Northlanders after their own "Boris" were left disappointed when the red-eared turtle became the most popular pet for Christmas in Whangarei.
The Whangarei Pet and Aquarium Centre sold out of the $95 turtles, made famous by the Telecom ads featuring Tommy and his pet turtle Boris, in the lead up to Christmas, and won't be expecting any more until the end of January.
Pet shop owner Joy Moran said turtles are quickly becoming as common as cats, dogs, birds and goldfish as a household pet. "I don't think Telecom quite knew what they were doing when those ads came out," she said.
Plenty of people have been requesting their own "Boris" that their kids can play with.
"It's usually people with children of 10 years old and upwards, and people have mostly done a lot of research, I won't sell them to people who haven't done research," Ms Moran said.