Turtle on the move with a custom LEGO wheelchair

October 22, 2018 at 12:51PM
After an Eastern box turtle fractured its shell, a vet student at the Maryland Zoo helped design a custom LEGO wheelchair for it. (Courtesy of the Maryland Zoo)
After an Eastern box turtle fractured its shell, a vet student at the Maryland Zoo helped design a custom LEGO wheelchair for it. (Courtesy of the Maryland Zoo) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A wild turtle with a broken shell is rolling around on a wheelchair made of Legos while he's on the mend at the Maryland Zoo. News outlets report that veterinarians had performed surgery on the grapefruit-sized eastern box turtle found in July with fractures to the underside of his shell. Zoo veterinary extern Garrett Fraess says keeping the shell bottom off the ground is important so it can heal. Fraess says no one makes turtle-sized wheelchairs, so he sent sketches to a friend who's a Lego enthusiast. A few weeks after the surgery, the turtle had the wheelchair, which gets the shell off the ground and allows his legs to move. The zoo's Dr. Ellen Bronson says the turtle will probably use the wheelchair into the spring.

Associated Press

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