He's tooling around campus just fine, now that he's been equipped with a prosthetic right front leg. And while the prosthesis might be unusual — it's a swiveling wheel that looks like it was poached from an office chair — this tortoise doesn't seem to mind at all.
The 12-year-old African spur-thighed tortoise, named Gamera, had to have its left leg amputated due to severe thermal injury and tissue damage. (The owner had relinquished the tortoise to Washington State University's veterinary teaching hospital for care.)
To enable Gamera to move around, surgeons attached the swiveling ball-type caste to its shell — and they used an epoxy adhesive to do it.
"Understandably, complicated amputations in tortoises are not common surgeries, so we did not know how well he would eat afterwards," said Dr, Nikol Finch, who heads up WSU's Exotic Animal Service. "The feeding tube just ensured we could keep his nutrition up."
Gamera recovered well and has gained three pounds since his admission (he clocks in at a whopping 23 pounds now).
The tortoise's name comes from a fictional giant, flying turtle from that starred in a popular Japanese monster film series that was produced in 1965. The giant tortoise was created byJapan'sDaiei Motion Picture Company in response to the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla.
Gamera is part of a group of tortoises native to northern Africa and known as Sulcata tortoises. They are becoming more popular in the U.S. and are kept as pets. The largest Sulcata tortoise was 232 pounds and the oldest known Sulcata tortoise living in captivity is 56 years old.
taken from http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-tortoise-gets-prosthetic-leg-20110720,0,4819854.story?hpt=us_bn7
The 12-year-old African spur-thighed tortoise, named Gamera, had to have its left leg amputated due to severe thermal injury and tissue damage. (The owner had relinquished the tortoise to Washington State University's veterinary teaching hospital for care.)
To enable Gamera to move around, surgeons attached the swiveling ball-type caste to its shell — and they used an epoxy adhesive to do it.
"Understandably, complicated amputations in tortoises are not common surgeries, so we did not know how well he would eat afterwards," said Dr, Nikol Finch, who heads up WSU's Exotic Animal Service. "The feeding tube just ensured we could keep his nutrition up."
Gamera recovered well and has gained three pounds since his admission (he clocks in at a whopping 23 pounds now).
The tortoise's name comes from a fictional giant, flying turtle from that starred in a popular Japanese monster film series that was produced in 1965. The giant tortoise was created byJapan'sDaiei Motion Picture Company in response to the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla.
Gamera is part of a group of tortoises native to northern Africa and known as Sulcata tortoises. They are becoming more popular in the U.S. and are kept as pets. The largest Sulcata tortoise was 232 pounds and the oldest known Sulcata tortoise living in captivity is 56 years old.
taken from http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-tortoise-gets-prosthetic-leg-20110720,0,4819854.story?hpt=us_bn7
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