Chris Leone — a turtles and tortoises fanatic who uses goes by the name @garden_state_tortois — shared the wild experience on Instagram
Credit: Garden State Tortoise/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- A woman’s 49-year-old tortoise underwent an incredible transformation after visiting the vet
- In a video shared by Chris Leone — a turtle and tortoise fanatic who goes by the name @garden_state_tortois — the creator discovered a tortoise named Rockalina that a woman said was adopted in May 1977
- The tortoise lived on the kitchen floor for close to half of a century, surviving off cat food
A woman’s 49-year-old tortoise underwent an incredible transformation after visiting the vet.
In a video shared on Sept. 9 by Chris Leone — a turtle and tortoise fanatic who goes by the name @garden_state_tortois — the creator discovered a tortoise named Rockalina that a woman said was adopted in May 1977 and lived on the kitchen floor for close to half of a century, surviving off of cat food.
“She survived, but she absolutely did not thrive,” added Leone in the comments. “When she finally came to us, we truly believe we got there in the nick of time. Her condition was so severe that we weren’t sure she would even survive the ride home.”
In the initial clips, the tortoise was covered in skin buildup, could hardly move her limbs and couldn’t open her eyes. Leone said he would bring her to “the most important medical checkup she could possibly have.”
Credit: Garden State Tortoise/Instagram
“We really need to see what’s going on now,” he said.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In a follow-up clip dated 15 months later, the tortoise was completely transformed: She no longer had dry skin, her color had returned, and she could move her limbs once again. The veterinarian, who was featured in the video, even said that she was not over- or underweight, and her blood tests came back with “phenomenal” numbers.
Credit: Garden State Tortoise/Instagram
“Rockalina has undergone the most important veterinary evaluation of her life,” wrote Leone in the comments. “With turtles, everything happens incredibly slowly, including the effects of decades of neglect and the process of recovering from it. It can take a very long time before you can confidently say an animal like this is truly out of the woods.”
He added: “Rockalina spent nearly half a century simply surviving. Today, she is finally thriving, and her latest results are everything we could have hoped for. ❤️🐢”
Read the full article here
