Dropped Derby

[pinklivliya]

Hi! Before I introduced myself I wanted to post this. Just now I went to bring my 15-year-old Hermann tortoise named Derby back inside after letting him outside to eat and I dropped him from about waist height ( I'm 5'5 ) and it sounded like he hit the concrete so hard. I screamed 'oh my god' so loud that I scared myself. His shell looks fine but there was a white mark where he fell on the concrete. He might have a very small piece that cracked off ( there was a dent there from when we got him that never healed right and now it's kinda chipped anyway ) Will he be ok? I honestly feel like the worst tortoise mom ever. It honestly sounded like wood was thrown onto the ground. Please tell me he will be ok.

 

[vladimir]

Hi! Before I introduced myself I wanted to post this. Just now I went to bring my 15-year-old Hermann tortoise named Derby back inside after letting him outside to eat and I dropped him from about waist height ( I'm 5'5 ) and it sounded like he hit the concrete so hard. I screamed 'oh my god' so loud that I scared myself. His shell looks fine but there was a white mark where he fell on the concrete. He might have a very small piece that cracked off ( there was a dent there from when we got him that never healed right and now it's kinda chipped anyway ) Will he be ok? I honestly feel like the worst tortoise mom ever. It honestly sounded like wood was thrown onto the ground. Please tell me he will be ok.

Can you post a picture of the tortoise and the damaged area?

How is he acting now?

 

[pinklivliya]

Edit : I looked on the front of his shell and there is the smallest crack ever, almost invisible that had a dot of blood on it. Is that bad? Don't tell me I seriously hurt him.

 

[pinklivliya]

Can you post a picture of the tortoise and the damaged area?

How is he acting now?

He is a little confused still, acting a little almost shy and isn't pushing against me so hard when I go to check him. I'll post a photo in one second.

 

[pinklivliya]

The first one is where an almost invisible crack is (three plates down from the top ) and the second, it always looked that way but towards the top it looks almost like a little piece of his shell kinda chipped off

 

[Bambam1989]

Were you aware of where the primary impact was? Did it look like he landed on his side and then "bounced" to his back or back hit first?

 

[pinklivliya]

Were you aware of where the primary impact was? Did it look like he landed on his side and then "bounced" to his back or back hit first?

I'm not sure. Where the second photo is projected on is where I believe he landed, Not sure about it though I was honestly just worried about if he was ok.

 

[Taylor T.]

I would keep a very close eye on him. An object of his weight and relative size dropped from around 3' would develop significant G forces by the time he hit the ground. I did some calculations, and came up with him be traveling at 4.43m/s at the point of impact, carrying 9.82 joules of energy (assuming he weighs about a kilogram). This would not be a lot if you had dropped him on grass or soft dirt that would bring him to a stop over an extended period of time, but concrete will not slowly absorb the impact, it will stop him almost instantaneously.

He most likely will be fine, tortoises are very resilient, but I think it's more internal damage than shell damage that I would be worried about.

 

[pinklivliya]

I would keep a very close eye on him. An object of his weight and relative size dropped from around 3' would develop significant G forces by the time he hit the ground. I did some calculations, and came up with him be traveling at 4.43m/s at the point of impact, carrying 9.82 joules of energy (assuming he weighs about a kilogram). This would not be a lot if you had dropped him on grass or soft dirt that would bring him to a stop over an extended period of time, but concrete will not slowly absorb the impact, it will stop him almost instantaneously.

He most likely will be fine, tortoises are very resilient, but I think it's more internal damage than shell damage that I would be worried about.

He ia eating now, thats a good sign right?

 

[Taylor T.]

He ia eating now, thats a good sign right?

Yes, it is. Doen't mean he's completely in the clear though.

 

[pinklivliya]

He ia eating now, thats a good sign right?

Yes, it is. Doen't mean he's completely in the clear though.

How long should I keep an eye on him for? A week or two?

 

[Taylor T.]

How long should I keep an eye on him for? A week or two?

I really don't know for sure. I think any closely related symptoms would manifest in that time though.