Dropped one month old desert tortoise!

vicirmaandbean

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I was putting my baby tortoise back into its enclosure and it slipped from my hand when his back leg pushed my finger. When he fell he landed on his back shell and peed a lot considering how small he is. The fall was probably about 3 feet onto concrete and he stayed in his shell scared for about 2 min before he went about walking a lot. After that I soaked him in a warm water bath for 13 minutes but I’m concerned because he didn’t drink any water when I was soaking him. We checked him thoroughly and there’s no cracks or chips but he’s really tiny and I wanna make sure he’s okay! Any tips will help, thanks!
 

KarenSoCal

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Tortoise lungs are just under the bone of the carapace (top shell). I'm guessing here, but I think landing on his back from that height onto concrete probably knocked the wind out of him. It was a fairly strong shock to his lungs.

But baby torts are tough little nuggets. I think he will be just fine. Keep an eye out for bruising under the carapace, as well as under the plastron (bottom shell), or if he develops any breathing difficulties.

I'll tag a member who is extremely knowledgeable about tort anatomy.

@zovick do you agree with my thoughts on this?
 

zovick

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Tortoise lungs are just under the bone of the carapace (top shell). I'm guessing here, but I think landing on his back from that height onto concrete probably knocked the wind out of him. It was a fairly strong shock to his lungs.

But baby torts are tough little nuggets. I think he will be just fine. Keep an eye out for bruising under the carapace, as well as under the plastron (bottom shell), or if he develops any breathing difficulties.

I'll tag a member who is extremely knowledgeable about tort anatomy.

@zovick do you agree with my thoughts on this?
Yes, I agree with Karen. The tortoise will probably be fine in a day or two.
 

vicirmaandbean

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Tortoise lungs are just under the bone of the carapace (top shell). I'm guessing here, but I think landing on his back from that height onto concrete probably knocked the wind out of him. It was a fairly strong shock to his lungs.

But baby torts are tough little nuggets. I think he will be just fine. Keep an eye out for bruising under the carapace, as well as under the plastron (bottom shell), or if he develops any breathing difficulties.

I'll tag a member who is extremely knowledgeable about tort anatomy.

@zovick do you agree with my thoughts on this?
Thank you so much! He seems to be okay, he was walking around a lot but the one thing that worries me is that he has a bubbly saliva coming out of his mouth. Should I be concerned about this?
 

Blackdog1714

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Thank you so much! He seems to be okay, he was walking around a lot but the one thing that worries me is that he has a bubbly saliva coming out of his mouth. Should I be concerned about this?
Please post a picture of your enclosure and what are your temps and humidity ?
 

mastershake

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ive seen it happen before as long as no major shell damage and they are walking around properly and not stumbling or anything like that they should be fine. especially if no issues in a few days you should be in the clear.
 

zovick

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Thank you so much! He seems to be okay, he was walking around a lot but the one thing that worries me is that he has a bubbly saliva coming out of his mouth. Should I be concerned about this?
Well, it isn't normal, so yes, it is a concern. Maybe the tortoise aspirated some food or water when it hit the ground. I recommend taking a cotton swab or a tissue and just soaking up the saliva to see if you can get it all absorbed so that it will stop coming out of the mouth and there will be less danger of the tortoise inhaling any of it (again, if that is why this is happening).
 

KarenSoCal

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Thank you so much! He seems to be okay, he was walking around a lot but the one thing that worries me is that he has a bubbly saliva coming out of his mouth. Should I be concerned about this?

I'm not sure. Is he breathing through his nose? Or mouth breathing? Does he seem to be in any distress at all? Is there a lot of saliva, like it's being continuously gushed into his mouth?

I would keep a really close eye on him, especially if you see any blood in the bubbles. And make sure he doesn't flip over. You don't want him to get the saliva into his lungs.
 

vicirmaandbean

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Hello everyone!
Thank you all so much, this community is very nice and welcoming, and I appreciate that. So about the bubbles/saliva, it literally lasted one second, and he has been so active, drinking loads of water, eating a really good amount, and walking a lot, with napping throughout the day. The enclosure is pretty spacey with an iron mesh thing to cover it and he has a water dish, a place to hide from the sun, and some rocks he can climb over. He is outside in a shady (but still there is sun if he wants it) area during the day and inside in the garage at night, so he's in the natural temp he's supposed to be in. He's also not in his enclosure all day, we let him out when we can and he walks in our grassy yard for about 20 to 30 minutes.
 

mastershake

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they may have been stressed out i have seen that happen when they get really stressed
 

KarenSoCal

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It sounds to me like he's just fine. They're resilient. After all, they often survive being dropped by a bird after the bird grabbed it and flew.

Enjoy your baby!
 

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