California Couple Coordinate Their Outfits With Their Pet Tortoise

A dedicated couple have been entertaining thousands of Instagram users with pictures of themselves coordinating outfits with their pet tortoise.

We’ve all seen dogs dressed in funny outfits, and some pet owners even manage to get their unimpressed cats wearing clothes, but it’s not every day you come across a fully dressed tortoise.

Let me tell you, though, it’s a sight worth seeing.

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Kasey Kuchinski, 33, and Daniel Rodriguez, 33, from Sonoma, California, were inspired to coordinate their outfits after seeing families take on the trend on Instagram.

However, as the pair don’t have any children, they decided to include their 20lb Sulcata tortoise, named Ethel, in their plans instead.

Illustrator Kasey explained:

I was seeing a trend on Instagram where families with children would take photos wearing matching outfits.

I just thought it would be funny to do the same but with our tortoise – it’s sort of an inside joke I guess.

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The 33-year-old has a background in fashion design, so she took it upon herself to create Ethel’s little outfits either from her own material, or by altering children’s clothes to fit a shell-clad body.

She continued:

I try not to spend more than £4 on each outfit, otherwise this whole idea wouldn’t be sustainable for us – she’s gone through so many.

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The family share their matching outfits on the Instagram page @etheltheglamourtort, where Ethel, Kasey and Daniel can be seen wearing stripy summer outfits, pink formalwear, and knitted cream accessories.

The pet tortoise has been given a huge range of clothes thanks to the project, but Kasey hasn’t been able to keep them all due to the sheer number of tiny outfits.

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Kasey and Daniel see Ethel as their child, so it was only natural she be included when the couple decided to take on the Instagram trend.

Speaking about the beloved tortoise, Kasey continued:

Ethel’s favourite activity is eating; she also likes basking in the sunshine and going for walks in the park.

Her favourite treat is bell peppers, she also likes bok choy, zucchini and pumpkin. Normally though, she just eats grass and weeds.

Although she is not a sea turtle she really enjoys beach days.There is plenty of sunshine, and a lot of rocks to climb and sand to dig in.

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The lovable reptile has amassed a whopping 36,200 followers on Instagram, with users dubbing the unusual group as their ‘favourite tortoise family’.

Hopefully there’ll be lots more coordinated outfits still to come!

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Emily Brown

Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.