This turtle has a new set of wheels.
Pedro, 15, is able to move around again thanks to vets who fitted him with a special contraption made using Lego.
Pedro’s owner Sandra Traylor, who adopted the turtle when he had three limbs, decided to get help from Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Veterinary Teaching Hospital after the animal recently lost a second leg while in her garden.
LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine communications manager Ginger Guttner told CNN: ‘There was nothing medically wrong with him
‘But of course he didn’t have any back legs, so our doctors quickly had to figure out what they were going to do.’
Intern Kelly Rockwell came up with the idea to attach Lego pieces under Pedro using glue and then fix some wheels on.
It worked and the pet can now actually run faster than other box turtles because of the special wheelchair.
Ms Guttner added: ‘Our patients can be two grams or 2,000 pounds, so we often have to look at things from a completely different perspective.’
She said it was not the first time equipment had been re-purposed in order to solve a veterinary problem, adding: ‘I would say the majority of special equipment we use has been fashioned or re-fashioned for a specific case.’
