Speedy the Tortoise and Altering the Genetic Code

Last week my sister sent me a great article from Buzzfeed on �a reptile dysfunction�. It�s about stupid people who buy cute little baby tortoises that, after a few sweet months, enter a growth spurt and rapidly begin toassume the dimensions of a dinosaur.

I did that.

An African Tortoise in Upstate New York

I got Speedy, an African spurred tortoise of species Centrochelys sulcata (they have their own closed Facebook group) at a reptile show when she was the size of an oreo. I should have realized that the fact that her natural habitat south of the Sahara was not exactly like that of the northeast US might be a limitation. But it was spring, and Speedy happily munched the lawn for months.

She grew. Fast.