This Tortoise's Name May Be 'Soup,' but You'll Never Find Him in a Bowl

Who knew that getting hit by a car in 1987 would be the best thing that ever happened to Soup the Tortoise?

It certainly didn't start out that way. With a cracked shell and two broken hind legs, Soup faced a long recovery. But then he met Caroline Gerardo, a Laguna Niguel banker and some-time novelist, who adopted the injured tortoise from a local rescue organization.

Now, Soup has spent the last 24 years wandering Gerardo's spacious backyard with his sidekick, Honey the golden retriever; hibernating away the winters in a comfy dog bed; and enjoying a gourmet diet (for a tortoise) of vegetables and native flowers, all planted specially for him by Gerardo.

In all, it's been a pretty good life for Soup, who is estimated to be 38 to 45 years old and is looking forward to the next 65 to 75 years that a well-kept desert tortoise can expect to live.

Still, Soup can't seem to stay out of trouble.

"I wish I could teach him to stay out of my raised beds where I have vegetables," said Gerardo, who also owns a long-haired Chihuahua named Coco, a water turtle who is not nearly as entertaining as Soup and some tropical fish. Despite her efforts to provide Soup with a tortoise buffet, he still insists on eating the lawn and stealing vegetables that were meant for humans.

"We have planted a special garden with the vegetables and flowers he enjoys, but he mows clover lawn."

Soup was in no condition to misbehave when he joined the Gerardo family 24 years ago. "It took five years of coddling, but his shell is much better," Gerardo recalls. "His legs now slide, but his walk is not marching normal." 

And how is it she knows Soup is male? "The veterinarian says he's a he," says Gerardo, who works for U.S. Bank's home mortgage division and has authored three novels—"Toxic Assets," "Greed" and "Vanity"—with another on the way.

At least that's what she does when she's not looking after Soup, which can itself be quite a job.

"I plant natives that he can eat: native passion flower, fairy duster, lupine, desert chicory, blue gemma, owl’s clover, summer poppies, trailing 4 o’clocks," Gerardo says. "We also plant vegetables—all organic—he eats the tops of beets, greens, carrots, dandelions and collard greens. Favorites are roses and hibiscus, and he will eat mustard, spinach and pumpkin leaves. Most fruits are really bad for him, and no avocados."

It may seem like a little too much care for the average pet owner, but Soup makes a great pet because he's "funny, quirky and lovable."

But if you think he can retrieve a bone or bark three times to go outside, forget about it. No tricks.

And does Soup come if he is called?

"Yes, in the summer every time I call him; he comes pretty fast," she says. He likes to sleep next to Honey but "is not so fond of Coco," whom she describes as "a domineering pest."

Soup also has a pretty big appetite, says Gerardo.

In the spring and summer, he eats every day, and the family puts water in bowls around the yard, but nobody has ever never seen him drink water.

Because he is a desert tortoise, Soup can't swim and steers clear of the family pool.

"We owned a house before in Kite Hill with just a Jacuzzi. I had a platform built to prevent him from falling in, and when we bought our current home with a pool, my son and I constructed elaborate fencing with 3-foot-deep mesh and posts to keep him on one side of the house to avoid him falling into the pool," she says.

"After a week and thousands of dollars of concrete and wire, he dug a tunnel under and a second backup one. He built a freeway on-ramp and exit for himself to the whole backyard. We carefully monitored him and put him in the laundry room when I went to work or the children were in school. He outsmarted us every time."

Now Soup just roams freely, avoiding the pool on his own. He understands that the hole is a pool that has water and is a danger. He is pretty smart, Gerardo says.

That is, except in the colder months, when Soup isn't around so much.

"In the winter he hibernates on a dog bed inside," Gerardo says. "We put him in a milk crate that has a dog bed pad starting around Halloween time, as soon as he slows down. The first week he tips the milk crate over if the day is warm, but he does not go anywhere."

Although, when active, he is a fun pet for the family, his care goes beyond just tossing him a few veggies and a dog bed for the winter.

"They can get pneumonia, and this past year when we had so much rain, he needed to be dry," Gerardo said. "They make burrows and if he were in our clay soil during heavy rain, he might drown if hibernating. Mostly it's just feeding him in the summer, keeping him dry and going to the vet once a year."

She also has to make sure she keeps her eyes open when reaching for something in her closet, such as a pair of shoes.

"He likes to sneak into closets, and this can be a huge, scary surprise when your toes bump his shell and he makes a snorting gasp," she says.

But in the end, Soup makes a great pet that keeps everyone entertained, she says.

"My children’s friends all love him. He is odd. He looks like a dinosaur. When you meet him, he is funny; some people he likes more than others."