PREVIEW

A 16-year-old Galapagos tortoise named Bruno from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has been getting a special CT (Computed Tomography) scan with the aim of helping Zoo vets pinpoint the cause of his recent lameness.

“Bruno started limping a few weeks ago, and there were no obvious reasons why,” said Cincinnati Zoo's curator of ectotherms, Winton Ray. “He seemed to drop to one side in his hind end when walking and have a hard time getting going in the morning.”

Zoo vets were concerned that Bruno the 180-lb tortoise might not fit through the scanner. His shell is about two feet wide at its widest point and nearly a foot and a half tall, but the CT scanner opening is about a two-foot perfect circle. Unfortunately, Bruno is not a perfect circle, so the vets were worried they were trying to fit an oval peg in round hole. Luckily, the rotund reptile just about fitted through!

The scan revealed abnormalities in Bruno's back/spine that are likely causing muscle soreness. The curvature, similar to scoliosis in humans, puts extra pressure on one side or the other, explaining his abnormal gait. Because a tortoise's spine is fused with their shell, the spine cannot be repaired but can be managed with therapy and pain medication.