Disabled tortoise gets Lego ‘wheelchair’, and it’s basically the CUTEST THING EVER!

WARNING: this story starts with a sad bit. But it doesn’t last long.

Adorable little tortoise Blade has a metabolic bone disease that means the poor fella is too weak to carry the weight of his own shell.

After noticing that Blade wasn’t as active as usual (which we imagine was hard because, you know, HE'S A TORTOISE), his owner Iris Pleste took the 127g Greek tortoise to her local vet Dr. Carsten Plischke.

Realising the problem, Dr. Plischke took inspiration from his son's Lego toys, and hit upon a novel idea: building a custom Lego "skate" for Blade so that he could use his super-cute little tortoise legs for direction and momentum, while the Lego held his shell off the ground.

"We mounted Lego wheels on Blade because he had a bone metabolism illness and his shell was too heavy and he had a loss of muscles," Dr Plischke said. "That's why he couldn't pick up himself and walk any more. The bones were like rubber and the musculature had clearly diminished."

The Lego modification consists of six pieces, including four wheels with tyre treads, glued to the underside of Blade's shell with special glue.

These will allow him to gain strength in his legs by using them, so that eventually the training wheels can come off.

"For people there are walkers, rollators or prostheses but for animals there are no companies that produce something like that," Dr Plischke said. "The size variation of animals means they can't establish uniform products. So you have to come up with creative solutions; every animal needs its own treatment."

Blade has taken incredibly well to his new Lego ‘wheelchair’, and has never been more active. Or FRICKIN’ ADORABLE!

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