General Care Discussion :: Turtle fell off chair!

[julee]

Last night a friend came over and she started playing with the turtles, and she put Rocky on the chair as she play with her. Then Rocky dashed off the chair and fell ... she seems to be okay, wandering around still after the fall but i am still worried. The chair's only about the height of my knee, checked for cracks but none visible.

[TerrapinStation]

Hopefully the little fella is just shaken, and not stirred.

Seriously, though, I hope it's alright. I'm learning about these guys still, but from a physics viewpoint (F=ma), how big is the turtle? Bigger means more weight and more force with which to land, but also means a thicker shell. I'm sure it is fine, though.

When my son was 4 he was temporarily banned for turtle chucking at the local kid's museum. The adult turtle he tossed was fine. I do not recommend this, by any means. And don't be hating him for this, he was very young and learned never to do it again.

[aal]

True, turtles have hard shells, but the height of the drop matters. Heavier, the adults will take more internal damage than the younglings. If there are no cracks its fine. The turtle may be slightly traumatized though. Just make sure Rocky doesn't get anymore of these situations.

[Outlander]

My turtle accidently fell off my balcony once and fell 12 feet onto the concrete balcony below. He ended up being fine, no cracks or anything (just a bit of a nosebleed), swimming around like nothing happened! I'm always surprised at how tough they really are.

[julee]

So far Rocky is acting normally and enjoys her time out wandering around the apartment. *phew* ... She's about 2.5 inches.

[imderanged]

My nephew dropped my turtle, and he was OK, I'd say if there are no cracks in his shell, and he's acting normal, you can stop worrying. Just keep in mind next time that these little guys can be much faster than you might think!

[julee]

I've warned her that they are not as slow as she thinks! But i have no idea why would she put Rocky on the chair and leave her alone ... It got me really mad at her that night.

[julee]

I'd be more worried if it's Runt though, Runt's like half of Rocky's size and not as strong as Rocky. Phew...

[bradmeisel]

i am glad it Rocky seems to be ok. One of my turts fell when she was young and is ok as well.

[LittleResQNorth]

My turtle once managed to get through the barricade at the top of my basement steps (put there to keep him out) and fell down about 6 stairs bouncing 3 times. I was upstairs and as soon as I heard the first bang I knew exactly what it was and was terrified! I ran down there and found him sitting there tucked in his shell.
He was certainly shocked but after a very thurough examination he seemed to be fine. I dry docked him for a day to make sure but he's fine. It's been a month and he doesn't go near the stairs anymore- I don't care what anyone says, he remembers what happened!!

[Mis4Monopoly]

A good rule of thumb is to have inexperienced turtle handlers play with them on the floor, that way there is no risk of being dropped.