Tiny tortoise undergoes major op
Image: Humphrey post-op
Bladder stone removal for one-year-old HumphreyA tortoise has lost a stone in weight after undergoing an operation to remove a bladder stone that occupied nearly a fifth of its body.
Humphrey, a three-ounce Indian star tortoise, is one of the smallest of his kind to ever undergo the operation, which involved sawing open his shell to remove the stone.
The one-year-old rescued tortoise had been straining excessively and appeared unwell at the beginning of January, so his owners took him to the Exotic Animal Referral Centre at Trinity Vets, Kent.
An x-ray revealed that Humphrey had a large bladder stone, which was far too big to be passed naturally. Instead, he had to undergo an operation that lasted an hour and a half.
Exotic vet, Dr Mark Rowland, performed the surgery. Humphrey was anaesthetised before having a large square hole sawed out of his shell in order to remove the stone. The piece of shell was then replaced and held in place with epoxy putty.
Staff at Trinity Vets are amazed by how well Humphrey is doing and nurses at the centre have commented on how fast he is able to get around now that he is no longer carrying extra weight.
"Although these stones can form and have been removed in larger tortoises, it is not common in these younger ones to see a stone of this size," said Dr Rowland.
Click here to read more about Humphrey's recovery.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
