Red-footed Tortoise

This is a very special red-footed tortoise.  Notice anything strange about it?  It has a wheel instead of one of its feet.  This tortoise lives in Uberaba, Brazil.  About a month ago, it cut its foot on an electric fence that fell down, and the veterinarian, Cláudio Yudi, had to amputate its foot.  Tortoises have a hard time getting around with just three legs, so the veterinarian decided to try gluing a furniture wheel to the bottom of its shell.  The tortoise is now healthy and getting around well.

I don’t know the tortoise’s name, but I like to call him Tortoise Wheel.

The picture above was taken by Cláudio Yudi, the veterinarian who gave him the wheel.  We learned about it here on globo.com. (Click here if you don’t know Portuguese.)

I’ve got spring break next week, so look for lots of new animal posts coming up soon!