Turbo the Tortoise Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales


Turbo the Tortoise

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Hello, I'm Rory. I'm in Coventry to meet Summer,

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who has a tortoise that needs to visit the vet, and we can go, too.

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This is going to be great.

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I'm Ferne. I'll be finding out how the vets at this zoo in Whipsnade

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help to care for one of their big, beautiful beasts.

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# Ferne and Rory telling you the story of some poorly pets

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# We will take them, show you how to make them better at the vets

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# Vet Tales, these are our Vet Tales

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# Vet Tales Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales. #

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Hi, my name's Summer and this my little sister Freya.

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We have a pet tortoise called Turbo.

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He is seven years old.

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We love the colours on his shell.

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Brown, black and a little bit of yellow.

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He's really cute and moves quickly sometimes.

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We love him very much.

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RORY KNOCKS ON DOOR

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-Hi, Rory!

-Hey, Summer. You must be Mum.

-Hi, Rory.

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-Would you like to come and see our pet tortoise?

-I'd love to.

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-Oh, wow! Check out this enclosure! So, this is Turbo's?

-Yeah.

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-Does he have an inside one, too?

-Yeah.

-Great.

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-What's the one inside for?

-When it's cold.

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Or night-time, as well, I guess.

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-Do you know what breed of tortoise Turbo is?

-He's a Horsfield.

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Absolutely right.

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Horsfield tortoises are one of the most popular breeds in the UK.

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You can tell them apart from other tortoises

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because they have four toes on their feet instead of five.

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-What do you like most about him?

-How he eats.

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He doesn't have any teeth, so it takes him a long time to eat.

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Right. Tortoises don't have teeth.

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-Instead, they've got a beak, don't they?

-Yeah.

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I'm having a good look at Turbo

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and I can see that his beak is quite long.

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-Is that giving him any problems?

-Yeah. He can't eat very well.

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That's a shame for a wee guy. Tortoises have a beak.

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They use this beak to rip leaves and plants out of the ground.

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The beak is made of keratin,

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which is similar to the stuff our fingernails are made of.

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Like our nails, it keeps growing through their lives,

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so it can get a bit overgrown and cause a few issues.

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-What are we going to do about it?

-We could take him to the vets.

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-Great idea. Shall we take him now?

-Yeah.

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Perfect. Come on, Turbo.

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Meet The Vet!

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Aideen has been a vet for seven years.

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She has helped deliver lots of cute puppies

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and once treated a bearded dragon that couldn't poo.

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Hello! We've got Turbo the tortoise.

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-Lovely. Head on through to vet.

-Great. Thank you.

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-Hi, Summer. Hi, Rory. Do you want to come on through?

-Of course.

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Summer, tell us about Turbo.

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-He's doing good, but his beak's a little bit long.

-A little long.

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We should be able to sort that, but we'll give him a onceover first.

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-OK.

-I see his beak is a little bit long.

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It should be a nice straight line, rather than a big upper lip.

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So we can just trim that off and that way, he can eat properly.

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-That's great.

-We'll check what his weight is like,

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make sure he's nice and healthy. Let's see if he'll stay still.

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He won't.

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365g.

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That's a very good, healthy weight.

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So you can see his legs aren't too big, he's able to move nicely

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and he's able to stand up well when he walks.

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-He can definitely walk.

-He can, definitely. Run, I'd say, as well.

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-Excellent.

-And if we just look at his nails.

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So very good front nails.

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He does lots of nice digging, I'd say,

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because they're looking good and short.

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Some of these back ones are a bit long,

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so we can clip those, as well. That's really easy.

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Just like having a little nail clip yourself.

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-We won't put any nail varnish on.

-What a shame!

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Otherwise, apart from a slightly long beak

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-and slightly long back toenails, he is in excellent shape.

-Great.

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-The nurse is going to come and help you, is that right?

-Yes.

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It's going to get a bit busy in here,

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-so are you happy to go outside to Mum?

-Yeah.

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And I'll look after Turbo. Is that OK? Right, come on.

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Let Me Explain.

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Tortoises can look after their beaks themselves

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by eating the hard shell of a cuttlefish.

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Or they eat food on hard surfaces, like stones or rocks,

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which helps them to wear their beaks down.

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Sometimes, a tortoise doesn't get the right amount

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of vitamins or minerals and its beak can overgrow in size,

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so it needs the expert help of a vet to trim it down.

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OK, so, Beth the vet nurse has joined us. What happens?

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Now that Beth's got him in a nice grip,

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-we're going to clip his beak.

-What have you got to do it?

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We've got beak trimmers. They're used for clipping beaks.

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-Nice and sharp and make it easy for Turbo.

-OK. Does it hurt at all?

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No, it doesn't hurt at all.

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He doesn't have any feeling in this part of his beak.

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-He won't feel a thing.

-Great. Go for it.

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OK. So let's see, Turbo. Good man.

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I'll just do little bits at a time.

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You don't want to take too much, so you just even up both sides.

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Okey doke.

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There we go.

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-You can see we're getting it back there.

-Wow!

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-Is that quite tough to clip?

-It is, yeah. So it's like thick nail.

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It's a good sign when it's tough

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because if he didn't have the right diet

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-and his beak wasn't as healthy, then it would just crumble away.

-OK.

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-So that's good.

-It's a really good sign.

-Great.

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-How often do you have to do this with a tortoise?

-So it depends.

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Some tortoises never need it done,

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but probably only about once every six months or so.

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It's really important you don't do this at home.

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Only a vet and vet nurse should be doing this type of procedure.

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-OK, I think that's good now. If we have another little look...

-Wow!

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He doesn't have that upper lip any more.

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That's a big difference, isn't it? Looking very good.

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So we've got to go to his back feet.

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These front feet are fine. He's dug them nicely.

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So it's just the tips of these nails we're going to take off.

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We don't want to go too far. This doesn't hurt.

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Just like having your own nails cut at home.

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-This is a different tool.

-This is. So these are nail clippers.

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They're specific tools for clipping nails. Good boy.

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And we'll do the other back foot. Well done, Turbo. Lovely.

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Looking marvellous, my friend. Excellent.

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-So, is he all good now?

-He is. He's back to normal.

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-He's lovely and healthy.

-Excellent. Well done, buddy.

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While we get this guy ready to take back to Summer and Ruth,

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why don't you see what else has been happening at the vets today?

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Today At The Vets!

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While Aideen has been looking after Turbo,

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plenty of other pets have been visiting the vets today.

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Billy, a King Charles spaniel,

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has been in for his regular acupuncture,

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which is a treatment that helps him with his joints, legs and feet.

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Grayson the cat has a swollen nose after he caught an infection,

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but he's had medicine to make it better.

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And Bob the Border terrier is in for a checkup. He's 13 years old.

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Because he's in his old age, he's been panting a lot

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and losing hair from his tail.

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Summer and Ruth, check this out.

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He's been a great patient, and look at his beak!

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-What do you think?

-Brilliant.

-What do you think, Summer?

-Yeah.

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I think he looks absolutely fantastic.

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I would like to come back and see how he's getting on.

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-Can I do that?

-Yeah.

-Awesome! High-five.

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I wonder what Ferne's been up to today?

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CAR HORN HONKS

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At this zoo in Whipsnade,

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they look after lots of different animals.

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And today, I've come to see how one of them with a sore foot

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is being cared for.

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This way!

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-Hiya!

-How are you doing?

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This is Nick. He's one of the vets here at the zoo.

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This is Carla, one of the nurses,

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and this is Lee, this animal's keeper.

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Nick, who have we got here?

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This is Beluki, and Beluki's from Nepal.

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She's a greater one-horned rhinoceros.

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She is absolutely stunning! I can't believe how big she is.

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Greater one-horned rhinos have this really lovely,

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thick, grey skin that folds over their body,

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and they have one horn at the very end of their nose.

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The African rhinos have two. Nick, what is wrong with her today?

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She's got a bit of a sore foot and we're going to see how she moves,

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and then hopefully she'll come up and we'll look a bit more closely

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-and see what's what.

-Fantastic.

-Here she comes.

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-Which foot is it, Nick?

-It's this front right one.

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-You can see there's just a little swelling above the middle toe.

-Yeah.

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-She's moving really well now. Better than she was.

-And what was it?

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It's what we call an abscess, a little lump with pus inside it.

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An abscess is just a lump that happens underneath the skin

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that can get infected and can be quite painful.

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There's a split between the top of the nail and her skin.

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-And is that where it's been cut open?

-That's where it's burst open.

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That's probably why she's feeling so much better.

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There's much less pressure. We're flushing it out with this solution.

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That's to try and get the tissues in there clean

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and any mud and straw out of there so it won't get infected

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-and it can heal.

-Perfect. She's doing so well!

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She's amazing, isn't she?

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The cleaner we can get it, the better.

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It doesn't seem to cause her any pain.

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She's not even flinching. She's just too busy eating.

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Her horn is quite small. Why is that?

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Keepers trim it down every so often.

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We don't want them to damage the horn. It's like a huge lump of hair,

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and it is bonded to the top of the skull. It can get torn a bit.

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-Is it like ripping a fingernail?

-Exactly. It'd be really sore.

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We don't want that to happen. The other reason is poaching risk.

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We don't want a big rhino horn on display.

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People have started poaching horns from animals in zoos.

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-Are one-horned rhinos endangered?

-Critically endangered.

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Beluki came from Nepal, with another female, Behan.

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They've both had calves here.

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It's not just the greater one-horned rhino that are endangered.

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-It's all rhino.

-Absolutely.

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Hopefully what'll happen here is we'll get this nice and clean,

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it'll heal up a bit,

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and we'll keep her in here for a little while.

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If she goes out in the paddock, it's muddy and wet.

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-We don't want that getting stuck inside.

-Well done, Beluki.

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Nick, thank you so much for letting me be part of

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this incredible vet's check-up. It's been really special.

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-And it's great she's on the mend.

-Yeah. Absolutely.

-Thank you.

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Recently, I visited Summer, her mum Ruth and their tortoise Turbo.

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He needed a bit of a beak clip.

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I'm back to see how they're all doing,

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and to meet little sister Freya too.

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Well, guys, it's great to be back

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and it's lovely to meet you, Freya, as well.

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-How is Turbo doing?

-Really good.

-Yeah, so the beak's all fine?

-Yeah.

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-No problems with his food?

-No.

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And I have to say, I think his beak looks splendid.

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Would you like to come and make a treat for Turbo?

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I'd love to. Come on.

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I've got some tomatoes here. Is that milk thistle?

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Rip it into chunks. Doesn't have to be too small.

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He can have some big chunks. He doesn't get tomato all the time.

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-It's a special treat, isn't it?

-Yeah. And he deserves it.

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Definitely. Last two bits?

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-Done.

-Great. Right, guys, bits and bobs.

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Let's put them in.

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Not too much. Little bits at a time.

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It's great to see Turbo eating so well with his trimmed beak.

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Thanks for joining us

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and finding out all about Turbo and his overgrown beak.

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See you next time for more Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales. Bye!

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ALL: Bye!

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# Ferne and Rory telling you the story

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# Of some funny pets

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# We will take them, show you how to make them better at the vet

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# Vet Tales

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# These are our Vet Tales

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# Vet Tales

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# Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales. #

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