The oldest animal at the Houston Zoo just became a father.
It took him nearly a century, but a 90-year-old radiated tortoise named Mr. Pickles is now a first-time father after three eggs recently hatched.
The Houston Zoo announced Thursday that Mr. Pickles and his partner, Mrs. Pickles, are the proud parents of three babies, aptly named Dill, Gherkin and Jalapeño.
"The new hatchlings came as a surprise when a herpetology keeper happened upon Mrs. Pickles as the tortoise was laying her eggs at closing time," the zoo said in a statement. "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 animal care team quickly went to work uncovering the eggs and getting them to the safety of the Reptile and Amphibian House, where they were closely watched until they hatched.
The zoo said the hatchlings are a "big dill" because radiated tortoises are critically endangered from over-collection for the illegal pet trade and are known to produce few offspring.
On top of that, Mr. Pickles is kind of a "big dill" himself.
"Mr. Pickles, is the most genetically valuable radiated tortoise in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan," the zoo said.
The trio of hatchlings will remain behind the scenes at the Reptile and Amphibian House until they are old enough to join their parents.
Mr. Pickles has been at the zoo for 36 years and has been with his companion, Mrs. Pickles, since she arrived in 1996.
According to the Smithsonian's National Zoo, the critically endangered radiated tortoise lives in the forests and scrublands of Madagascar. It has a smooth, high-domed shell marked with yellow lines that radiate from the center of each dark plate. Its body is yellow, with a black patch on its head. Radiated tortoises can grow up to 16 inches in length and weigh up to 35 pounds. They generally live for 40 to 50 years.
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