10/7/2019 Do Cracked Turtle Shells Heal
Dec 2, 2014 - One day an eastern box turtle was presented to the Wildlife Medical Clinic after being hit. Layers of epoxy material can be applied to the shell over the cracks as a sealant of sorts. Over time, the bone of the shell will heal. With a hard shell covering a large part of their bodies, turtles and tortoises may seem like nature's tanks: hardy, little creatures that are protected from serious injury by their tough outer shells. This is not always the case, though. Numerous turtles are injured each year, and it's not just their exposed legs and heads that sustain damage.
By Allie Urbanik (vm17) One day an eastern box turtle was presented to the Wildlife Medical Clinic after being hit by a car. On examination, the most evident and pressing issue was a large carapacial fracture. The fracture involved multiple parts of the caudal carapace, and it was not evident on examination whether lung fields were exposed. Due to the potentially complicated nature of this fracture, radiographs were taken. The radiographs showed possible lung consolidation, suggesting lung exposure or infection. Our next step after taking radiographs was to fix the most glaring problem: the shell fracture.
A shell fracture can be repaired one of several ways. A very common approach is to drill small screws into the shell on either side of the fracture and then wrap wire around the screws, tightening the shell down almost like opposing tissue during suturing. Another approach, and the one taken with our patient, was to epoxy the shell. Layers of epoxy material can be applied to the shell over the cracks as a sealant of sorts. Over time, the bone of the shell will heal.
The trauma of the car accident combined with the shell repair necessitated that our patient received medication to control pain and fluids. After our turtle shell repair, we turned our attention to the fact that our patient had refused to eat since arriving. The stress of handling and captivity, not to mention the trauma of being hit by a car, can cause our patients to lose their appetites.
Additionally, inflammation and infection can also cause patients to lose their appetite. Of course, nutrition is vital to the healing process, so getting our little guy fed is of the utmost importance. At this moment we are at a cross roads of sorts. We have just recently been successful at force feeding our patient mealworms and fruits, but it may be necessary to place an esophagostomy tube if our patient stops eating or seems too stressed by the handling. Additionally, at this time of the year, turtles would be preparing themselves for winter hibernation. With our patient’s shell fracture, releasing her now so that she could overwinter is not an option. As such, she will be a long-term patient in the clinic.
Hopefully, we have crossed our most difficult challenges with this patient. We expect a full recovery of the affected shell. The prognosis is excellent.
I am constantly astounded by the tenacity and healing ability of our patients. I have no doubts that our little turtle will make a full recovery, and I look forward to releasing her in the spring.
We were moving house so we dismantled the turtles aquarium and went to the new location. However, when we placed the turtle out on the balcony to bask in the sun while we cleaned up the house and set up the aquarium, the turtle found its way out of its comfort zone and escaped off the roof. We had anticipated that, and placed barriers where we thought was a deadly opening but somehow it climbed. So it fell down three floors and cracked its shell. There is some weird stuff sticking out of its shell (see bottom picture). I don't know how I can help it right now.
It's Sunday here and all vets are closed as far as I know. I also really can't afford a vet treatment right now.
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The turtle can still move around (so spinal cord is okay) but I think it's in a very bad shape. What can I do? Turtle on roof top Injured Turtle (Not for the squeamish!). Can't believe I'm looking this up almost exactly a year later. Did your turtle make it?
I just had the same thing happen to my RES. We leave him out to bask too in a plastic trough, He managed to climb out of his trough and then over the balcony ledge too and fell 5 stories down onto concrete. Luckily he's still alive and his shell is completely intact, he seems to have responses in all his limbs, but is not moving much, and there was a bit of blood that he coughed up. Took him to the vet - he's being kept for observation:( – user5704 Sep 1 '15 at 10:26.
As covered in the other answers, your only option is to see a vet in order to have surgery done. Or in the worst case, have it humanely put to rest. I want to stress how important it is that a professional veterinarian/surgeon takes care of this injury. A turtle's shell is not only its spine, but its ribs as well. Below is a diagram of how turtles came to develop their shells that we see today. In the diagram of the modern turtle's skeleton, you can see how the ribs are spread out through the carapace (upper half of the shell). Turtles are slow growers, so unless it's a small crack, it's unlikely that it will heal naturally.
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A crack as large as yours will have to be rebuilt and sealed in order to prevent water and air from entering the inside of the shell. As far as what's sticking out of the carapace, I'm not very good with identifying internal organs, but based on its location I would say it's either the liver, or some intestines. You can reference the diagram below to see for yourself. Now, as you can see, the crack in your turtle's shell is extremely close to where the lungs should be. You should not try simply press the intestines back inside as you could risk pressing against the lungs, collapsing them, or interrupting the heartbeat, causing a stroke.
I imagine your turtle is pretty stressed out from the injury, so the shock of moving his insides, even if you managed to avoid the lungs and heart, could very well kill him. If it is the intestines sticking out, you have the risks I've mentioned, but also the risk of placing them back inside in a way that would encourage impaction. Hopefully you've been able to get him to a vet.
Otherwise be sure to keep the wound clean with pure water, keep the turtle out of the tank, but rinse him twice a day to keep him hydrated until the vet appointment. This animal really MUST see a vet to assess the damage (if the tissue leaking out is vital organs or just muscle tissue). Try calling some if the voicemails of local vets.
In my area vets put ways to contact an emergency vet in their voicemails for things that happen when they are closed. If you cannot find a vet today, gently rinse the area with clean (potable) water and keep him in a dry area without any loose substrate to get into the wound. Make sure he has access to drinking water and food if he shows interest.
Do NOT attempt to repair the shell yourself, as you may seal an infection into your repair. Allow the wound to drain.
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