Minor cracked shell

Nevada

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Feb 2, 2021
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canada, sk
My three year old hermanns tortoise minho recently fell and cracked his shell. he fell headfirst and it looks like he chipped off a large chunk by the head area. there was a small amount of blood but it is the next day and he's awake, running around, eating, and is his usual high energy self. in one of the pictures he is trying to bite me, which is very in character for him. i have cleaned the wound and then taped it up to prevent any dirt from getting into the wound. Any advice?
minho 2.pngminho 3.pngminho.png


minho 2.pngminho 3.pngminho.png
 

TammyJ

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Sorry this happened to your tortoise. I think someone with experience will soon come along here and help you. All the best.
 

Yossarian

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You can go ahead and fully remove the cracked shell fragment, make sure the bone underneath is not too badly damaged (in that location it should be fine). Clean the area up with some disinfectant and you can put a little neosporin on it if you want. The bleeding is from the underlying bone but it shouldnt bleed much. Dont cover it, keep it clean and keep the tort warm for the next couple weeks. My own tort had a very similar injury from falling a few years ago. It will will recover pretty quickly but the damage will remain pretty much forever, although eventually exposed bone should develop new keratin. I wouldnt count this as a serious injury, it wont affect your tort at all once healed.
 

Nevada

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Remove the cracked piece? some of it is partially attached, will this hurt him at all? Thank you for the advice and reassurance I feel really bad for him
 

Yossarian

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Remove the cracked piece? some of it is partially attached, will this hurt him at all? Thank you for the advice and reassurance I feel really bad for him

yes, remove it, and yes it might well be painful, but it probably hurts anyway and it needs to be done, that piece of shell isnt going to re-attach. If you need, you can use a clipper or nail scissor or something to cut it away if it is still attached on one side. When your done file down any jagged edges with a nail file.
 

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