Ralph was dropped

[DAC8671]

My husband was trying to get Ralph out of the dogloo. He dropped him onto his side, then rolled onto his back. He was inside his dogloo, so it wasn't very high up. I doubt there will be any reprecussions to Ralph (my husband on the other hand..........). But thought I'd come on here and see. As soon as he dropped him he picked him back up. We're talking about 3 seconds. But he's never been dropped before. I'm a worried mama. Anything I should look for?

Ralph just seemed scared and PISSED.

 

[RTfanatic]

Cracks somewhere on his shell would likely be the most serious to look for. Chips next, but less likely to be really serious. Regardless, dropping him from a short distance inside a dogloo onto the plastic floor is not highly likely to hurt him seriously, though it could shake him up a bit and make him more timid for a while. One way to think of it that in the wild a predator might try to pick up a tortoise in his mouth to try to bite into the shell and then drop it as it slips out, possibly numerous times until they give up. In general they are strong enough to survive that, though a high drop on a hard rock can be dangerous and even fatal.

 

[DAC8671]

And the inside has a ton of timothy hay inside. Nothing is cracked. Although anything's possible, I would highly doubt dropping him from just a few inches would crack him.

Yeah, I see your point about in the wild. I"m just worried and overprotective. That's one more reason Ralph doesn't like my husband. hehehe. He never really warmed up to my husband. He likes other people, but not him. hehehehe such personalities.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Glad he's ok so far! That's scary.

My tort got skittish all of a sudden these last few days. I'm still wondering what we did to freak him out.

 

[Kristina]

I got my first tort when I was 12 (he tragcally died 11 years later when a predator tore it's way into his (I thought foolproof) outdoor pen.)

One day I was in my room with my boyfriend a the time (I think I was 15-16) and had Gomer out of his table and on the floor a couple of feet in front of where I was sitting cross legged. My 10-years-younger sister BURST through my door and ran into my room. She kicked him, and he went spinning across the carpet into the leg of my nightstand.

I FREAKED. At twelve I spent time twice a day cutting up his food, I had done tons of research on this guy, and for me he was a dream come true and my BABY. (I still miss him so much, I feel so much guilt, and I have never been so devastated by the death of a friend...) His eyes were wide and bulging, and his tongue was sticking out... I thought she had stepped on him. I was screaming and bawling, my sister when screaming and bawling for her dad, and my boyfriend is sitting there with a look of horror on his face...

Within a couple of minutes, he was motoring around like nothing happened. I think that his response was to the shock of being treated like that, he had never known anything but the utmost care.

I think Ralph will be just fine. The initial shock might have been a bit much, but I am sure that at some point even wild tortoises stumble and have a short fall while climbing around their natural habitat.

(And as for my poor, sweet little man, may he rest in peace, that is why I have to this day never left a tort outside overnight. The blunders that I made while trying to do the best for him are the reason that I made it my goal to learn everything that I can, and to help others along that path.)

Kristina

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I have dropped tortoises from some distance onto the carpet and one on a hardwood floor and don't think any have been hurt from it...shaken up but not damaged. I once dropped a small baby from my hieght 5"8" onto the dirt outside and freaked out...But he never showed any sign of damage...He even bounced, it was horrible...
It's sad that Ralph doesn't like your husband...maybe he could spend a little time socializing with your hubby and getting to be used to him more...

 

[DAC8671]

My husband has tried everything, we even tried having him be the one who feeds Ralph for a month. Nope. He turns around and walks away from my husband. If hubby gets too close, Ralph "hisses" and pulls in tight. When I walk over to him, he comes up to me. He loves it when I rub the top of his head. My husband has never done anything (except drop him...hehehehe) to him since the day we had him as a 2 month hatchling. In fact, my hubby was the one who handled him most when he was a baby.

I guess torts are like people, they like who they like and don't like the rest. We don't lose sleep over it, but just one of those things.