Tortoise George Bailey receives custom built wheelchair from Walkin’Pets, of Amherst, George Bailey an 11-year-old Sulcata tortoise, who was rescued from an exotic animal rescue shelter in Tennessee.
“(It’s) a custom tortoise wheelchair with a special base featuring a convex support structure to accommodate the natural contour of George’s under shell and a harnessing system designed to expand with George as he grows,” Walkin’ Pets representatives wrote in a news release.
The disease never allowed the tortoise’s bones to fully develop in his back legs, and as he grew, it became harder for him to walk.
George Bailey currently weighs about 70 pounds and could end up at more than 200 pounds, as he might live at least 90 more years. So, a permanent solution was needed to improve his quality of life.
George Bailey’s owner, Jaime Loebener, told Walkin’ Pets that the tortoise took to his new wheelchair right away.
“George’s Walkin’ Wheels wheelchair is amazing! I put George on it, and he is able to move himself around,” Loebener said, according to the news release.