Also, I should've mentioned it in the video, but Sharon actually eats a ton of Timothy hay too! We just didn't have it in time for filming 😅

Unfortunately, her original owner probably passed, and whoever inherited her didn't want her. It happens A LOT with multi generational pets.

Be very, very, very, VERY careful to keep an eye on her at all times. It would be SO easy for someone to steal her if no one is looking. That happened at a local petstore here. They had a big, 87 year old tortoise that roamed around the store and one day someone stole him and they never found him.

I love how he just said, “hey, wanna 40pound sulcota tortoise?” And then you guys were just like, “yeah!”

I can't believe it's been a year since Sharon joined the team. Can you do an update on her? I'd love to hear how she has adapted and how big she's gotten since we first saw her.

I thought I was crazy because Sharon looked a lot more like the male picture than the female one when Emily flipped "her" over. Looking through the comments, I saw a few others saying the same. Then again, it's not the first time the names have been non-conforming. Welcome, Sharon! :D

Ahh what a cutie :) Long-term sulcata owner here (in AZ, mine live outside and have a dedicated stall in my horse barn) - I would consider transitioning Sharon to a majority hay-based diet, and using the greens as a supplemental treat and not the majority. They are a grazing, grassland species, so grass/hay should be the bulk of their diet. Basically, treat them like horses and they'll do great :)

As someone that has worked in the produce department of a grocery store, there is so much perfectly edible produce that gets thrown away because it doesn’t look good enough. Hopefully you’ll be able to find somewhere that is willing to give you guys some

Emily has got to be the cutest thing ever. “I’m gonna tag the whole facility!! 😈” *coughing from spray paint fumes* 😭😭😭 she’s so adorable

I hope to see a little "tortoise crossing" signs around the zoo She's so cute 😍

it’s so cool to see ed more comfortable being on camera!! he adds so much to the channel!

I got to meet Sharon about a month ago. I LOVE her/him! I am so glad she came out to say hello! I want to make her a lap tortie! Lol

We enjoyed watching Sharon travel around the zoo. Fantastic time meeting Emily and Ed. My Granddaughter will forever remember the time spent at the zoo.

If Sharon is gonna be walking around the zoo I’d recommend maybe tying a balloon on her so that people can know where she is without looking down? She would look so cute with a balloon :)

I have a fairly large tortoise as well. the thing is she may be putting the brakes on the scooter because they don’t like their tummy push on. if you probably put a cushion or a pad just on the scooter she’d probably be more willing to ride on it. You also may wanna consider reinforcing all your rock where her shells going to rub. My tortoises like to take off stucco. I still love him.

Ed gives me major cool fun hugable uncle vibes like u would go up to him when ur sad and he would make u better and when he’s sad it would make u sad

I adopted my Godmother's tortoise when I was eleven. Lost him when he was 98 years old. He loved dandelions and strawberries and he moved like a rocket on speed lol. His name was Sammy and loved chin and head rubs. Still miss him xxx

Please please ensure when Sharon is wandering around the zoo when it's open that there's an employee supervising her at all times. I've done programs with tortoises before and there have been plenty of kids who will knock on their shells, stick their hands in its face and even one who wanted to kick it like a ball. I put a stop to all of it quickly each time but it did happen at every program I took a tortoise to. For the tortoises safety please make sure someone is around her to control the children.

Am I crazy or did that really look like a male shell when they tipped her up? Either way super happy for Sharon, getting such a nice home. Edit: I have done more looking on the internet, and Sharon could well be a girl. The photo they showed in the video was just a more extreme example. I have never claimed to be a tortoise sex expert, but I just want people to know that I could be wrong.

I would love to see a long chill video with no narration of Sharon just walking around the zoo. It sounds like something lovely to fall asleep to 💕🐢

Rewatching this video again and just noticed the "Isopod Discovery" sign in the background on a rack 19:12. I love it. I am really hoping for another set of videos showing off all the animal species/genus/morphs they currently have, including that entire rack of isopods.

Y'all's willingness to go "this doesn't work for the tortoise that needs a home, let's tear a hole in this wall and make a new ramp and make this work" is incredibly inspirational.

Former grocery store employee here, used to sell carts of scraps to a guy who owned several tortoises for like $2. Just ask and see if they're able to save stuff for you. Sharon is awesome

Aaw. I miss my tortoises. When I was a kid, we had 3 California Desert Tortoises (adopted through a Fish & Game program to house existing pet animals that could not be released after they were listed as a Protected species). They roamed loose in the kitchen, and for whatever reason never wanted to cross over into the carpeted livingroom area. From spring to fall, we would take them outside into the yard during the day and let them enjoy the sunshine in the lawn and shade under a big shrub or the porch. They are greens mostly, but LOVED strawberries as a treat. They would see us put a plate down with strawberries on top of the vegetables, and it was amazing how fast they would run across the kitchen to come eat them. They would open up soooooo wide to take the biggest chomps possible of the fruit. Their other favorite thing was dandelion flowers; specifically the flowers. Such fun animals, and much more expressive than you'd expect.

you guys have given her the best life you possibly could have, shell be so happy and live the rest of her days with alllll the love and affection

My only guess is that her original owner passed recently and the family didn’t want to keep Sharon. She luckily has wonderful new owners either way!

Welcome Sharon! Make you get her microchipped, just in case she wanders out of the store or someone tries to steal her!

I love how they are so hands on on everything, and I mean everything.

I was actually so excited to see another build! I really enjoyed watching the process of the zoo, and the little projects that come up after.

Perhaps a small little cart, like the flatbed ones made for gardening, would work better for Sharon transportation that way you dont have to bend down to push her either. Either way congrats on the new addition to the zoo, I love tortoises so it will be fun getting to see Sharon in future videos.

I'd make sure to get a pet tracker. My dad epoxyed a mount onto our sulcata's shell, and we have 2 small tracking devices that we can swap out so each can charge. We've had ours escape once or twice over the past 20 years, so it's better to be careful in case a door is left open or someone tries something.

What's so cute is that I have a soft shelled tortoise in the Animal Crossing New Horizons museum! :D

It makes me so happy to see how Ed changes from the first videos to the last, i love seeing him goofing around and having fun with Emily. 10/10 wholesome

My main concern is a child trying to stand or sit on here to ‘ride’ her, or an adult that purposely stands on her or something. I hope people are kind to her as they walk around and they watch their step

I would love to see a safety video for Sharon. The idea of a free roaming tortoise is great, but I fear a child trying to ride her or someone stealing her 😞

Sharon looks so taken care of. It makes me think 1) she escaped and a Good Samaritan picked her up, 2) an emergency situation came where her family had to move 3) someone stole her and got rid of her without her caretaker knowing(which I know happens a lot,at least with dogs)

An art store near where I live has a tortoise living there. He's the store's mascot/employees' pet. They tape a balloon to him so that they know where he is in the store. I always smile and say hi to him when I visit the store. He just makes the visit to the store better.

My local pet store has a Sulcata Tortoise and a Flemish Giant rabbit that walk around. They are both so adorable and friendly. It'll definitely be so cute to just have a tortoise following people around the zoo!

I got to meet her a couple weeks ago and was so surprised! She made a couple rounds while we were there and the turtles were VERY interested in her.

I just love your acting Ed🤩

I remember you guys having this alligator however long ago, just in your house…. And now you’ve got this big place to have a bunch of great animals.

Ed , you’ve come so far. To hiding behind the camera to modelling a box in a tortoise den. Proud of you 😆

That looks more like a boy to me. The bottom scoots on the female are very small and rectangular, but the male's looked more like butterfly wings to me. Idk for sure since. I don't have experience with tortoises, but that's my view of it

I’m a little bit worried that someone might be looking at an animal in their enclosure and not see Sharon and trip over her. I see a lot of great suggestions in the comments, I’d like to add maybe giving her a walkthrough exhibit type area for people to focus more on her. Or she could just be in a different area of the zoo than the main room :) I’m so excited to see where things go with Sharon!

Best part about this is that while The timelapse is happening we can see the Workers just chilling.

Emily & Ed please understand that Sharon can learn words quite easily. I have one and our girl is now 35, we've had her since she was a new baby. She knows her name and comes when she's called and she knows when I say, "it's time for bed". She happily trucks to her bed where I keep a heating pad for her to sleep on and I cover her with her blanket. Even if you don't cover her you should build a heated sleeping den that you can keep her in at night. They need to be kept quite warm. They also LOVE cactus leaves big time.

Welcome to the family Sharon!!!!!!!!

I have one of those Powersun bulbs for my beardie. He loves it. So glad you guys were able to take in Sharon. I don't understand how people breed sulcatas at the capacity that they do. Last weekend I was volunteering at a local reptile show in Indiana and a new vendor getting into the hobby was selling all sorts of baby tortoises, including 6 baby sulcatas, which ALL sold. And I had such anxiety seeing them all go because I don't know if the vendors were warning people that they were going to grow up to be 150lb bulldozers that will outlive them. 😳

She needs a tortoise wagon. My friend's tortoise was a bit of a diva and only liked to be on a comfy bed of blankets during her ride in the wagon. She was pretty fabulous.

Is there any room in your greenhouse to start some trays of greens? Could be a fun project to show on the channel and with guest. Helps keeps cost down and could be more sustainable then relying on outside sources? Probably just the gardener in me that wants to see it lol

I now really want some merch saying “You’re da food bringer, where’s ma food?” with Sharon on it

I've spent a lot of time working with animals and honestly you guys seem like the best employers ever.

FYI, greens are very easy to grow, if you're interested in giving a small garden a try! If it's practical, a tortoise garden could save you some money

Sharon is everything I would want in a tortoise. She's just so lovely.

I love it. Our local pet store has a sulcata in the store. They have a type of heat mat along with the light. I love tortoises.

Way to go Ed. The zoo is coming along nicely, but so are you in front of the camera! (That probably sounded bad, but it is so nice to see you sparkle and have fun.)

I know you guys are set on naming the tortoise Sharon but I looked back and forth from when you guys showed the tail area vs the picture on your phone and that looked more male than female shape wise. The two smaller parts on the bottom came out as Ed said “like a flower” (though it looks more butterfly shaped than a flower)

Hi guys, I love your channel and have become obsessed with anything reptile (mostly snakes) because of this channel. I think it would be really cool if you guys did a “day in the life” video to see what your busy busy days look like. From feeding animals to talking to customers, I think we would all enjoy it 😊 ❤️ love you guys

Love watching your shows from Australia… the information is so interesting as you have so many different species to Australia and the care info and needs of reptiles is fun to learn! I also enjoy watching the rescue stories and how TLC goes a long way and how “easy” it is to correct some of the health issues!! The way you and Ed work together is great to see and I love the can do attitude ❤ I even got my husband enjoying the shows.

I started watching this channel for the isopod content, then I watched more because Emily is so amazing, and now I just watch everything you post because this is such an amazing channel with wonderful people and content and it's fun and educational!

A free roaming tortoise sounds amazing! I’m personally just a little concerned with how easy it might be for her to leave the facility via the back or front doors, or get stuck in any particular back area or room, but I’m sure you guys have plans for that. Can’t wait to visit!!

It’s my little brothers dream (he’s 18) to own a Sulcata Tortoise. I immediately had to show him this video. He watched the entire thing and had the biggest smile on his face the whole time.

What a beautiful tortoise! Hope you all continue posting these awesome videos!

at the end right when the lights turned off ed looks to sharon and she was turning around like "hey i was about to bask here where'd my sun go?!"

The Sulcata that belonged to my ag teacher in HS was named Speedy. When that Ag teacher left he gave Speedy to a student, but I never heard what happened to her after that.... Sharon looks EXACTLY like Speedy, down to the crack in the shell. I will say that she loved going outside and eating grass and dandelions in the spring and summer

I have been in a coma for a year and a half after a horse riding accident. I woke up a few weeks ago and found your vids again and I’m so shocked at how much has changed! I remember being at your house with the snake room and Rex 🥺 and now you have a zoo!!!

This is a great channel! I only caught sight of you folks in recent times, but it’s now among my favorite channels :').

It’s so nice to see an animal roaming around the zoo because you normally just see them in enclosures I haven’t stopped watching your videos Because I’ve got Covid xxx

Oh my gosh she is precious!!! What a treat for all the patrons of the zoo to see her roaming around. Might I make a suggestion though, maybe having an employee dedicated to Sharon detail while she is roaming? To keep an eye on her, make sure kids are staying respectful, not standing on her, etc. You could give the employee dark sunglasses and a black shirt that says “Sharon Security” all cool-looking

A good way to feed large tortoises like that is with access to hay. Of course, still feed her veggies and occasional fruits with calcium powder, but adding hay cuts down on cost while still giving her plenty of nutrition. In the wild, sulcata tortoises graze on grass for most of their diet. The hay will help mimic that, too.

Bro I wanna live here just having snakes,and more animals would be so cool also I just randomly found you and now I'm impressed'

I'd love to visit the Zoo! X3 You guys video at a reptile expo a year or two back is what brought me to my first reptile! My sweet an silly bally python Shinji. Sharon is adorable! 10/10 would give shell scritches.

As a gardener I highly recommend growing your own greens somewhere. Really cuts down on cost and you know it's safe for animal consumption. More importantly I also reccomend some kind of extra safety measures for Sharon. Thieves will definitely just snatch her. Sadly it has happened one too many times to tortoises I also worry for your open tank of turtles too. I know a lot of local stores here have bag bans. So people cannot bring large bags/backpacks in with them to stuff animals in. You can bring in purses but nothing much larger than that.

I feel so bad for her, she looked so depressed. I’m happy she was able to “come out of her shell” 🥰 She got a long life journey ahead of her

Can we please have an update on her? She’s so cool I want to see moreeee

"It was Ed, in the zoo, with the crowbar." Perfection!

I wonder if Ed and Emily have considered setting up some aquaponics. They could build a rack system that could generate enough leafy greens to feed all their veggie needing animals. If they really wanted to go for it there are systems that you grow fish in to. So they could grow feeder fish maybe.

What a lovely girl! I coulda sworn I was looking wrong though... not a male? Coulda sworn I saw more of a 'flower' instead of a 'W' in how Ed was comparing them :) Not that I'd know lol I have no clue about tortoises! But what a gorgeous creature!

Also I think the owner maybe had to move and wanted their sulcata taken care of.

My grocery store donates dump produce to our local museum of natural sciences which also has a zoo! Definitely check that out!!!

Nice to see a sulcata getting a permanent home! As a fellow suclata owner, I'd advise pulling back on the treats feeding her. They really need a grass diet, garden weeds and the occasional leafy green veg as a treat. But grass is the way to go in the longterm

I’m interested about the logistics of a free roaming turtle in the zoo? And also the open turtle tank? I’d love to see a video about safety measures you have in place and other such things!

I have missed the channel my tablet has been broken so i couldnt watch ur vids but now i can im so happy

Ed is so adorable and confident on camera now. i love it

I love how comfortable Ed is on Camera now, character evolution in real life. Also, welcome Sharon! You came to a great home and will be loved so much!

I love to see Ed is comfortable with being seen on camera and how much effort you both put in all of your animals

i haven't watched your vids in a couple months. forgot how much i enjoy them. keep up the awesome work!

I did not know you were located in MN!! I’m looking at getting a reptile. This will be a great place for my daughter and I to learn before we add to our family! So exciting!!

She's so cute! I love her so much! About the veggie thing, greens are actually really easy to grow! It would cut down your bills and make sure the veggies that you get aren't treated with anything dangerous.

Love this. Our local pet store has a set up like this. Most of the time when we visit he is sleeping, but we have seen him roaming around. It is so fun.

You should get videos and stuff of Sharon moving around so you could add a TV into the reptile zoo so when people walk around, they can see her view. Just a little idea to advance the place😊

I love you guys. So glad I stumbled on your videos. Keep up the great work.

My first thought was that you might want to create some form of gate on her enclosure to discourage people just going into her safe place (Especially if they already use that space as a bench, they might not realize the boundary), second (as some other people have mentioned) making sure that people are aware that there is a loose tortoise in the zoo to avoid people stepping on her/tripping over her, third was making sure that you have some sort of security in place to make sure no one deliberately tries to take her/harm her, and that if it does happen you have evidence fourth is to have a plan for people who will want their kids to ride her. I can easily see people telling their small children/toddlers to get on her back for a picture or so that the kids will be entertained. Oh, also I might not know much about sulcatas, but shouldn't she have a hide somewhere in her enclosure? Somewhere where she can get away from all the people? IDK just a thought. Just some thoughts and potentials issues y'all should think over! Mostly, I love Sharon and think her free roaming is a great idea with precautions!

Some grocery stores do give their produce off-cuts/rejects to programs for recycling food waste or customers who request it, but I think a lot of the large, chain stores won't. It can be a huge liability issue with people potentially claiming they got sick by eating the unsellable bits. Smaller stores or smaller produce farms (who don't have many animals) would probably be the best places to look, since they are less likely to be targeted by those scammers.

Haha hilarious that she put the brakes on with the scooter 😂

Y'all did an amazing job for Sharon's home!

Welcome to the MN sulcata family Emily, you are going to love having a sulcata tortoise. They are such characters and once she does get friendly they are the next best thing to a dog. Also a warm welcome to Sharon for my sulcata Bowser.

This is so cute. I’m just worried about bad people messing with her

This is super cool! I've loved the channel for some time now. But! I'm also a sulcata owner, and I find it hard to be sure that I'm doing what's right for her. I'm not able to get her to grass, so I worry about her not having it. And I've only found hay in huge bails! I do feed her mazuri along with fresh produce, add calcium/vitamin d powder to her food and use a vitamin d lightbulb during the day. (I think that's what it's called.) But! I'm really gonna get to learn more about my "Scooter" as you guys get used to Sharon!! Exciting!

Baby Sulcutas are so cute