Shannon had her pet tortoise since she was a 5-week-old hatchling. She named the tortoise Malti, and she was now 6 and a half years old. During her first year with Shannon, Malti was almost feral. She refused to go near anybody, especially her foster mom. Thus, it took a while for the two to bond. Shannon also had a pet dog named Flash Gordon and a pet bird.
Shannon’s mother was Malti’s favorite. She would feed the tortoise and the dog with watermelons and bananas every now and then. Despite Malti’s innocent appearance, she was extremely clever. For example, she learned how to get in by pushing a metal door all by herself.
Apart from being intelligent, Malti was also very sensitive. She wound get inside her shell at the slightest sign of danger. The little tortoise loved to climb up as soon as she understood that she could do so to make herself taller. This also helped her get close to the snacks that grandmother offered her.
According to Shannon, dogs and tortoises were not a good combination to be kept as pets. Dogs were always curious, and tortoises were pretty interesting. This prevented the two from getting along together. However, in Shannon’s family, everybody got along nicely with each other.
Flash Gordon was a year younger than Malti. So, for the dog, life without her was unimaginable. But, both the animals shared the same motivation – food. So, they would wait for their grandma to give them snacks which they enjoyed a lot.
Malti would often walk up to Flash Gordon as if she wanted to find out who he was in reality. She was loved by all the family members. She loved to follow Shannon’s mom around the house.
Shannon believed that it didn’t matter whether a person or an animal was warm-blooded or cold-blooded. Malti always used to teach Shannon how to see life through her perspective, and she loved the tortoise a lot.
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