# Orange Foot Tortoise Keeper



## N2TORTS (Oct 23, 2011)

No Really ! 





















Ha ha ..... " Bean " .... helps out keeping track of the torts at bedtime~ 



JD~


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## dmarcus (Oct 23, 2011)

lol thats funny


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## Momof4 (Oct 23, 2011)

That was funny!!


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## african cake queen (Oct 23, 2011)

THEY ARE BOTH SWEET.


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## Az tortoise compound (Oct 23, 2011)

Looks like quite the predator You better make sure those torts are safe


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## Torty Mom (Oct 23, 2011)

Hahahahhaaaa that was super cute! I have a kitty just like yours!!!


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## AnthonyC (Oct 23, 2011)

Nice!


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## Stephanie (Oct 23, 2011)

LOL! Bean is too cute


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## ALDABRAMAN (Oct 23, 2011)




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## Tropical Torts (Oct 24, 2011)

Thats funny! I like how you spray paint the fern pattern on the wood, very cool!


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## dmmj (Oct 24, 2011)

wow bean looks just like my cat tough tough. Does bean have extra toes?


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## N2TORTS (Oct 24, 2011)

dmmj said:


> wow bean looks just like my cat tough tough. Does bean have extra toes?



DJ.....nadda .. Bean isnt as " mouser" aka extra toes.....
He's too darn lazy anyhow to chase anything, thats why he is the "Mousafa' tortoise King keeper"~ 



jrcrist4 said:


> Thats funny! I like how you spray paint the fern pattern on the wood, very cool!



John, thanks ... I have painted my torts pens and yards for years..keeps within the "detail " of the yard~ 
"Anything I dont grow , I paint " ...LOL


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## jackrat (Oct 24, 2011)

Nice cathouse,JD!


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## dmmj (Oct 24, 2011)

I only ask because my cat has extra toes, a bunch of them.


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## N2TORTS (Oct 25, 2011)

dmmj said:


> I only ask because my cat has extra toes, a bunch of them.


Here ya go DJ ...........
Ernest Hemingway made his home on a small island off Key West, Florida. With him lived a colony of about 50 cats. Roughly half of those cats had extra toes instead of the usual 5 toes per front foot and 4 toes per back foot. This feature was considered lucky by sailors, who thought the extra toes lent better sea legs to the kitties as well as better mouse-catching abilities. This may explain why extra-toed kitties are more common in the Eastern United States, having been brought over from England in colonial times. A sailor may have given such a cat to Hemingway as a gift, and that cat then spread the gene for extra toes through further generations. Today you can visit Hemingwayâ€™s island home and see the cat colony still in existence.

"Hemingway cats" are also known as "mitten cats," "thumb cats," and "Boston thumb cats"â€”but most of all they are known as "polydactyls." The trait that binds them together is technically called "polydactyly", which is Greek for "many fingers." Polydactyly has been reported in many kinds of animals, including dogs, mice, horses, and humans. The genetic basis of this condition is not yet understood.

"Dominant" inheritance means that if a kitten has a single copy of the gene for polydactyly (either from the mother or the father) he will have extra toes. Based on clinical observations, the inheritance is thought to probably be "incomplete," or about 50% chance of showing the trait. This would explain why about half of Hemingway's colony have extra toes, because after so many years of inbreeding presumably they now all carry the gene.

Polydactyls may range from having one extra claw to several extra toes, to even an extra foot! It is most common to have extra toes on the front feet, but they can be on the back feet as well. There are several 28-toed kitties currently reported to be padding about, but the largest ever verified number of toes was 32, 8 per foot, reported in 1974 on a male cat named â€œMickey Mouseâ€ from California.

Up to 40% of Maine Coon cats used to have this trait, but it was bred out of them a number of years ago. Some breeders are trying to reinstate this condition in Maine Coons, and several new breeds are being developed to specifically have this trait.

For the most part, polydactyly is simply an endearing characteristic. It is considered an anomaly, not a deformity in cats, and some people feel the extra â€œthumbsâ€ are actually opposable, helping their cats to grip their toys. However, there are certain potential issues that may develop with this condition, so toes should be monitored. For this reason, there are ethical questions about intentionally propogating a trait which is rare in nature and may lead to complications without human intervention.

JD~


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## evlinLoutries (Oct 25, 2011)

ROFL..


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## Malorey (Oct 28, 2011)

I have an orange cat as well - and I can imagine he'd be doing the same thing since he has to get into everything!


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