I fell while taking my baby sulcata outside. :(

To start off- Shrimp seems to be completely fine right now.

I put him into his outside box and picked it up to carry him outside. I didn't notice that my children had rearranged the cement blocks on the back porch and i tripped and fell. I held onto the box the whole time- first my knees hit the cement, then my stomach and elbows hit the grass, then Shrimp's box hit the grass. So my knees and shin took in most of the force of the fall. But when I looked in the box all the dirt had shifted so it is deeper on one side. Shrimp was upside down all tucked into his shell. I gently turned him over and he instantly started munching on his sprouts that are growing in his outside box. The box is a shallow plastic box from Walmart, 2-3 inches of dirt on bottom, lid has had most of the plastic cut out and a wire grid attached that has some give to it. It wasn't a HUGE fall- i am only 5'2", but still enough that I am worried about shrimp. He was only 62 grams on Sunday and about 6 weeks old.

He seemed okay, so I let him munch on his grass and have his 30 minutes of sun, he soaked for 30 minutes when we brought him in. When i put him back in his house he didn't seem quite as active as he usually is- but i could have been overly worried. Since the fall I have seen him eat a ton of his kale and calcium salad, drink water, poop, and pee. There is no damage that I can see. He is walking using all 4 legs normally, he lifts himself all the way up so his shell isn't dragging or anything. What other signs should I watch for that would show an internal injury? How long until something like that would show up? Is there even much risk of an internal injury or am I being overly worried ? I hate it that I am such a klutz!

Pictures are of him tonight thinking about eating, and last time we weighed him.

Ouch, for you that is. It sounds like you need to worry more about yourself and not Shrimp. He sounds like he has no idea anything even happened.

Thank you for saying that @wellington , I am hoping that he is completely fine. My legs are bruised and sore, but I know how to deal with that.

I believe your tort baby Shrimp will be fine. I know what it's like to be a klutz, I'm never without a scrape or bruise of some sort lol.

Wait wait wait.... You're 5'-2" and the tort ended up with the name shrimp?

I've got a house full of munchkins so I feel your pain. Tort sounds fine.


0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)

Sounds like an ideal fall for a tort, you and his box/dirt cushioned the fall. He sounds fine, probably was just like "wait how did I end up on my back I didn't do anything!"
One time I was bringing Nank in and it was extra dark from being outside, and one of the siblings left a stupid door open and while holding Nank I walked straight into the door and he ended up on the floor and I was absolutely MORTIFIED I didn't do anything to protect him more (when in reality I did all I could) he went into his log for a few hours before he came out and I felt so bad! but he's ok now, this fall was nothing!

These things happen. Your tortoise is probably totally unharmed from this.

I'd worry more about him overheating in a small plastic box outside like that. Have you seen this thread about diet:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

This is the box compared to how big he is. He has a water dish, a hiding pot, the soil is always moist and there are seeds just starting to grow now. their is one big head of living butter lettuce in the middle, he likes to hide underneath theleaves and i put it in there to try and distract him from the growing sprouts a little bit (it isn't working- he loves the new grass popping up). It is kept inside in the kitchen when he isn't using it so it gets a lot of light but not heat. He only goes outside before noon so it isn't too hot and we get the shade from our neighbors trees. I set a timer for 30 minutes and I usually check on him 2 or 3 times before it goes off. Should I be more worried about him over-heating than I am?

If there is always shade, then it is probably okay. Your caution and vigilance is what makes me feel better about it.

I would still prefer something much larger with more furniture in it. I like kiddie pools for this. Here is an old thread:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/cheap-easy-simple-sunning-enclosure.14680/

And something like this is even safer and better for them in my experience:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...table-but-safe-outdoor-baby-enclosures.30683/

tortdad said:

Wait wait wait.... You're 5'-2" and the tort ended up with the name shrimp?

Click to expand...

Hey now- there are 6 other people in this house and only 1 of them is taller than me. Of course the one taller is almost a whole foot taller and the other 5 are still under the age of 12... And the tortoise is much smaller than even the smallest of the humans!

@Tom thanks for posting those links- it is amazing how helpful you are. I had actually read all of them except for the kiddie pool one. I think we will be doing that for his outside enclosure as soon as we start seeing them in Walmart again. I did order a bunch of seed online. I currently have 11 different containers in my kitchen with edible plants starting to grow and i am planning on more! Our grass has had chemicals sprayed on it in the past- weed AND bug killer, so I am very cautious about him eating too much out there right now. We are done with the weed spray now that we have Shrimp, but the bug spray is an every 2 month thing still. Not sure how long that stuff stays on or in the grass for.

And thanks everyone else for the kind words- you guys really did help me feel better about the whole situation.