Joey is an 82 year old turtle who lives in County corn wallSouthwest great Britain. He land turtle He was just recovering from a grueling surgery intended to remove bladder stones, however, the two veterinarians who treated him were in for a big surprise.

That the stones they extract doctor size a cricket ball and consider 150 grams. During surgery, veterinary specialists had to cut away part of Joey’s shell to stop the stones from growing.

William Hofericaone of the veterinarians who operated on the reptile, commented in an interview for the newspaper Guardian This stone is quite large. “Judging from its size, this is a very unique stone. “If Joey were human, it would be like having a bladder stone the size of a basketball,” he said.

That veterinarian thought it was a turtle shell takes a year to heal and explained that after the operation they had to make some kind of glue with fiberglass and resin to hold the shell together.

“That turtle They are a very resistant species. “They don’t tell you what’s wrong until it’s really bad,” he said. Hoferia about how difficult it is to detect health problems in these animals. “Joey “He was acting unusually in the last few weeks before the surgery,” he added.

He reptiles eat less than this amount that he was regularly swallowing into his body and stopped moving regularly, it was at that point that his caretakers realized that something was wrong and he needed to be checked out.

William Hoferia explained for the news network ITV that if the stone remains longer in the body Joeymost likely the turtle is dead.

Pascual Medina, an exotic pet specialist, was another surgeon who helped save the animal’s life land turtle and commented in an interview for the same media that there are some challenges in this operation, because these animals have a very slow metabolism and depend on many factors.

That veterinarian They estimated the stones in Joey’s bladder had been growing for several years and it was very difficult to detect the problem. “Tortoises are fighters, have a strong spirit and can survive for a long time before becoming visibly ill,” they commented.

Veterinarian William Hoferica comment to Guardian They are unique operations, as they require passing through the animal’s shell and generally when the decision is made to perform this procedure, it is one of the last resources considered due to the time required for that part of the shell to heal. .

“I treat anyone animalso having Pascual help me with surgery with his specialty, it’s really great to have an extra pair of hands,” commented Hoferica about the advantages of having another doctor in surgical interventions.

Administration of Penbode Vet Exotic Specieswhere the animal lives, described in the publication in Facebook who uses various “powerful” tools to save Joey’s life. Internet users thanked doctors and organizations for their commitment to the rescue land turtle.