We at Zoophoria NJ are excited to announce Tripod the Sulcata Tortoise's journey for a prosthetic leg!

I, Samantha, the owner of Zoophoria NJ, have cared for Tripod for 15 years (he is now 30 years old). I adopted him when he was offered for surrender to my previous employer. They already had a large, male Sulcata Tortoise in their care and could not take in another as they cannot be housed together. I decided to take him in as a forever friend. Quite literally forever, as Tripod will outlive me and likely end up with my future grandchildren.

Tripod lost his leg to a bearded dragon. When he was a hatchling, his previous owners put him in an enclosure with the lizard, hoping they could cohabitate. This ended with Tripod's foot being bitten off by the dragon.

Tripod has moved well with only small limitations, like not digging deep holes for burrowing. To accommodate this, I dig his burrows for him to retreat from hot weather and to sleep in during his seasonal time outdoors in my large fenced-in yard.

As he is growing, we noticed Tripod is developing a callus in his armpit of the shorter leg. This is due to the unbalanced weight distribution.

We are working with our veterinarian at Franklin Lakes Animal Hospital to find a solution. The next step was for imaging, but finding a CT scan machine for a giant tortoise isn't easy! Thankfully, Oradell Animal Hospital has been a huge help and took on the challenge.

He had his scans done on July 5th and, with that imaging, we will proceed to the development of the prosthetic itself. We reached out to 3D Pet Prosthetics in Bloomingdale, NJ to see if it will be possible.

We hope it will be possible through their facilities, but, if not, we will be looking for another solution.

We are asking for support through this journey as Tripod is a beloved member of our amazing NJ community, offering the experience of a lifetime learning about amazing tortoises like him, overcoming fears, and teaching responsible pet ownership to thousands of children and adults through our traveling wildlife education program.

Please consider contributing to this process as he will continue to be a member of our community and my family for the next 120 years.

Thank you so much!!