Thunder and Lightening Strike the Ashcraft Home

We were deeply saddened this past week due to the lose of Linus ( our pet tortoise). He had been sick for quite awhile but actually lived longer than we expected. The kids ,especially Camryn, are really going to miss him.
We really loved having a tortoise for a pet and hoped we might be able to find another one. Due to the fact that they are only born between Sept. and Oct. and usually have a waiting list, we were doubtful we would find one this year.
Fortunately, we got very lucky and not only found one but two Sulcata Tortoises (AKA African Spurred Tortoise). They are more durable than the Cal. Desert Tortoise Linus was. They are four weeks old right now and can live up to 100 years. Camryn and Hudson have already called dibs on them .
During family home evening last night, we had a family vote to decide their names. After a lot of deliberation and voting to eliminate the runner-ups, they were named Lightening and Thunder by a 5-2 vote. The runner-up names were King and Kong, Sparky and Scout, and my favorite Frank and Beans.
Here are some pictures to show you how small they are right now. It's hard to believe they can get up to three feet in diameter.

Lightening sitting on Devyns hand (4 years old) and next to a quarter


Next to a small apple.


Devyn in the front yard with Thunder


They have to live indoors the first 2 years. They have a large 50x18 inch aquarium that we keep at 90-100 degrees. They do enjoy going on a field trip with Camryn to the front yard for their 20-30 minutes of sunlight each day.

We LOVE the new additions to our family.