The owner of a tortoise that an X-ray shows had swallowed a turtle pendant is from Clearwater and gave Bay News 9 an exclusive interview about the incident.

"I noticed that he hadn’t used the bathroom in a while and for tortoises that’s kind of usual," said Mercedes Millick, 22. "They can hold it for a while but I was like this is a little too long."

Millick said she took her 3-year-old spur-thighed tortoise named Low to a south Florida veterinarian on Monday and initially the vet didn't believe what he saw on the X-ray.

"He thought one of the techs was pulling a prank on him. He didn’t believe it. He was like, 'oh, you guys put that there,'" she said. "Then he came in the room and showed me and I was like, 'wow.' The charm was the shape of a turtle.”

Millick recently moved to Miami to study biology at Florida International University and said she believes the 15-pound male African tortoise swallowed that pendant in her mom's backyard in Clearwater.

"I’m not sure exactly where it’s from. We live near a lot of little kids," she said. "So, we’re kind of thinking maybe that’s the cause of it."

Millick's mom said Low is attracted to shiny objects and used to dig up the yard.

"We’ve asked all of our friends if they’re missing a charm and nobody’s claiming it," Elizabeth Millick said. "So, we don’t know where it came from. It could’ve been in the yard forever. Who knows?”

The mom said at first she had the same reaction as the vet when she saw the X-ray and then made sure it wasn't her fault because she wears a turtle necklace.

"I thought it was a joke at first and then when I realized it was real I panicked," she said. "Went into my jewelry box and made sure I had my necklace. So, I knew it wasn’t my doing."

Millick said Low has been at the Avian & Exotic Animal Medical Center in Miami since Monday and hopes the tortoise will pass the pendant on his own.

"They’re giving him some medicine and right now there’s no improvement but we’re still waiting," she said. "Hoping that we can avoid surgery."

Millick said surgery will cost $1,500 and she's willing to spend the money if that will save her pet tortoise's life.