Hurt tortoise gets moving again
PULLMAN, WA (KPTV) - A badly hurt tortoise is on the move again, after a leg injury threatened its life.
The owner of the 12-year-old African spur-thighed tortoise let go of the animal after its leg suffered a severe thermal injury and tissue damage from an unknown cause.
Veterinarians at Washington State University had to amputate the leg. Then they outfitted the tortoise with a swiveling ball-type caster on the bottom of its shell and say it is working splendidly.
The vets say the tortoise took to his new prosthetic quickly with little encouragement and moves quite well on most surfaces. The WSU doctors also surgically implanted a temporary feeding tube. Dr. Nickol Finch, head of WSU's Exotic Animal Service said, "Understandably, complicated amputations in tortoises are not common surgeries, so we did not know how well he would eat afterwards."
He said the feeding tube worked as well and the tortoise has gained weight. The tortoise is named Gamera from a fictional giant, flying turtle from a popular series of Japanese giant monster films produced in 1965.
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