Tortoise is fitted with 'crash helmet' toupee
A giant tortoise with a damaged shell has been fitted with a 'toupee' by vets so it does not feel self conscious.It is thought 23-year-old Timmy - who weighs 154 kilos - had his shell broken by another tortoise at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in Devon.
After cleaning up the hole in the shell, which could take 18 months to grow back, vets suggested creating a fibre glass replacement to act as a "crash helmet".
The Zoo's maintenance technician took a cast from a similar size tortoise and then cast the fibre glass shell, adjusting it for a perfect fit.
He resisted the temptation to add go-faster-stripes or make the faux shell more aerodynamic to add 0.000001 mph to Timmys top speed.
Mike Bungard, of Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, said: "We think the shell was damaged by another tortoise. The vets cleaned up the hole and the shell will grow back, but it could take 18 months. "In the meantime we needed to cover up the hole and we hit upon the idea of making a section of artificial shell out of fibre glass."
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Paignton Zoo Environmental Park
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