Cracked carapace

[Madortoise]

Hi guys. Long time no post. My beloved desert tortoise Penelope has been steadily growing and she's given me and my husband great joy for the past several years with her curious, fun, innocent, and gentle nature. She is our baby. We have new neighbor since this summer and I thought they were better than the last family... Today, I found out that the kid (around 8 y/o boy) next door and his bratty little friends threw rocks at Penelope. My husband first found rocks in her area and the top of her carapace dented and cracked (layers chipped). It almost looked like there was a trace of blood. I fed her this morning and didn't notice anything different so it must have happened during the day when we were at work and kids were back from school. It was my husband's b-day today so the party had to go on and I didn't find out until we were somewhere else having dinner. She seems ok now but other than my need to have a talk (which I could use some help in staying calm) what do you all think I need to do with her? Do I need to cancel everything tomorrow and take her to Herp doc (mine may not be available actually on Sat.)?

 

[Madortoise]

Here's the pic I just took of her carapace.

 

[jeffjeff]

that's awful. i don't think i'd be would not be able to control my temper if some one did that to one of our animals the little s**ts. i don't have experience with injury's so can't help. hope she feels better soon.

 

[yillt]

Here's the pic I just took of her carapace.View attachment 98628

Why would they do that??

 

[Yvonne G]

That's really disgusting! I don't think the tortoise needs to see a vet, but it might do the kids some good if you take the tortoise and show it to the parents of the kids. Let them know how important this tortoise is to you and your family, how much you love it. Maybe compare it to their dog or cat. Kids just don't think when they do stuff like that. They probably were just trying to get the tortoise to move, not realizing the rock would harm it.

 

[Madortoise]

Yvonne, that's good to know she may not need a vet's care. Anything we can do at home to ease her pain? Also that is what I thought - they didn't think of a consequence but my husband had already caught the boy next door once messing with our sprinkler and lie with a smile...This time also he was reportedly nonchalant smiling and saying, oh yeah so-n-so did it...so he's labeled a boy a psychopath and doesn't want to give him a pleasure of showing him that he is hurting us or the tortoise. I disagree with labeling but I also feel reluctant to let him come close to tortoise out of fear. I found out that Dr. Greek in YL is open tomorrow til noon so my husband could take her, and bring the receipt to the neighbor to show and inform them that we'll report next time to the humane society. I sort of get the sense caregivers now days will be concerned more about legal consequences, unfortunately, than character building. Either way I'm scared of the bad sign these boys are exhibiting with animal cruelty. I'll mention that for sure with the g/mo who cares for the boy. Hopefully she knows what to do with the boy and his friends. The tortoise area is adjacent to the neighbor's house along the side of our house. We want to move her now but other side of our yard is not that secured she can dig herself out under the fence. Any other thoughts on this situation?

 

[Yvonne G]

That stinks.

But you sure can't trust those boys to leave your property alone if you're not home to protect it. I would make the other side secure and move the tortoise. Out of sight, hopefully out of mind.

You might also consider keeping the tortoise in the house for a while.

 

[mike taylor]

All you can do is talk to the people and give them a copy of the vet bill and make them pay for it . I would also make a report to the police . Just in case it happens again .

 

[Yvonne G]

Police report is always good.

Another little thing you could do: Desert tortoises belong to the state, not to you, the care giver. You can show them a copy of the rules where it says if you mess with desert tortoises you could be fined up to $10,000.

 

[mike taylor]

Goid point Yvonne . Mini had some what the same problem with the neighboring people some months back so I built her a new tortoise house to protect buddy . Maybe you can add a screen or something so they can't see him .

 

[Carol S]

I cannot believe how a lot of children act. A lot of parents are not doing their job of teaching their children right from right and compassion. I would install a security system that monitors your backyard. That way if the police get involved you will have proof of the video and the kid cannot lie and say he did not do it.

I also really like Yvonne's idea about showing them a copy of the rules of a Desert Tortoise. Maybe the threat of $10,ooo fine will encourage the parents to do something.

Poor tort. I hope she is not in pain. Dr. Greek is also my tortoises vet. He is an excellent vet!

 

[Magilla504]

I would talk to the parents to be generous and give them a huge warning. I would give them this cruel freebie but warn them that you will call law enforcement next time for animal cruelty. Also, to ensure that you can prove it if it happens again,purchase a security camera. They make small discreet ones you could hide anywhere(ex. A birdhouse) that are wireless. My neighbor and I caught a child stalker in the act by putting up a wireless camera.
Good luck

 

[Madortoise]

All good feedback and validating! Love you guys! Thank you, everyone. I was also thinking to lecture them about the endangered species and the state protected animal issues and more about consequences. Rules with identified amount of fine would be great to show. We called Dr. Greek and he said unless it's a gaping wound that could get infected with maggets n yuck he didn't think it was emergency but he gave us an appo for next wk. Will keep you posted!

 

[stojanovski92113]

I'm really sorry to hear about this situation of how others act and again treat animals!! And to see that picture breaks my heart!! I don't know how I'd be able to stay calm!!! A good lecture to that whole damn family is a start!! I would reassure them law enforcement will take care of this the next time and your lucky they are not at your door steps now!!

 

[leigti]

All good feedback and validating! Love you guys! Thank you, everyone. I was also thinking to lecture them about the endangered species and the state protected animal issues and more about consequences. Rules with identified amount of fine would be great to show. We called Dr. Greek and he said unless it's a gaping wound that could get infected with maggets n yuck he didn't think it was emergency but he gave us an appo for next wk. Will keep you posted!

I would definitely not go easy on them. If the pure guilt of how bad this is to do doesn't work then fear of law-enforcement and a fine night. I would definitely have trouble staying calm.when my neighbor through and M 80 towards my dog there was almost a murder on my street.needless to say they never did it again and apologized profusely. But another approach that might, might work is to invite the kids over to meet the tortoise. Feed her Touch her, learn a little bit about her.etc. and maybe that would help them realize how personable tortoises can be and that they are living breathing feeling creatures.

 

[FLINTUS]

Firstly, I feel very sorry for you about all of this.
Secondly, one of my erosas has two cracks in her shell, one which is almost identical to this but on the corner of her shell-I guess they were probably rocks or something as she would have probably been WC originally-, but so far I haven't had any problems with either one, so just keep an eye on it and it should be OK. Does she live with any other tortoises?

 

[bouaboua]

All you can do is talk to the people and give them a copy of the vet bill and make them pay for it . I would also make a report to the police . Just in case it happens again .

I like this idea. Money (vet bill) can do better talk.

 

[D3sirable]

If it happened to me I couldn't just let it go. I'd make police report / go to vet and let them pay the bills / give a big warning. But I doubt kids that young can get any consequences so I'd just smack them hard in the face the next time I see them.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

how can someone harm an animal and feel pleasure in that. i know the kid is only 8 but still what kinda weird stuff is that kid thinking?

 

[Madortoise]

Ok, here's the update. I spoke with the grandma who takes care of the kids. She was thankful that I told her and that my husband had confronted the kids (though no one there admitted guilt). She said that's violence and not acceptable and she offered to pay for the vet bill. The concern remains that she was aware of the kids playing by throwing rocks in general and even after she told them they had escalated to throw rocks at a specific target, my tortoise. Also, when I approached the grandma, the boy was snooping around and saying "I didn't know you had torotise!" several times. I wanted to kick him in a face but restrained myself and walked away. I'll let the grandma handle because she said there'll be a consequence. She promised to also speak with other parents so hopefully all parents will reprimand them and also talk about the value of life. I did caution the grandma about the different kind of consequence including fine for hurting State protected animals and her eyes opened very wide at that. If the kids are someone I could trust...then I definitely would have invited them over but at this time, I don't. They need to earn my trust. Can't risk putting my Penelope in harm's way. I had asked grandma to make sure also that they don't go into our backyard. Thanks everyone.