April 28 (UPI) -- Workers at the Museum of Natural History in Nova Scotia helped a resident wood turtle to walk more comfortably by building a custom mobility aid out of Lego pieces.
The turtle, named Root, came to the Halifax museum in September from the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, and staff noticed his missing front right foot was causing his shell to drag when he walked.
"Because one leg is essentially shorter than the other one, we found that he was kind of clunking his shell down," Heather McKinnon Ramshaw, the museum's animal care specialist, told CBC News. "There was some wear on the shell and we didn't want it to get worse, so he needed something to lift him up."
Tessa Biesterfeld, one of the museum's naturalist interpreters, was inspired by a Lego exhibit at the facility in December to come up with a homemade solution.
Biesterfeld used a small dog harness, a Lego platform and some Lego wheels to rig up some extra support for Root's right side.
"We thought that'd be so great because we know it's non-toxic, we know that we can replace the parts as we need, and should his shell change or grow, we can change the shape and size of that. It's very modular," Biesterfeld said.
Root now gets excited when it's time to exit his enclosure and explore the museum's exhibits.
"Now when I snap his harness on, it's like when he hears that snap, he's ready to go," Biesterfeld said.
