A HORNY 22-year-old tortoise has left her owners in stitches after trying to mate with a Crocs shoe.
Nigel Mills, 54, was forced to part with one of his black clogs on Sunday after Fizz spent the entire previous day chasing him around the garden trying to get her claws on them.
The randy reptile recently came into season following a change in the weather and instantly set her sights on the inanimate object.
Nigel’s wife Carena, 44, filmed the persistent pet aggressively headbutting the shoe – a known sign of tortoises claiming mating rights.
Fizz is shown lunging towards the piece of footwear and nudging it with her head.
At one point the feisty animal pulls back slowly and lets out an almighty thrust towards the shoe.
She then continues to gyrate against the shoe with her head moving in and out of the shell as her feet propelling her forward.
After giving it a good go, Fizz finally gives up and takes a rest beside her unlikely lover.
Carena, 44, from Staffordshire, shared the hilarious video in a Facebook group on Sunday (8 MAY), writing: “I’m not sure if anyone remembers our tortoise from last year, as Fizz laid eggs for the first time.
“Fizz is now nearly 22 years old, and this weekend’s warm weather has clearly woken up her hormones.
“Yesterday she spent all day chasing hubby round the garden to headbutt his Crocs, so today he’s given up and let her have his Crocs.
“She is actually trying to mate with them.
“At her age, her body will have told her to make the eggs, then she goes looking for something to fertilise them.
“I guess this year she’s decided she wants Crocs babies, I’ve told her a size six in turquoise would be perfect, guess we shall have to wait for summer to see.”
The post has attracted over 1,500 times and more than 300 comments from amused viewers.
One said: “Oh fizz, but you’ve got to fulfil those urges.”
Another wrote: “Well, I didn’t have ‘see horny tortoise’ on my list of things to do today.”
A third added: “I’d be out starting up ‘tortoise Tinder’.
“The poor darling is clearly feeling in need, I bet there’s a fella out there feeling it too.”
Another group member commented: “I’ve got to be honest, since I discovered what turtles/tortoises sound like when mating, it’s become one of my favourite sounds.
“Good luck with the Crocs babies.”
Speaking today, owner Carena said: “Fizz was feeling particularly affectionate and my husband has sat with her for ages giving her chin rubs, and shell scratches.
“When she’s had enough she just walks off.
“This particular day she decided to play a game of chase, another fun tortoise game, everywhere my husband went, Fizz went too.
“When she caught him she kept headbutting his Crocs, although she only likes dark coloured Crocs, she completely ignores my daughter’s pink Crocs.
“This behaviour generally lasts about a month for her and only once the weather warms up.”
Carena added: “She loves human interaction from her family and can recognise new voices if we have guests.
“She generally will want to go say hello and investigate any voices she doesn’t recognize.
“When we go on holiday, we have a family friend pop in daily to feed her and check in on her, which she always seems happy with.
“But when we return Fizz will sulk with us, want nothing to do with us, and will generally just show us her bottom for a week.
“Last year hormones really kicked in for Fizz, and she started head butting the garden wall.
“As much as we tried to stop her, redirect her, she would very quickly return her affections back to the wall.
“In August last year, her behaviour changed, not really eating, pacing, not settling anywhere to bask in the sun.
“She then started digging holes in the garden, unusual for her, as she prefers to climb rather than dig.
“One day, maybe three or four days after her behaviour changed, she settled on a spot to dig and about an hour later she laid three perfectly formed eggs.
“She covered them over, walked away, and showed no interest in her nest. We think it’s because she knew that they were not fertilised.
“As last year she was so interested in the wall and we were concerned she was damaging and scratching her shell, we just decided to let her have her own Crocs to amuse herself with.
“She has occasionally head-butted the wall but her black Crocs is definitely her favourite.
“Yesterday we tried her with a red Crocs, but she had absolutely no interest in it at all.”
Tortoises usually have stronger mating urges during the spring, after hibernation, and through mid-summer.
This is somewhat dependent on the tortoise’s geographical location.
In some parts of the Mediterranean coastline, tortoises can often be found mating at chance intervals throughout the year.
In the UK eggs are usually laid from early May to mid-July.
Tortoises have an average lifespan of around 50 to 100 years.
