Patrick O'Rourke
Published: November 7, 2013
A Lego wheel has saved a tortoise’s life by turning it into a quasi-bionic animal.
Schildi the Tortoise was abandoned after losing its leg, but a group of German veterinarians found a way to solve the animal’s problem: They fitted him with a lego wheel leg.
Vets stabilized the tortoise and then amputated its injured leg. Dr Azmanis super-glued a Lego block to the tortoise’s shell and then attached a tiny wheel to it.
“After that we could add blocks to achieve the correct height,” he said. And now the single wheel has proven to be successful, Schildi has been taken back to the animal shelter. “We will see him again once in a while for check-ups,” Azmanis said. “If he gets a ‘flat tyre’ it will be a simple matter to replace the wheel. They move around quite a lot so I’d expect to see him for a new wheel about once a year.”
The toys used to create this prosthetic wheel/leg was taken from the clinic manager’s daughter’s toy box.
When the tortoise was first brought to the hospital he was apparently in really bad shape. The animal’s entire front leg was missing, had exposed bone and maggots were eating the poor creature’s rotting flesh.
I don’t often write stories about tortoises and Lego, but this was just far too awesome to ignore.
Follow me on Twitter: @Patrick_ORourke.
A Lego wheel has saved a tortoise’s life by turning it into a quasi-bionic animal.
Schildi the Tortoise was abandoned after losing its leg, but a group of German veterinarians found a way to solve the animal’s problem: They fitted him with a lego wheel leg.
Vets stabilized the tortoise and then amputated its injured leg. Dr Azmanis super-glued a Lego block to the tortoise’s shell and then attached a tiny wheel to it.
“After that we could add blocks to achieve the correct height,” he said. And now the single wheel has proven to be successful, Schildi has been taken back to the animal shelter. “We will see him again once in a while for check-ups,” Azmanis said. “If he gets a ‘flat tyre’ it will be a simple matter to replace the wheel. They move around quite a lot so I’d expect to see him for a new wheel about once a year.”
The toys used to create this prosthetic wheel/leg was taken from the clinic manager’s daughter’s toy box.
When the tortoise was first brought to the hospital he was apparently in really bad shape. The animal’s entire front leg was missing, had exposed bone and maggots were eating the poor creature’s rotting flesh.
I don’t often write stories about tortoises and Lego, but this was just far too awesome to ignore.
Follow me on Twitter: @Patrick_ORourke.
Lego wheel saves tortoise’s life and lets it move again | canada.com
LINK: http://o.canada.com/technology/internet/lego-wheel-saves-tortoises-life-and-lets-it-move-again/
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