little bertie

[irishblossom]

There's this baby red-footed tortoise in the Day House at the zoo... and his/her back legs don't work properly. (S)He doesn't use them to walk, (s)he just sorta drags them around. They're somewhat responsive to touch; (s)he can pull them in just fine and sometimes even kicks them back out, but doesn't walk on them. (S)He's too small to see a lot on an x-ray, so right now his/her prescription is good ol' physical therapy. Anyway, when I close that building I spend time with him/her, rubbing his/her tiny little toes and stretching his/her legs out and moving them in tiny circles. I've named the tortoise Bertie. I'm getting attached.

Bertie likes to sit in his/her water dish, with the funny back legs underwater. What a dear...