The tortoise was attacked by rats while it was hibernating, its owner explains

Mar 3, 2014 23:46 GMT  ·  By

A tortoise by the name Septimus owes its life to vets who offered to fit it with model airplane wheels after its front legs were eaten by rats.

The tortoise in question is just 23 years old and currently lives in Hampshire, UK with its owner, 49-year-old Darren Strand, and its mom, 46-year-old Margo.

According to Daily Mail, the unlucky tortoise was attacked by rats while it was hibernating in Darren Strand's garden.

Thus, the latter recollects that, after disappearing from sight for a fairly long time, Septimus finally emerged from its hiding place looking pretty shaken up.

“He went underground to hibernate and we didn't know whereabout in the garden he had gone to,” Darren Strand reportedly told the press in a recent interview.

“When he came back up he was in a bad way – his front legs had been gnawed at by rats. You could see the rat's teeth marks under the shell,” the tortoise's owner further detailed.

Darren Strand claims that, at the time when Septimus emerged from its hiding place, its wounds were also infested with maggots. Hence the decision to take the tortoise see a veterinarian without delay.

Given the severity of its condition, vets decided that the tortoise had two options: either have both its front legs amputated and replaced with wheels, or be put to sleep.

Luckily for Septimus, its owner settled on the first. Thus, the tortoise underwent surgery at the Downland Vet Group in Emsworth, Hampshire, and was soon enough allowed to return home.

“It was the first time the vet had put front wheels on a tortoise as he had only done back wheels before. If he hadn't had the wheels put on he would have had to have been put down,” Septimus' owner explained.

Vets say that they decided to fit the tortoise with wheels taken from a model airplane due to the fact that such wheels are the right shape and size for Septimus to be able to not only move, but also touch the floor with its head and eat.

They further detail that, it order to attach the wheels to the tortoise's shell, they had to use fiberglass.

9-year-old Fran, who is Darren Strand's youngest daughter, says that Septimus has made a full recovery, and does not seem to mind that its front limbs presently look nothing like they used to.

“He can still pull branches down of our strawberry plant and eats some of them – you know who the culprit is because he crawls round with red lips.”

“If you put him on freshly cut grass or a path he is really fast. He gets caught up in longer grass and has to battle through,” the girl detailed.