The Truth About Guy Fieri's Pet Tortoise

Guy Fieri is certainly... well, "colorful" would be one word to describe him. This celebrity chef is known for his bold flavors, his brash personality, and his carefully cultivated "bad boy" appearance complete with hair that looks like it escaped from a manga (and is trying it's hardest to get back), a wardrobe courtesy of a vintage bowling alley-slash-tiki bar, more ink than Kat Von D, and enough bling that he can double as a disco ball. Guy's look is so instantly recognizable, The Washington Post reports he was a popular Halloween costume inspiration throughout the past decade (with Food Network rival Mario Batali one of the earliest to get in on the fun).

Is it any wonder, then, that such a unique character as the Mayor of Flavortown has a pet who's also a little unusual? While Guy does have a few furry friends — Dogster names Cowboy, a German Shepherd, and Roxy, a mastiff, as His Honor's top canine advisers — he also has a chelonian companion.

A what? A tortoise. A sulcata tortoise, to be exact. According to BuzzFeed News, these are popular celeb pets, with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Colin Kaepernick owning sulcatas. In fact, these animals, which can grow to be the size of beer kegs, sound like Guy's kind of pet. They are smart, personable, entertaining... and can be a great big pain in the backside, to the point where American Tortoise Rescue is practically begging people not to buy them. 

So far, Guy and his tortoise Pops seem to be doing alright, kindred spirits as they are. Pops lives in a pen in the yard of Guy's Santa Rosa house, although he does tend to break out from time to time. His favorite hobby, besides slow-speed chases, is, um, keeping himself entertained with a hard hat, if you catch our drift. And his favorite treat, right there in the heart of Flavortown? Dog poop. Seriously. As Guy told GQ, poop "is the foie gras of the turtle." Now that's one hot frisbee of fun, chelonian. Truly out of bounds — and it better stay that way. Pops may be many things (Guy's spirit animal, most likely), but we hope he won't be providing input on any of Guy's new recipes.