Tortoise and the chair
Family nurses pet back to health with help of self-made device
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

Photos by WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers TURTLE-LOVING TRIO- Tim, Jake and Vykki Huizing sit with their pet tortoise, King Arthur, outside their Simi Valley home on Wednesday. After a dog attack left the tortoise with only his back legs, Tim, who works in special effects, was able to fashion a custom-made wheelchair (see photo below) to help King Arthur get around while Vykki and Jake nursed him back to good health.

King Arthur has been through a lot lately.

But despite losing two of his legs after being attacked by a neighbor's dog on two separate occasions last year, the 40yearold California desert tortoise is proving to be very resilient . . . especially with the help of his loving Simi Valley family.

"Me and my dad built the wheelchair," said 9-year-old Jake Huizing.

The wheelchair Jake referred to looks like a miniature skateboard with a long Velcro strap. The base is made out of fiberglass and fits right against the shell on King Arthur's belly.

The two toy wheels on either side of the board are fastened with a little axle, and it helps the tortoise get around by himself, even though he is largely limited to staying inside the Huizings' house.

Jake's dad, 40-year-old Tim Huizing, fashioned the wheelchair out of materials donated from his work- special effects company Alterian Ghost Factory Inc.

The fiberglass base was molded exactly to fit King Arthur's shell and even has a felted top to keep it from slipping off from beneath him.

"He seems to understand that (the wheelchair) is there to help him," said 36-year-old Vykki Huizing. "We definitely saw a change after we put him in it."

Last April, the 10pound tortoise lost his front right leg after being attacked by a neighborhood dog. Five months later, King Arthur was attacked again, and he lost most of his other front leg.

After the second attack, a veterinarian recommended putting the tortoise to sleep, but the family wouldn't hear of it.

"After the second one happened, we just knew we had to do something," Tim said. "(King Arthur) was visibly depressed."

As a family, the Huizings decided to build him the wheelchair and to keep him alive and happy.

Right now, they have to keep King Arthur awake through his hibernation period- which usually lasts until springtime- because hibernating would slow down his metabolism and cause him to take longer to heal.

Still, the tortoise's spirits seem to be on the upside.

With the help of his little wheelchair, King Arthur uses his hind legs to push across the living room, past Rocky- the family dog- and into the space underneath the couch.

"He likes to hide," Vykki said. "His favorite place used to be underneath the grass bag of the lawn mower, but we have to keep him inside now."

Vykki said he's become quite accustomed to living indoors after spending so much time inside recovering from his accidents.

He's even learned the best route to the refrigerator, having seen the Huizings go to it countless times to get his favorite treat: blueberries.

Nowadays, King Arthur only goes outside to eat dandelions or to get sunshine for short periods of time. He is always supervised.

Ever since King Arthur's first surgeries in April, Vykki has cleaned his wounds every day to keep him from getting an infection. Although his right front leg is almost completely healed, his other leg is still in bandages.

To the Huizings, the effort is well worth it for their beloved family pet.

They took him in more than 10 years ago, and he's been a cheery, faithful friend ever since, they said.

"He's my buddy," Vykki said. "I couldn't give up on him."