Urgent Care :: Turtle FELL a long way, please advise.

[Zarjulius & Miaomiao]

One of my baby RES who has otherwise been very healthy and is showing good signs of growth just gathered enough strength to climb out of the little box I always put the two in while I clean out their tank. He probably also used the other one as a step. In any case when I came back with the tank I saw that only one of them is in the box. I looked around and turns out he was on the floor, under a dark table in the corner (quite far from the tank site), ALL COVERED in filthy and chunky dust!!! Not to mention, of course, the equivalent of a 10-story fall or so for a human. There are shoes right under the dresser that he fell from, and I'm only praying to God that one of those broke his fall a little, but I have no way of telling if he fell smack on the floor or the shoes. Anyway, I immediately rinsed him off for a long time, making sure I get rid of all the dust. I imagine he was pretty disheartened in the process, but I had to. I checked for any visible signs of a fall - cracks, dents, blood - couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. After I cleaned him up I put him back in the tank. Not noticing any unusual behavior. He even flipped out like they usually do when you startle them, when I just put him back in the clean water tank. I dropped a couple of baby shrimp to see if he's still responding to food and he did eat them (he's just a glutton normally). Please advise anyone who's had this happen to their RES.. Should I be worried? The other turtle, the one that didn't fall, is already sick with RI and I've been giving him Amikacin shots. Please let me know your thoughts, because I'm very worried. I love my turtles very much and this whole ordeal really worried me. I can't imagine not being injured after a huge fall like that, but maybe turtles are more resistant than I think. I don't know.

How big is your turtle? ~2 in.
How long have you had it? ~3 months

What is the water temperature? 80+
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? less than half of a 10 gl
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes, fluval 1 (i know its not good enough)

What is the basking temperature? 80+
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? the green ramp that's popular
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? pellets, baby shrimp, live black worms
When was the last time your turtle ate? just after the fall, a little

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 10
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? not really

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? no

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? not that i can tell

[jenaero]

80+ isn't really a good temperature for either the water or the basking spot. You'll have to get a good thermometer and get exact temps on both. Water should be 78, basking temp should be 88-90.

I had a turtle climb out of the tank and fall about 4 feet to the floor. I found her clear across the apartment a few hours later. She scratched her chin and cracked her shell and she came out of it ok (we did go to the vet).

If yours is acting normal and swimming fine with no visible injuries, just keep an eye on him for the next week or so. If anything changes (not eating, not swimming) then get him to a vet. For now, try not to worry too much.

[Zarjulius & Miaomiao]

I do have a thermometer in the water actually. The water temp is about 79.5-80F. I recently bumped the water temp up just a bit since one of my turtles is sick and needs to stay warmer. I will get a thermometer for the basking spot, don't have one as of now.

That's a heck of a fall that your turtle endured. When you went to the pet, were internal injuries suspected at all? If so, how were they checked for?
Anyway, glad she came out of it fine!!

Thanks for the advice.

[jenaero]

By the time I was able to get in to the vet, it was a few days after the fall. He pretty much said what I told you. To keep an eye on her for any odd behaviour. I had to apply ointment to the shell and chin tho. If they had to check for internal injuries I would imagine they'd do xrays.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Did he fall on a carpeted floor? How far exactly did he fall (in feet?).

Definitely keep an eye on him for the next coupla days & see if you notice anything unusual like a loss in appetite, favoring one arm/leg, or any unusual shell breaks, etc.

As you found out, they tend to be escape artists & would make Houdini proud!

One thing that helps is that hatchlings are fairly light-weight so when they fall, the don't have as much momentum. I have had my adult RES actually take a 5-foot fall (she is EXTREMELY strong & she got away from my dad's hands one time when he was holding her up...she actually fell & *bounced* off the stationary bike which was underneath her!!!!!!!! My poor baby!!!!!!!). A friend of ours who was a cat/dog vet came over to my house to check her for a broken limb & told us he thought her arm was severely sprained but that nothing felt broken (she favored her sprained arm for a couple of weeks after that & I just didn't let her up on the basking dock until she seemed to be doing better). When turtles are large/heavy, then the weight of the shell can actually do some damage to a limb if they fall on it (just to let you know for the future).

Sheba has also fallen off the kitchen counter (4ft drop) onto the hard kitchen floor one time when she somehow climbed out of the top of her tank & onto the kitchen counter (which was just above her basking area). Crazy turtle.

In the meantime, you may want to separate your RI (sick) turtle from the ones who are healthy to hopefully prevent the others from getting sick too. Good luck.

[marisa]

If you didn't notice any breaks or cuts on him when you were cleaning him, just keep an eye on him for a few days to see that he doesn't start exhibiting any unusual behavior. Smaller turtles have somewhat more pliable shells, which seems to make them less susceptible to injury such as cracking (of course falling a long distance is likely to damage any turtle's shell). I once had a hatchling that fell quite a distance and apparently got the wind knocked out of him. He didn't want to move for a good while (seemed like an eternity to me), but eventually went back to being his normal self. Just keep an eye on him.

[Zarjulius & Miaomiao]

I see, thanks for the replies everyone. Pink is actually exhibiting NO unsual signs or symptoms. In fact, he seems only hungrier and smarter. I'm serious when I say one day the turtles will prevail and rule the humans. This whole time we've been laughing at them for being so slow, while they've just been taking their sweet time planning it all out!!!

[Breigh]

hehe they are a lot more hardy than we give them credit for Glad to hear Pink is doing alright!