October 20, 2006: Tortoise gets wheels upgrade

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In an entry rightly called "Pimp My Tortoise", Neatorama notices this Metro story of Tina, the tortoise who needed some help to get around.

The three-legged reptile can now go 'off-road' after the 4x4-style system was attached to her shell.

Tina was fitted with a plastic wheel four years ago to replace her rear right leg.
But our increasingly warmer autumns mean Tina hibernates later in the year, leaving her battling to cope with muddy grass and slopes and dead leaves.

So the rudimentary wheel has now been replaced with an air-filled tyre and a spring suspension system with shock absorber.

Speedy Tina can now explore areas of her enclosure at Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, which have been out of bounds to her in the past.

The spur thigh tortoise was donated to Longleat in 2002 when she seemed to be depressed because of her lack of manoeuvrability.

She rapidly recovered when the plastic wheel was fitted but it wore out and buckled over time as she tried to access rougher parts of her enclosure.

All lame tortoises should be so lucky.