ALL IS WELL IN THE SHELL FOR DESERT TORTOISE.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET SENIOR COLUMNIST

QUARTZ HILL - Molly, the desert tortoise who needed delicate surgery to remove huge rocks from her tummy, is alive and well six months later and looking forward to a ripe old age.

Donations helped her cosmetologist owner pay for the $1,000 surgery, which removed the rocks -- actually, calcified lumps, one at least five inches in diameter and several smaller ones -- that were probably caused by dietary deficiencies and which were filling up her abdominal cavity and crowding her internal organs.

``A thousand dollars!'' said Teresa LaMarr, who adopted the 60-plus-year-old tortoise and discovered her ailment after her original owner died.

``I don't have that kind of money just lying around. But I thought maybe other people might feel the same way I do and would like to help, so I started telling everybody about Molly. I talked about her while I was doing manicures and stuff at my shop, and I even got my neighbors interested.''

She said the donations poured in for Molly, about whom the Daily News wrote last November.

``It was surprising and gratifying to know that others out there wanted to help preserve our desert denizens as much as I do,'' she said.

At the Antelope Valley Animal Hospital in Palmdale, Dr. Dave Gantenbein used a micro saw to cut a three-sided square trapdoor in Molly's undershell, removed the masses and repaired damage they had caused.

When that was done, Molly was placed up on a rack and the trapdoor was spread with a layer of fiberglass and epoxy to seal it shut again.

In two weeks a second application of the adhesive was applied and when that was dry she was released home.

``We brought her home in a cage to keep her confined for healing and two weeks later she was feeling so good she was anxious to get out and roam around.''

The surgery has enabled the tortoise to feast these last few months on foods essential to her health, and give her enough strength to crawl into her hillside domain to hibernate for the winter.

``Our family and all those who contributed to this will count Molly's recovery a real blessing and, as for Molly, in the spring she'll emerge to a whole new life and that's a lot for which to be truly thankful,'' said LaMarr.

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Photo:

Molly, a desert tortoise, checks out the calcified lumps removed from her abdomen. A story in the Daily News prompted readers to send donations to help pay for the $1,000 cost of the surgery.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News