A box turtle who is missing his rear legs now has a new set of wheels to improve his mobility thanks to LSU veterinarians. Spokesperson for the LSU Vet School Ginger Guttner says medically, Pedro the turtle was fine, but zoological medicine intern Dr. Kelly Rockwell up for the challenge of improving his mobility.
“She went to, I think, Home Depot first just trying to find something that might work, but everything was too heavy. He would not have been able to pull it or move with it. They got the idea to go look at toys,” said Guttner.
Guttner says using a Lego car kit, the vet school team came up with the best way to attach the new wheels.
“They took the Lego piece that we are all familiar with, the little rectangle, that was glued to the bottom of his shell with an animal-safe epoxy and then the axel snaps into that,” said Guttner.
Guttner says the story has since spread like wildfire, gaining Pedro and the vet school plenty of media attention.
“To have something kind of uplifting and just frankly disgustingly cute like this is just a really great story and it has resonated with people,” said Guttner.
Pedro’s family had adopted the turtle when he was missing only one leg, but following an escape from his enclosure and being on the lam for a bit, when he returned, he didn’t have either of his hind legs.
