Chihuahua Does Happiest Little Dance Upon Seeing BFF Rescue Tortoise

I’ve been told that reptiles as pets don’t have much of a personality, but I think that’s extremely untrue. All you have to do to realize how misguided those folks are is to spend a few minutes meeting Tilly G the rescue tortoise, and his very best friend Skippy, the Chihuahua.

Tilly G is a young, ten year old tortoise currently living the sweet life in California. Tilly G had a rough start, with stunted growth and even a cracked shell, he was adopted from the humane society and nursed back to health. Now he makes his home with four rescued dogs and five cats—but his favorite is Skippy.

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In this clip, you can see how happy Skippy is every day to have yard time with his favorite Tortoise. He even does a little happy dance, waggling his tail and butt in the air and bouncing around in greeting his reptilian friend.

Related: Chihuahua Adopts Rescued Baby Squirrel As Her Own and It's Nothing Short of Precious

Their relationship is a very special one, and it’s mutual too—while Skippy likes to bring Tilly G toys, lettuce leaves, and other goodies, he also watched out to make sure his shelled buddy does’t get himself stuck under patio furniture. And Tilly G clearly likes the attention. In other videos, you can see him climbing the stairs to the house to find Skippy on the other side of the screen door.

As the love between Skippy and Tilly G has captured social media, their owner has even published a book on the subject.

Pet Tortoises

Keeping a pet tortoise is an incredible amount of work, which is which you see poor creatures like Tilly G wind up in the Humane Society with terrible injuries and bad health. Not only do their large size mean they eat a lot of fresh vegetables daily, but they need to be taken outside for yard time every day to give them vitamin D, be given access to water for soaking, be kept warm via your climate or heat lamps, and can burrow through your yard and certainly knock over your law furniture. Additionally, tortoises live for decades. It’s a big investment that should never be entered without thorough consideration.

This enormous tortoise is only ten. He’s a “baby” and will still be growing. In the videos, you can see how much care he needs on a day to day basis. Not just from his owner, who has built him his own house in her backyard, and carefully “Tilly G-proofed” the surrounding areas to keep him safe from hurting himself on the patio steps, but also regular check-ins and playtimes from his BIFF, the Chihuahua.

Is a Chihuahua Right For You?

Chihuahuas are a tiny breed of dog, originally from Mexico, who are beloved for their playful, outsized personality. Properly trained, they can be a friendly, loyal family dog, but they are also suspicious of outsiders and can be temperamental if not adequately trained, socialized and entertained. They are a highly recognizable breed thanks to a few high-profile pets of celebrities, and examples from movies and television. For this reason, they were overbred for the past few decades, with less than desirable temperaments and examples found all over. Currently, it caused the Chihuahua not to have the best reputation, though many make truly wonderful pets and companions.

Skippy is clearly living his best life, frolicking in the sun with his best tortoise friend.

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