The source of a sick tortoise's discomfort became clear after a south Florida vet took an X-ray - it had swallowed a turtle pendant.

Dr Don Harris said the 15lb male African spurred tortoise named Lola had begun acting sick over the weekend.

Lola's owner brought him to the Avian & Exotic Animal Medical Centre in Miami, which Dr Harris co-owns.

After an X-ray, he spotted the small, turtle-shaped object inside his patient.

Lola's owner told Dr Harris she did not recognise the pendant, but he said tortoises graze like cattle. They eat grass, plants and other vegetation, sometimes consuming rocks and other objects as well.

He is keeping Lola at his clinic, trying to get the pendant to pass. If that fails, surgery may follow.