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90-year-old tortoise ‘Mr. Pickles’ becomes first-time dad to 3, and their names are a dillight

Mr. Pickles is the oldest animal at the Houston Zoo.
human hands holding a tiny tortoise hatchling.
One of the hatchlings.Jackelin Reyna / Houston Zoo
/ Source: TODAY

A 90-year-old tortoise at the Houston Zoo has just welcomed his first three hatchlings.

According to the zoo's blog post, a herpetology keeper noticed Mr. Pickles' longtime "companion," 53-year-old Mrs. Pickles, as she was laying the three eggs near closing time.

The animal care team then uncovered the eggs and took them inside the reptile and amphibian house at the zoo to keep them safe.

Jalapeño, the farthest to the right, has the darkest shell of the three hatchlings. Dill and Gherkin  have lighter shells, but Gherkin has a white dot marked on the center of its shell.
Jalapeño, the farthest to the right, has the darkest shell of the three hatchlings. Dill and Gherkin have lighter shells, but Gherkin has a white dot marked on the center of its shell.Jackelin Reyna / Houston Zoo

"The soil in Houston isn’t hospitable to the Madagascar native tortoises, and it’s unlikely the eggs would have hatched on their own if the keeper hadn’t been in the right place at the right time," the zoo explains in the blog post.

The three hatchlings are named Jalapeño, Dill and Gherkin.

According to the Houston Zoo, the three "little pickles" are great news for the radiated tortoise species, since Mr. Pickles is "one of the most genetically valuable radiated tortoise in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan."

The species is critically endangered after over-collection for the illegal pet trade and due to the fact they generally produce few offspring, according to the zoo.

Mr. Pickles, the oldest animal at the zoo, has been a resident of the Houston Zoo for the past 36 years and with Mrs. Pickles since she arrived in 1996.

The zoo says the three hatchlings will stay behind the scenes until they are big enough to safely join their parents in their enclosure.