By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Tough cookie: Andre, a 171-pound green sea turtle, is almost ready for his scheduled release

When Humpty Dumpty is said to have fallen off the wall, they couldn't put him together again.

But luckily it was a different story this turtle who had his shell pieced back together after it was shattered into tiny pieces.


Procedure: Humpty has his shell repaired by Mr Vargas at the Palm Beach Loggerhead Marine Life centre with a laser gun normally used on people's teeth


The turtle - who has been dubbed 'Humpty Dumpty - was found with massive cracks in his shell after being hit by a motor boat propeller. There was even a crab living inside one of the cavities.

Animal rescuers at the Palm Beach Loggerhead Marine Life Centre spent 13 months putting poor Humpty back together again.

The turtle is now fit and strong enough to return back to the wild after his thick shell was repaired with teeth braces in the first procedure of its kind.


Cracked: Dr. Nancy Mettee cleans Humpty's wounds before special materials are implanted into the shell for it to be reconstructed


Orthodontist Alberto Vargas - who had the bizarre job of reshaping Humpty's 171-pound shell - said the sea turtle was of the strangest patients he had ever dealt with.

'I'm not aware of this ever being done on a turtle before,' Mr Vargas told the Palm Beach Post.

'We changed the shape of his shell, just like we change the shape of a patient's jaw.'

The 12-stone turtle was found in June 2010 with two large life-threatening propeller holes gouged its shell.


Healed: Andre was found in June 2010 with two giant holes in his shell from two separate boat propellers

source: dailymail