Tripod
Click on the image above to view the slide show.
Photos courtesy of the California Turtle & Tortoise Club (CTTC): Valley Chapter
Text by Karen Berry: Treasurer | Adoption Chair
• Tripod came in to Valley Chapter November 3, 2010. The adoption team had received an email
from a party stating “we have 2 tortoises that need to go to rescue. Something attacked the male, we think it was a raccoon, and they need to go
to rescue so it doesn’t happen again.” The team leader called the person, and when provided with a referral for a vet, he was not willing to take
the injured tortoise in for treatment and help him heal. Said the tortoises “had come with the house” and was told “they take care of
themselves." He and his female companion were retrieved the following morning, and while there, the team leader checked the yard to see where
the tortoises lived. They had no houses or other safe places to sleep at night, and had been exposed to the wet and cold weather at the time. They
were examined by the vet the same day. Tripod’s leg was severely injured, and due to the lengthy time with no treatment, the skin had turned
necrotic, smelled very bad, and what was left of the leg contained generations of maggots. The vet scheduled his surgery for the beginning of
the next week, which provided 4 days to get him started on antibiotics, and the leg treated daily for removal of that days’ maggots, then was
medicated and re-bandaged. Tripod was very patient and cooperative during treatment, and seemed to know he was being helped. The surgery
went very well, and after a couple of quiet days’ recuperation, he was “back in action,” wandering the lawn, and heartily eating grass and
dandelions. He was fitted with a removable “prosthesis” of a half billiard ball. He had 2 of them, a regular cue ball for every day, and
an 8-ball when he appeared at events or Valley’s annual show. Nothing stopped him from doing what he wanted, and he healed exceptionally
well. His rehabilitation included not just regular walking around, but he also climbed up and down both a soft dirt 45-degree slope and
one with much harder dirt and some rocks, with only one front leg to pull him up. He did it all without ever turning over or falling.
He needed a special home, with someone willing to make the yard appropriate for an amputee.
Tripod was recently adopted. His new custodians wanted a special needs tortoise, and were eager to make changes in their yard and to
take other measures to make sure he stays safe and healthy. The female tortoise he had formerly lived with was fostered by a club member
and his family, who adopted her.
Tripod
Tripod
Click on the image above to view the slide show.
Photos courtesy of the California Turtle & Tortoise Club (CTTC): Valley Chapter
Text by Karen Berry: Treasurer | Adoption Chair
Photos courtesy of the California Turtle & Tortoise Club (CTTC): Valley Chapter
Text by Karen Berry: Treasurer | Adoption Chair
• Tripod came in to Valley Chapter November 3, 2010. The adoption team had received an email
from a party stating “we have 2 tortoises that need to go to rescue. Something attacked the male, we think it was a raccoon, and they need to go
to rescue so it doesn’t happen again.” The team leader called the person, and when provided with a referral for a vet, he was not willing to take
the injured tortoise in for treatment and help him heal. Said the tortoises “had come with the house” and was told “they take care of
themselves." He and his female companion were retrieved the following morning, and while there, the team leader checked the yard to see where
the tortoises lived. They had no houses or other safe places to sleep at night, and had been exposed to the wet and cold weather at the time. They
were examined by the vet the same day. Tripod’s leg was severely injured, and due to the lengthy time with no treatment, the skin had turned
necrotic, smelled very bad, and what was left of the leg contained generations of maggots. The vet scheduled his surgery for the beginning of
the next week, which provided 4 days to get him started on antibiotics, and the leg treated daily for removal of that days’ maggots, then was
medicated and re-bandaged. Tripod was very patient and cooperative during treatment, and seemed to know he was being helped. The surgery
went very well, and after a couple of quiet days’ recuperation, he was “back in action,” wandering the lawn, and heartily eating grass and
dandelions. He was fitted with a removable “prosthesis” of a half billiard ball. He had 2 of them, a regular cue ball for every day, and
an 8-ball when he appeared at events or Valley’s annual show. Nothing stopped him from doing what he wanted, and he healed exceptionally
well. His rehabilitation included not just regular walking around, but he also climbed up and down both a soft dirt 45-degree slope and
one with much harder dirt and some rocks, with only one front leg to pull him up. He did it all without ever turning over or falling.
He needed a special home, with someone willing to make the yard appropriate for an amputee.
Tripod was recently adopted. His new custodians wanted a special needs tortoise, and were eager to make changes in their yard and to
take other measures to make sure he stays safe and healthy. The female tortoise he had formerly lived with was fostered by a club member
and his family, who adopted her.
