Unusual NYC encounter while walking Ruffy

[sanford]

I think I submitted this before... Ruffy and I came across this pet owner while walking in the park. Raisins seem to be the treat of choice for his companions, but of course they are forbidden fruit for our cairns!

[bradl]

Love it. I'd love to see these guys going for a walk with my neighbor who takes her rabbit to the park in a harness! 

[Kathryn]

Years ago we had a neighbor who kept a pot bellied pig in their garage, and would walk it very early in the morning on a leash  (and we live right in the city, a train stop or two away from the big football stadium and downtown).  Eventually, though, the city ticketed them and they were required to move the pig outside city boundaries...

Now we can have only the usual listed pets - dogs, cats, fish, birds (only certain kinds though), reptiles, turtles, etc.  And up to five chickens -- but no roosters...

Does PetsMart sell turtle collars and leashes, or were these "custom"?  I always expect that you can find whatever you want in a city like NYC.

[pkcrossley]

i have a friend who keeps turtles she inherited from her late brother. surprisingly good pets! they set a very good example with their diets, are slow but very deliberate, respond to their owners, and when they feel like stepping on the gas can make pretty good time. also long-lived for their size. on the economical side compared to a pampered cairn.

I do think they would look good in harnesses though. you never know when their prey drive will kick in. 

[hheldorfer]

And I thought my old man Ziggy was getting slow on walks . . . 

[sanford]

On 7/13/2019 at 6:53 PM, Kathryn said:

Does PetsMart sell turtle collars and leashes, or were these "custom"?  I always expect that you can find whatever you want in a city like NYC.

After reading your post, I was curious and looked online to discover that there are indeed turtle harnesses, etc. for sale. (I think at Amazon).

As to whether they are available in NYC, up until some years ago there were a few "exotic" pet stores here, selling large turtles, tortoises, iguanas, geckos, snakes and assorted unusual amphibians, etc. I assume they would have sold such harnesses, but those stores are probably gone now. 

[sanford]

On 7/15/2019 at 3:33 PM, pkcrossley said:

i have a friend who keeps turtles she inherited from her late brother. surprisingly good pets! they set a very good example with their diets, are slow but very deliberate, respond to their owners, and when they feel like stepping on the gas can make pretty good time. also long-lived for their size. on the economical side compared to a pampered cairn.

I do think they would look good in harnesses though. you never know when their prey drive will kick in. 

Everything you say is true, PK. I actually owned a tortoise years ago. Her name was Myrtle and she lived inside the radiator enclosure in my living room. It had a small hinged door that you would raise up, sort of like a garage door, to access the valve. Myrtle was the size of a small pumpernickel and would go in and out using that door which was kept in the open position for her. Her diet was Gainsburgers, assorted fruits and veggies and some bone meal. She was actually housebroken, (or a version of that, but too complicated to go into here). She would emerge from her "garage" in response to her name and spent her summers in the walled-in backyard.

     A neighbor in the building enjoyed regularly feeding Myrtle strawberries. Sadly, after a few years, Myrtle disappeared one day, apparently stolen... There was no way for her to have escaped on her own from the completely enclosed, brick walled-in garden/yard... Another New York City Crime victim!

Edited August 3, 2019 by sanford

[pkcrossley]

very sorry to hear of your loss of Myrtle. turtles are estimable people.