Tortoise Gets a new 3D Printed Shell After Forest Fire

ErnieKey writes: Fred, a Red-Footed Tortoise in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil, was unfortunately caught up in a recent forest fire that deteriorated the majority of his shell. He needed a new shell in order to survive, so veterinarians in Santos teamed up with a dentist and a graphical designer to create a new 3D printed shell for Fred that was ultimately surgically placed on the tortoise. From the 3dPrint story: "Fred unfortunately came down with a terrible case of pneumonia post-surgery, which prevented him from eating for about a month and a half, but in the end survived and is now doing very well with his new 3D printed shell. The shell, which was printed with the same PLA material that is found on most desktop 3D printers, has been holding up very well, although researchers are not exactly sure how long it will hold up for or if Fred will be able to be released into the wild."

Comments

Re:Doesn't plastic burn?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perfect is the enemy of good.

awwwww

[turkeydance]

i say awwww

Re:horrible thing to do

[TimSSG]

A tortoise's shell needs to grow, else it will eventually maim then kill him. These "helpers" are making a huge assumption about the future, maybe it would have better to just euthanize "Fred"

From the photos there is at least 4 parts to the shell. Looks like it is designed to break or separate if the tortoise grows longer or wider. Hopefully that will be enough to prevent death from growing bigger. Tim S.

"Prevented from eating for a month and a half"

[rmdingler]

So how long?

Not very stylish

[R3d M3rcury]

First off--White? It'll show all the dirt in a couple of months. Should have gone with black. Second, it's a freakin' tortoise. Irony is just calling out for racing stripes or flames or something like that.

I mean, come on guys! He lost his shell! If you're going to give him a new one, at least give him something that doesn't look like a dorky science project.

Re:PLA is biodegradable

[confused one]

They probably did. But, the article claims they are considering whether to release the tortoise or not. Clearly, they're not planning to release it.

Re:Doesn't plastic burn?

[Firethorn]

There are much better choices for this that are more fire resistant and just heat resistant in general. The advantages of PLA are that it's easy to work with, non-toxic, and cheap, but it's not well suited to the harsh conditions of the real world.

In short, Fred's likely stuck in a Zoo for now.

Finally...

[argStyopa]

Now can someone start working on my idea of tortise and turtle shells with anti-vehicle mines embedded in them? Certainly, it will kill the turtle, but it will ALSO have the salutory effect of Darwinistically weeding-out the subhuman assholes that I have occasionally seen VEER TO HIT turtles making their way across an otherwise uncongested street.

Wrong Material!

[Irate Engineer]

They should have made him a shell with Kevlar and a pressed layer of coated silica fiber, like the space shuttle TPS tiles. That turtle would be UNSTOPPABLE!