Rabbits and Ferrets and Turtles! Oh My!

As Betty, rumored to be the only gigantic tortoise on the North Shore with pink toenails, crawled around on the floor of Thee Fish Bowl in Evanston, customers smiled and laughed. The shop, located at 600 Dempster, is worth a visit for its unique collection of animals. 

The business has been around "forever," said Kim Meskill of Evanston. She is related to the store owner and can remember sleeping on bags of dog food at the store when she was little. 

Meskill said Thee Fish Bowl contains lots of surprises, including a 20+-pound rabbit named Tulie. Tulie the rabbit and Betty the tortoise are apparently close friends.

"Betty is our in-house tortoise," said Meskill. "She loves attention, she loves to rearrange things. We have a bunny, also, who is almost her size. They are best friends. They sleep together. And they love company. They love to hang out, they love people to come in and see them."

She added that Thee Fish Bowl carries, fish, reptiles, small animals, larger animals and supplies.