people have contacted us about tortoises over 50 years old, some of which they’ve had since childhood, we’ve only heard to date of one individual who is more than 100 years old.
"Tommy is a Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni) who now lives with Sheila Floris, in Coulsdon, Surrey, and could well be the oldest-known example of her species ever recorded.
Owner Sheila Floris from Surrey says her mom bought Tommy 50 years ago from her original owner, who in turn bought her from a market in Streatham in 1909.
"We only discovered later that she was actually a female when she started laying eggs, but we never renamed her," said Sheila.
"She’s always been very much part of the family, and lived with my mother until she passed away last July, and then she moved in with me.
*The oldest recorded tortoise in Britain was Timmy, a Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise who was believed to be 160 years old when she died in 2004 at Powderham Castle in Devon.
LINKS
Practical Reptile Keeping
