By By geozone Feb 19, 2007 in World Worried about how lethargic their turtle Dabao had been, zookeepers at China's Chengdu City Zoo sent her for x-rays. "We suspect she was having a difficult labour because too many eggs were congesting the outlet," explained the zoo director. So the zoo took the turtle to Chengdu 416, a hospital for humans, for a caesarian delivery where surgeons successfully operated on her with a skull opener. The procedure took over two hours and once the shell was opened and the 14 eggs removed, Dabao was "closed up" with epoxy resin. The hardest part of the operation was anaesthetizing the turtle as she played hide and seek, retracting into her shell while on he OR table. But the anaesthetist waited her out and once she popped her head out of her shell, he put her under. Dabao is reported to be making an excellent recovery. Meanwhile, her eggs have been buried in the sand for hatching. It came as a complete surprise to them that x-rays showed Dabao was carrying 14 eggs inside her body. The presence of so many eggs apparently was the cause of her lethargy."We suspect she was having a difficult labour because too many eggs were congesting the outlet," explained the zoo director.So the zoo took the turtle to Chengdu 416, a hospital for humans, for a caesarian delivery where surgeons successfully operated on her with a skull opener.The procedure took over two hours and once the shell was opened and the 14 eggs removed, Dabao was "closed up" with epoxy resin.The hardest part of the operation was anaesthetizing the turtle as she played hide and seek, retracting into her shell while on he OR table. But the anaesthetist waited her out and once she popped her head out of her shell, he put her under.Dabao is reported to be making an excellent recovery. Meanwhile, her eggs have been buried in the sand for hatching. More about Turtle, Caesarian turtle caesarian