Tortoise Receives A Lego Wheelchair

There are plenty of ideas that involve the world of Lego, those plastic building bricks that are able to stack together with unerring precision, and be removed as and when you so desire. Here we are with Lego working to help a disabled tortoise get around, thanks to a Lego ‘wheelchair’. This tiny tortoise suffers from a metabolic bone disease, and is now able to get around thanks to this particular rig built from Lego.

Known as Blade, this is a tiny tortoise tips the scales at 127 grams, but no thanks to its metabolic bone disease, it failed to be as active and healthy as other tortoises of the same age. Dr. Plischke decided to make use of Lego pieces in order to come up with a “skate” for Blade, allowing Blade to make use of his its legs to generate momentum and move in the direction of its choice, as the Lego rig will ensure that its shell remains off the ground.

Dr. Plischke shared, “We mounted Lego wheels on the tortoise Blade because he had a bone metabolism illness and his shell was too heavy and he had a loss of muscles. That’s why he couldn’t pick up himself and walk any more. The bones were like rubber and the musculature had clearly diminished.” The entire Lego rig comprises of half a dozen pieces, where four of them are wheels with tyre treads that have been glued to the underside of Blade’s shell using special glue.

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: Lego