Tortoise is crowd-pleaser at North Huntingdon pet store

On a typical day, Sheldon ambles around the aisles, inspecting bags of food and occasionally attempting to slip outside to bask in the sun in front of the Petland store at Norwin Town Square.

Sheldon, however, isn’t a casual shopper mulling over possible purchases and an easy escape.

He’s a 20-year-old, 130-pound African spurred tortoise enjoying the run of the pet store along Route 30 in North Huntingdon.

Sheldon lives in the shop, owned by brothers Ted and Kurt Karcher of North Huntingdon, and he’s one of the items that isn’t for sale

“He’s a pet to us. He has a huge impact on us,” Ted Karcher said.

Sheldon was full grown when they got him about 10 years ago from a breeder in the Phoenix area. They were told the tortoise was 10 years old and weighed 56 pounds. But, when they got to the Southwest Airlines terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport, they learned the breeder underestimated Sheldon’s heft. Snug in his crate, he weighed in at about 130 pounds. He’s about 2½ feet long and 19 inches wide.

Kurt is quick point out that Sheldon is not a typical pet.

“This is not a pet for the average person,” Kurt Karcher said.

Anyone considering owning a large tortoise needs to think twice because they will need to devote an entire bedroom to it, Ted Karcher said.

As for longevity, Sheldon may well outlive the Karchers because a tortoise in captivity could live to be 100, Kurt Karcher said.

Sheldon has a special corner in the rear of the store where the Karchers feed him and have a heat lamp to keep him warm, even in the summer because the tortoise’s native environment is the southern portion of the Sahara desert in northern Africa.

Sometimes he goes on school field trips with the Karchers.

“We’ve gone to Norwin, Greensburg-Salem and Clairton, as well as preschools,” Kurt Karcher said.

Before covid clamped down on school visitors, Kurt Karcher said they would take Sheldon, a boa constrictor and a macaw on as many as two dozen school trips a year.

The Karchers said Sheldon is surprisingly strong.

“He knocked down a bolted-down toilet,” Kurt Karcher said.

He’s also pulled dog food bags from the shelves and marched over them, Kurt Karcher said.

The upkeep for the tortoise isn’t much. He eats kale and Romaine lettuce, Ted Karcher said.

“It’s what he costs us in damages,” Kurt Karcher said.

One of the tortoise’s admirers this week was Amber Hutchens of Penn Township and her two young children Ava, 5, and Brees, 3.

“We’re here all the time. They love him,” Hutchens said, as the children petted Sheldon’s and touched his head as it popped out from underneath his shell.

Sheldon has many fans who would like to take him home.

“We get asked once a day by someone if they can buy him,” Kurt Karcher said. “Why would we sell him?”