Turtle shell on the mend thanks to some unexpected materials

A quick trip to the neighbourhood hardware store may just be enough to keep a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, turtle alive.

With the help of epoxy glue and cable ties, veterinarians at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at the Wisconsin Humane Society have been able to piece together the shattered shell of a painted turtle hit by a car — an injury akin to broken bones in a human.

“The cable ties are gently tightened until they bring the two pieces of bone, the shell in close proximity so they can heal,” Scott Diehl, Director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, told Fox News WITI-TV.

Gertie, named by the centre’s staff, would have died within hours had she not been rescued by the side of the road, Diehl told The Huffington Post.

According to Diehl, sewing cable ties into the shell and holding it together with glue is a preferred method for saving turtles, and is the less invasive alternative.

“The turtle would have to be under anesthesia,” Diehl said, describing another procedure to The Huffington Post. “The vet would … pull various pieces together using wire that’s passed through holes [which] are drilled adjacent to one another on the various pieces.”

In the meantime, Gertie will heal in a hospital size cage and the cable ties will remain intact for several weeks before she is released into the wild in August.