These little guys put a whole new meaning to the word "slow". They only move about an inch per day. Comcast should get rid of those obnoxious tortoises and sign on a couple of them to do the high speed internet commercials. Munchkins, I think, is a better name for them than sea grapes. If I'm understanding the article correctly they roll by taking in food on one side of their marble sized bodies and eliminating waste products out the other side.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081203190030.htm
Research is clearly needed to figure out how to keep them alive in captivity. And the article doesn't address whether they can be trained to do tricks. It also says nothing about whether they're affectionate. Finally, it doesn't get into the fascinating subject, always thoroughly addressed on the Science Channel and National Geographic Channel nature shows, of how and when they get it on to make new little munchkins. Do the males fight for territory or mates? Do they roll around together for a couple of months to get to know one another? Do they mate for life or is it bump and go?
Talk about a great potential pet! At an inch a day it would take them a week just to go from one end to the other of a small tank. Put in a few little walls and you could make a maze in a five gallon tank that would take them months to fully explore. And they can't eat much, so they would be cheap to feed. I wonder if their shells are tough enough to resist scratching and gumming by, say, a feisty little Xenopus.
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