Odd: Tortoise Amputee Gets ‘Wheel’ for a Leg
- Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:19pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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SPOKANE, Wash. (The Blaze/AP) — Watch out Mr. Hare, this tortoise has a wheel.
A 12-year-old African tortoise that recently had its front left leg amputated due to injury is now moving just fine, thanks to a swiveling wheel attached to his shell by doctors at Washington State University’s veterinary hospital.
The 23-pound tortoise, named Gamera after the giant flying turtle of the old Japanese monster movies, is gaining weight and generally thriving with his new appendage.
KOMO News provides the video:
“I don‘t know whether he’d pass the hare, but he moves around very well,” said Charlie Powell, spokesman for WSU’s veterinary hospital in Pullman, Wash.
The nearly teenage mutant turtle is particularly good at moving toward food, and has gained 3 pounds since the wheel was attached, Powell said.
The caster-style wheel should last for years before it has to be replaced, he said.
Powell said the caster-style allows Gamera to move well on both flat and lumpy surfaces like lawns.
The African spur-thighed tortoise was brought to the WSU hospital in April by its owner, suffering from a severe leg injury with an unknown cause, WSU officials said. The injury was life-threatening so the leg was amputated at the shoulder.
Veterinarians attached the wheel to the tortoise’s shell using an epoxy adhesive, and the animal took to the new device immediately, WSU officials said.
The tortoise is part of a larger group called sulcata tortoises that are popular as exotic pets in the United States. The largest such tortoise on record topped 232 pounds. The oldest known sulcata tortoise in captivity is 56 years old.
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Comments (49)
scrapadapolis
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 4:49pmKeep that caster oil handy.
Report Post »DEADFACEBOOK
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 2:54pmthis tortoise is unhealthy, their shells are not supposed to look like giza pyramids
Report Post »LOJ
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 11:17amThank you for the animal stories…Greta’s website does this too, it puts a little joy in our day for animal lovers so we don’t concentrate so hard on America in Crisis!
Report Post »newrepublic7
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 9:54pmYour right! Thanks Blaze! He looks good to me.
Report Post »Animalaura
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 11:02amKeep the WD-40 lube handy!! That wheel will need it on a regular basis!
Report Post »Reptillica
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 10:40amIt’s about time someone uses technology for something good.
Report Post »Ted Sheckler
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 2:04pmThats why I am opening Ted’s Tortoise Wheel Emporium come down and get em
Report Post »million
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 9:26amMMMMMMM, fried turtle. Taste like chicken.
Report Post »DisgustedWithSociety
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 11:07am@MILLION and salvawhoray
Report Post »What a DUMB comment
Tortoises help the environment by eating predators like jellyfish.. gopher tortoise are threatened and legally protected
BarCalliyon
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 1:33pm@DisgustedWithSociety
Before saying something about people having DUMB comments you might want to think about your own. Tortise live on LAND and if my memory serves right jellyfish live in WATER.
Report Post »javasport
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 7:13amThe next round of Obama stimulus will include $5 million to study the inferiority complex of the tortoise caused by having a furniture caster glued to it’s shell.
Report Post »SpeakUpNow
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 4:27pmYes indeed. We need further studies and multiple federal grants to determine just what the implications are for a tortoise and his self esteem as a result of having a furniture accessory attached to his underbelly!! Maybe there should be a czar assigned to this intriguing case!
Report Post »GadsdenPatriot
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 5:24amGood to know he can now get….around.
Report Post »Nucular Bush
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 5:17amWho said that we don’t think out of the box anymore? Maybe this tortoise can roll through the zillion dollar turtle tunnel that was included in the stimulus package.I have a new name for the tortoise…“Dolly”.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 2:36amCATERPILLAR TREADS would have been WAY cooler!
Just imagine all the bullying he will be subjected to for a caster wheel.
poor guy.
Report Post »Matlor
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 12:06amHaahahaaha! Where’s the turtle counselor? “Post Traumatic Wheel Syndrome”.
Report Post »Sickofstupid
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 1:26amText says they used epoxy but screws are visible. This is another attempt by the Beck zombies to sell their products, this time its glue. I bet Glenn has millions of dollars invested in big glue. Damm you capitalist glue barons!!!
Report Post »OhioRifleman
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 5:55am@ Sick Of Stupid
They may have assembled it with both epoxy and screws. No big deal there, I’ve put casters on things with both screws and glue before, so what’s the big deal?
And since when has Glenn fronted a glue product?
Report Post »ColoradoCassie
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 3:29pm“Life is hard. It‘s even harder when you’re stupid.” You must really have a tough time of it being so darned stupid.
Report Post »flyboy7600
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 4:39pmReally? Are you that stupid?
Report Post »Sickofstupid
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 9:36pmdude, you really didnt see the joke in the term “big glue”. I thought everybody would see the humor in that.
Report Post »TucsonTerpFan
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 12:51amAlthough he’s not a “Terp,” he’s in the family!
Keep on trucking turtle!
Go Terps!
Report Post »SquirrelNYC
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:56pmI love these tortoises! They’re so beautiful and seem very curious – gotta love those faces. It’s amazing what ideas vets come up with, and yet they’re sometimes so simple. I hope the little…um, big, guy lives a long happy life.
Report Post »Whostolemypig
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:40pmReminds me of a Easter bunny the kids had. The neighbors dog broke it’s back, so I made it a little 3 wheel cart out of a furniture dolly.
Report Post »ThoreauHD
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:40pmHe’s a cute turtle. He needs a little more fat, but it‘s nothing some meal worms can’t cure.
Report Post »Sound The Trumpet In Zion
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:58pmHe is cute but I think that they would have done better for him by just attaching an immovable prop cut to the right length. When he walks he lifts up his entire front body and then moves, this raises the wheel up in the air. The wheel does not help him move at all. However if they had attached some kind of extenstion that would keep him level when he’s not moving would help him more. It would never wear out and need to be replaced and it would give him stability whereever he’s standing.
Report Post »Master_and_Commander
Posted on July 22, 2011 at 1:44amthey should have invented him a Yoda hoverchair…
Report Post »salvawhoray
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:05pmto a cajun thats a meal on wheel.
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:08pmthat’s funny!
Report Post »jeffyfreezone
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:16pmHubby is Cajun and the only way he’d eat this turtle is if Obama is successful in destroying everything. I LOVE this story, and the people who helped this poor baby.
Report Post »clingingtogodandguns
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:00pmOK, now we need a govm’t plan for prognostics for turtles.If Pelosi can get tunnels for turtles this is a no problem deal.The poor turtle can’t walk i see at least 1 mil for this.We have, i think 1 election left to fix this country before we fall into tyranny.Please help get the voice out.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:50pmEvolution at its best. Will it’s children have wheels? They could have used a better wheel for grass surfaces. This one acts more like a peg-leg on grass and probably better on a solid surface.
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:47pmproblem solved w/ a $4.99 caster and 4 screws. who wants to bet that cost us a half mil. .
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:51pmsorry for the double post.
Report Post »ofallon
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:45pmHelp the tortoise, abort the babies.
Report Post »LOOKING_BOTH_WAYS
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:53pm“”Help the tortoise, abort the babies.”"
How are you going to help the tortoise if you abort there babies ?…. [sarcasm of course ]..:-)
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:36pmIs this a male or female. If it’s a male it will probably not be able to reproduce unless it knows how to do a wheelie.
Report Post »BlazingPatriot
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 11:16pmLooks like a classic case of
a reptile dysfunction!
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:43pmAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! I love it and I bet the tortoise really loves it!
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:43pmproblem solved w/ a $4.99 caster and 4 screws. who wants to bet that it cost us a half mil?
Report Post »Zwolle
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:31pmTHAT is just friek’n COOL! Tim the toolman Taylor meets Dr. DooLittle!
Report Post »ModerationIsBest
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:33pmI thought this would be a funny video, but I just ended up feeling bad.
Report Post »Zwolle
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:37pmDon’t feel bad. He gained 3 pounds after they patched him up.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:28pmThe only Tortoise I know that can do a wheelie….Can he take a corner on one Wheel??
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 9:23pmThis has got to be a metaphor for Obamacare if ever there was one.
Report Post »BlazingPatriot
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 11:22pmBefore it got it’s 4th leg, would it have been a meta-three?
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