Staff at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax say they are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love their century-old gopher tortoise, Gus, has received from the community and fans around the world after undergoing a major surgery.
Manager of the museum, Jeff Gray, says Gus has been living with them since the 1940s and is believed to be the oldest living gopher tortoise.
“They generally don’t live much more than 60, but that’s often because of the challenges they face in the wild, and many of those are human-oriented with car strikes and land development,” explains Gray.
The 104-year-old tortoise went under the knife on Tuesday, Oct. 13, to remove a large bladder stone that veterinarians have been monitoring since 2009.
Gray says museum staff were concerned about the added risk when operating on reptiles.
“The fear was that the surgery wouldn’t get all of the bladder stone.” He explains there was concern that if pieces were left behind, they would cause Gus pain.
“If you have a loved one in your family that’s going into the hospital for a surgery, you are always a bit worried for them and hope everything works out.”
Despite those worries, Gray says staff felt confident Gus was in good hands with the veterinary team. He says the operation went smoothly and that all of the bladder stone was successfully removed.
“People love Gus. I think that seeing that he was not feeling well and had to go to the hospital really resonated,” Gray says, noting some of the museum’s most popular social media content features the tortoise.
Gray says Gus should return home on Friday, Oct. 16, but he won’t be allowed to see visitors until closer to the end of December.
“He will be remaining behind the scenes here at the museum for probably another eight to ten weeks. We’ll continue to update that with input from the veterinarian team.”
Gray says staff will continue to share photos of Gus’s recovery on social media so the public can follow along while he recuperates.
