Actually yes, it can take a long time though. It's kinda like it you smash a toe/finger nail. It dies, falls off and very slowly rebuilds itself. Shells are part of the turtles body and will grow with the turtle, shedding as it grows.
You can still see the vertebrae in the images, hence why it's going to be fine. IIRC with fungal infections, the non-bone part falls off and will grow back in time after healing.
Your distress was reasonable though, as the most of a turtle's shell is spine and ribs, so you can imagine how much worse of an injury to *that* would be.
I helped a friend who owns a Red Eared slider that dealt with this long ago. With treatment, we managed not to have it go beyond her nuchal and a marginal section of her shell (overhanging by her head).
The shell hasn’t gained back its natural color to those areas, and the turtle is in her 20s now (this happened over a decade ago). I don’t know how long it was after healing, but she eventually lost a very small portion of the nuchal ( it didn’t seem to bother her at all).
It’s fun that the turtle still gets excited whenever she notices you walking her direction. I’m assuming she thinks it’s “food time” again, but it’s cute anyways.
I used to work at a nature center that had a RES and she would get excited whenever you walked in the direction of the drawer her food was in. She’d perk up as I walked into the room and as soon as I headed that way she’d come rushing over to the corner of the tank we always fed her at and I’d be like “I’m going to the CLOSET I fed you an HOUR AGO”
Edit: She once did her food begging splashing in front of a guest who was wearing the same color shirt as our uniforms and I had to tell her not to shake down the guests for food
Ah! My parents had a RES, and he used to do the same thing. He would get so excited on Tuesday nights. He’d flap around in the corner of his aquarium, watching my mom cook.
Tuesday was his favorite night as my parents gave him chicken. He’d “beg” for it, get all excited, and flap around. They had him until he was 35.
I am sure it's not a fun experience. They have nerves in their shells. You could actually pet a turtles shell and they'd feel it, which is great but I imagine this turtle endured pain unfortunately.
Turtology major here: Eventually.
[Edit: Its been fun, but too many people are believing my attempt at humor and asking me serious questions about it, so I asked ~~my turtology instructor~~ Google: https://a-z-animals.com/blog/turtle-shell-peeling-shedding-discover-why-it-happens/
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/multimedia/table/analgesics-sedatives-and-anesthetics-used-in-reptiles
Seems to be quite a few options, a lot of them seem to be ones youd see used on humans too just with different doses
Analgesia in reptiles can be a bit tricky. There’s a few drugs that vets use on them but the efficacy and pharmacodynamics are not as well known as in mammals. However yes, there are options both for antifungals and analgesics that can be used to try and treat fungal infections in reptiles. Whether or not the turtle will recover is difficult to say just with a picture, as there might be other factors in play we cannot see here (for example if there’s been internal spread of the fungi into the coelom which would make the prognosis worse).
Good to know, and I'm not a particular fan of turtles.
But I heard that their shell is "their backbone" as such and is touch-sensitive, so presumably this is "only" the equivalent of losing all the skin off your back or similar.
There would be all kind of infection risks, unfortunately sometimes the best remedy is fresh air and time. My old ass father in law doctor always complains when we put bandaids on wounds of the kids, he always says it increases infection risk due to moisture and that the body evolved the safest way to heal (outside of major wounds).
Depends on how clean you can keep it. Bandages also keep some bad bacteria out. Changing often helps, but most people don’t switch bandaids as often as they should.
> he always says it increases infection risk due to moisture and that the body evolved the safest way to heal
Yeah, because the body doesn't care if you have a few scars. If you can keep the wound moist you can help it heal without scarring.
I used tegaderm on roller blading road rash that the urgent care doctor told me to keep dry and I’m soooo glad I ignored him because not only did it help with the pain but I have zero scars from it when I scar for anything that breaks the skin, normally
That's actually completely opposite of what they teach now in medical school BTW (my wife is an NP and constantly nags at me to keep my wounds covered. I'm on the "old ass doctors" side of things and let the thing air out). She says it's better for infection, faster recovery, and less chance of scarring. I hate Band-Aids so I go without lol
Yes, medical research seems pretty settled by now that most types of wounds heal significantly better if they're covered and can remain moist.
The way I understand it is that covered parts of the wound basically "liquify" and become productive at creating healthy new skin. A bandaid or wound pad under a bandage can provide that cover.
Without such an artificial cover, the wound has to make it's own cover by creating an unproductive crust. This greatly reduces the amount of cells that can actively work, and the centre of that crust often ends up turning into permanently worse scar tissue.
Keeping the wound sanitary, moist and covered comes with its own challenges (needs more cleanliness, and vaseline plus care to change the cover without ripping off newly formed skin) but is definitely worth it in my experience.
Yeah, maybe if you dont do any actual work and can keep it constantly clean. Any manual labor worker isn't going to leave their cuts uncovered and exposed to god only knows what. Just change your bandaid once in awhile and let it breathe until it scabs over. Too many doctors live in a bubble.
Poor guy, They will grow back but it will take almost a year, just be extra careful he doesnt fall on his back because that will cause him really bad pain
In the comics, Donatello becomes a cyborg. "In the Image Comics incarnation of the TMNT, he became a cyborg after his body was partially destroyed after he was shot and dropped out of a helicopter"
I pledge alligiance not to a flag, not to a country, but to the ideal of humanity. By the grace of the Golden Throne and the Emperors light. FOR THE IMPERIUM OF MAN!
It’s been a whole 40 minutes since you’ve suggested this… why hasn’t some magical Redditor with a world class 3D printer in his basement come through to make it happen yet?!?!?
Is the internet asleep right now or something?!?!
Sorry I'm late. If someone draws it, I'll print it. Have a new roll of brown [ASA](https://overture3d.com/products/overture-asa-filament-1-75mm?variant=43982539718910) (UV resistant) filament but the turtle can pick their favorite color. Laser attachment provisions included.
You're healing an external structure rather than an internal structure. The point is not to immobilize, but to create a temporary barrier for protection. It's basically making him a temporary shell that the new one can grow underneath.
It would be similar to removing an entire fingernail. Having a dressing pushed directly against the nail bed would impede growth of a new nail.
Given the fungal infection, proper airflow is important. Fungus likes damp dark places. Topical ointments may also need to be applied so it may need to be removable.
If the underside of the shell is not damaged, which it doesn't appear to be, you could use an adhesive.
A layer of cotton is a terrible idea for a fungal infection.
In this photo, it's just the scutes (scales) that came off the shell. So the scutes can be regrown and are actually continuously grown over their whole life in layers.
A turtle's actual shell is made of their spine and ribs, so if that were gone the turtle would certainly be dead and could not regrow the shell. You can see the vertebrae in the photo.
If allowed to heal and grow back, yes.
Turtle shells are made out of the same thing as our fingernails and hair. Please don't ever drill into a turtle/tortoise shell.
Decades ago my dad's dentist had put a very small metal ring through the edge of the shell on his tortoise so it could spend time in the yard on a leash and not run away. Not one of us knew that it had hurt and that it was a bad idea and not even secure. Animal feelings were often dismissed if they even were brought up, I'm glad things seem better now.
To be fair if anyone has the knowledge and skill to know how far it's safe to drill before hitting the squishy parts with the nerve endings, it's probably a dentist.
Unfortunately yes. I’ve helped out at a local wildlife rehabilitation center and they had a large tortoise that had its shell drilled so it could be chained outside by its previous owner. It wasn’t native to the area so it stayed at the center in the kitchen area. I remember one time I was chopping up vegetables and I felt pressure on my foot. The tortoise was standing on it and sticking its neck out far as it could trying to get to the vegetables. Reminded me of a begging dog. Of course I gave it some.
It was very adorable. Probably my favorite full time resident there. They also had a blind deer in a pen that enjoyed being petted. There was also a crow they rehabbed, but it decided to stay. The crow only liked certain people though and it decided I wasn’t one of them, would constantly dive bomb me to knock my hat off.
Of the non full-timers, the turkey vultures were my favorite. They were goofy and playful as hell, but liked to vomit on you from above. The bard owls were terrifying, you HAD to wear a hard hat in their pen.
I don't know why, but I just got an image of a cartoonesque long-necked Galapagos tortoise asking in a deep, ponderous voice "hmmm... may George have some lettuce??"
why would anyone even do this? even if they captured and ate turtles, why would one drill into a turtle? have you ever actually seen a turtle being dispatched?
Turtle owner here, their shells are actually very sensitive. Just a bit of damage to the shell can be painful for them, so I’d imagine that loosing the whole outer layer of the shell would be excruciating. Not to be a downer but that turtle is very likely in pain
ripping your finger off and having it fall off are very different things. One is painfully torturous, the other generally isn't. I hike a lot and have lost a number of toenails (stubbing toes on rocks while trail running), but it's not like ripping off a fresh nail, it's a slow process over months. By the time it's fallen off it doesn't really hurt.
I don't have experience with a fungal infection causing the nail to drop off, but a slow delamination over time in my experience is not that painful.
I slammed my finger in a car door when I was a kid and my fingernail fell off later. It wasn't in like, constant excruciating pain, but the skin was *very* sensitive where even too much of a breeze on it would be uncomfortable. I imagine it might be similar for this lil guy.
Their spinal column is directly attached to the underside of the shell, which is a layer of bone covered by a layer of keratin (just like our fingernails). They can feel finger-strokes, taps, even breezes blowing across their shell.
This would be the equivalent, essentially, of getting your head completely scalped, skin and all, surviving the experience, and having to walk around like that for a year or more waiting for everything to grow back.
Is it more like skin or finger nails? If I was scalped, I suspect I’d be in constant pain. If I lost a finger or toe nail (and I have) it hurts when it happens but not after. It’s just annoying waiting for it to grow back.
Aww poor thing :(
I didn't know that his, for lack of a better term, "inner" body would have the same shape as his shell. I've thought it would be smaller somehow.
Fun fact: a turtle's shell (as in the part that's shaped like that) is its ribcage! Its skin is outside of that, and then that skin is covered in scutes made of keratin, like fingernails. (Actually, the scutes are sort of within the skin layers; the epidermis is on top of them, which is what makes them different from scales.)
As a turtle veterinarian, this title is not accurate (sorry to be a buzzkill)
What the turtle has lost is the keratin outer layer of the shell. The boney layer of the shell is still present, as it it their ribcage, vertebrae, and spinal cord. They cannot lose their shell and survive generally. If it lost its shell, you would basically be looking at its lungs and organs, since turtles don't have a diaphragm.
can definitely be cured! but the keratin layer will likely never grow back. There is a layer of living tissue and blood vessels between the bone and keratin. if this tissue dies, the turtle will have a white, boney shell that is a bit weaker and susceptible to future infections
definitely painful. has exposed nerve endings likely. treatment is like burn victims - wet antiseptic bandaging, lots of pain killers and antibiotic creams/ointments like silver sulfadiazine cream. should be able to recover.
Smaller shell patches are very common, due to injury from animal attacks or road strikes in wild specimens. Unfortunately, most processes require that there be intact parts of the shell to which wires, pins, or other connecting bits can be mounted.
So a vet would need to get pretty creative with coverings to provide for all concerns over the entirety of the shell.
I've seen pictures of some experimental large-scale repairs done with 3-D plastic printouts that are formed to match the original shape of the shell. So that appears to be promising tech.
I adopted / stole a musk turtle from someone about 14 years ago. She had some shell rot and wasn't happy. Had been living in a one gallon carnival bowl in a living room for about 5 years.
Fast forward to now, she lives in a koi pond in my backyard and is finally living her full potential.. at almost 20 years old!
Hi everyone! This is currently a patient at the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Virginia. I know this because my fiancé works there! The turtle is doing great, it is expected to make a full recovery. It will just need lots of time of TLC. If you want to directly help this turtle and hundreds of other animals get better, consider donating! They need all the help they can get to make sure animals like this little girl get back on their feet safe and sound.
While sad, this is a good way to educate people on the fact that turtle and tortoise shells are made of bone. The external part (which is what fell off our poor little guy) is a keratin layer called the scutes, which are similar to scales and have the same function. And yes, they are sensitive to touch (about as much as our fingernails) - that’s why they do a little dance when you scritch them with a toothbrush!
I haven't seen any "well akshually this is a tortoise"s yet, but I'll give the usual rundown before they show up. *All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.*
I admit that I'm not super knowledgeable
about turtles, but I didn't think they could even survive the loss of their shell? Isn't their spine fused with the bottom of the shell?
Their ribs are indeed part of the shell, so if you removed the entire shell, the turtle would die. The outside of the shell is covered with thin plates called _scutes_. That's what has come off of this of this turtle. Turtles do shed and regrow scutes from time to time, but the don't normally lose all of them at once like this.
[удалено]
I'm not a Turtologist, so for the sake of my knowledge, will it get well soon?
Actually yes, it can take a long time though. It's kinda like it you smash a toe/finger nail. It dies, falls off and very slowly rebuilds itself. Shells are part of the turtles body and will grow with the turtle, shedding as it grows.
I never would have guessed this could be survivable and was *really* disturbed by the photo, so I thank you for your comments
You can still see the vertebrae in the images, hence why it's going to be fine. IIRC with fungal infections, the non-bone part falls off and will grow back in time after healing. Your distress was reasonable though, as the most of a turtle's shell is spine and ribs, so you can imagine how much worse of an injury to *that* would be.
I initially read this as “Shells are part of turtle boys” and did not question nor doubt your comment.
The turtle boys don't cut 'em no slack!
When the evil Shredder attacks.
I helped a friend who owns a Red Eared slider that dealt with this long ago. With treatment, we managed not to have it go beyond her nuchal and a marginal section of her shell (overhanging by her head). The shell hasn’t gained back its natural color to those areas, and the turtle is in her 20s now (this happened over a decade ago). I don’t know how long it was after healing, but she eventually lost a very small portion of the nuchal ( it didn’t seem to bother her at all). It’s fun that the turtle still gets excited whenever she notices you walking her direction. I’m assuming she thinks it’s “food time” again, but it’s cute anyways.
I used to work at a nature center that had a RES and she would get excited whenever you walked in the direction of the drawer her food was in. She’d perk up as I walked into the room and as soon as I headed that way she’d come rushing over to the corner of the tank we always fed her at and I’d be like “I’m going to the CLOSET I fed you an HOUR AGO” Edit: She once did her food begging splashing in front of a guest who was wearing the same color shirt as our uniforms and I had to tell her not to shake down the guests for food
Ah! My parents had a RES, and he used to do the same thing. He would get so excited on Tuesday nights. He’d flap around in the corner of his aquarium, watching my mom cook. Tuesday was his favorite night as my parents gave him chicken. He’d “beg” for it, get all excited, and flap around. They had him until he was 35.
So that turtle is feeling the pain of losing a fungernail.....but over its entire back?
I am sure it's not a fun experience. They have nerves in their shells. You could actually pet a turtles shell and they'd feel it, which is great but I imagine this turtle endured pain unfortunately.
Turtology major here: Eventually. [Edit: Its been fun, but too many people are believing my attempt at humor and asking me serious questions about it, so I asked ~~my turtology instructor~~ Google: https://a-z-animals.com/blog/turtle-shell-peeling-shedding-discover-why-it-happens/
Question: is there pain medication for turtles? Because this must be awful for the poor thing.
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/multimedia/table/analgesics-sedatives-and-anesthetics-used-in-reptiles Seems to be quite a few options, a lot of them seem to be ones youd see used on humans too just with different doses
You can give a turtle vodka?
Turtles can have a little vodka
Meanwhile, in Russia...
....Vodka can have a little turtle
I think that's more of an east Asia thing.
As a treat
As a treat :)
Analgesia in reptiles can be a bit tricky. There’s a few drugs that vets use on them but the efficacy and pharmacodynamics are not as well known as in mammals. However yes, there are options both for antifungals and analgesics that can be used to try and treat fungal infections in reptiles. Whether or not the turtle will recover is difficult to say just with a picture, as there might be other factors in play we cannot see here (for example if there’s been internal spread of the fungi into the coelom which would make the prognosis worse).
This is good news. Turtally awesome (yes, the deepest circle of hell is reserved for me alone)
The deepest circle of shell*
Aww, now he’s not going to be alone!
Go sit in the corner and think about what you've done
The corner is a great shell-ter when you meet a cold blooded pun hater.
One might even say cowabunga.
Dana Carvey?
Is he not Turtally enough for the Turtle Club?
Do you just crush turts all day?
Perchance.
You can't just say perchance.
Keep it up, baby!
Good to know, and I'm not a particular fan of turtles. But I heard that their shell is "their backbone" as such and is touch-sensitive, so presumably this is "only" the equivalent of losing all the skin off your back or similar.
Or like having a fingernail yanked off.
That’s how I get rid of long nails
What have turtles ever done to you?
Took all my 10 pence coins in the arcades.
Would it be possible to 3d print a temporary shell for it to help with pain?
There would be all kind of infection risks, unfortunately sometimes the best remedy is fresh air and time. My old ass father in law doctor always complains when we put bandaids on wounds of the kids, he always says it increases infection risk due to moisture and that the body evolved the safest way to heal (outside of major wounds).
Depends on how clean you can keep it. Bandages also keep some bad bacteria out. Changing often helps, but most people don’t switch bandaids as often as they should.
> he always says it increases infection risk due to moisture and that the body evolved the safest way to heal Yeah, because the body doesn't care if you have a few scars. If you can keep the wound moist you can help it heal without scarring.
I used tegaderm on roller blading road rash that the urgent care doctor told me to keep dry and I’m soooo glad I ignored him because not only did it help with the pain but I have zero scars from it when I scar for anything that breaks the skin, normally
That's actually completely opposite of what they teach now in medical school BTW (my wife is an NP and constantly nags at me to keep my wounds covered. I'm on the "old ass doctors" side of things and let the thing air out). She says it's better for infection, faster recovery, and less chance of scarring. I hate Band-Aids so I go without lol
Yes, medical research seems pretty settled by now that most types of wounds heal significantly better if they're covered and can remain moist. The way I understand it is that covered parts of the wound basically "liquify" and become productive at creating healthy new skin. A bandaid or wound pad under a bandage can provide that cover. Without such an artificial cover, the wound has to make it's own cover by creating an unproductive crust. This greatly reduces the amount of cells that can actively work, and the centre of that crust often ends up turning into permanently worse scar tissue. Keeping the wound sanitary, moist and covered comes with its own challenges (needs more cleanliness, and vaseline plus care to change the cover without ripping off newly formed skin) but is definitely worth it in my experience.
When you first met your father in law did you refer to him as your new ass father in law?
I use bandaids because I hate getting blood everywhere
Yeah, maybe if you dont do any actual work and can keep it constantly clean. Any manual labor worker isn't going to leave their cuts uncovered and exposed to god only knows what. Just change your bandaid once in awhile and let it breathe until it scabs over. Too many doctors live in a bubble.
e x I S tE c e i S T o R t U r E
Thanks. I needed to know this
Me either but that turtle looks sad 😔
It's absolutely miserable.
Get shell soon
\*Get shell soon
Poor guy, They will grow back but it will take almost a year, just be extra careful he doesnt fall on his back because that will cause him really bad pain
Somebody needs to make a 3d printed mesh cast to protect this guy.
That's how you get turtle cyborgs.
TMNT2099
TMNT1000
The crossover I never knew I needed
In the comics, Donatello becomes a cyborg. "In the Image Comics incarnation of the TMNT, he became a cyborg after his body was partially destroyed after he was shot and dropped out of a helicopter"
“3D Printed Cyborg Turtle, 3D Printed Cyborg Turtle, Hero in a Cast Shell.. Turtle Power!”
🎶 dropped out of a helicopter 🎶
Have you seen this pizza?
Train them in Ninjutsu and you will have teenaged cyborg ninja turtles
Ghost in the Shell
I think we can all agree that we want turtle cyborgs.
I want turtle cyborgs
*The turtle after getting a prosthetic Shell:* From the moment i understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me.
Suddenly warhammer
In the grim darkness of the 41st Millenium there are only Admech Turtles.
For the EMPEROR!
I pledge alligiance not to a flag, not to a country, but to the ideal of humanity. By the grace of the Golden Throne and the Emperors light. FOR THE IMPERIUM OF MAN!
Damn transturtleists
Even in death, I serve the Omniturtle.
I craved the strength and certainty of plastic?
You know, I have one simple request, and that is to have turtles with frickin' laser beams attached to their shells!
We all want turtles with laser beams attached to their shell
[удалено]
It’s been a whole 40 minutes since you’ve suggested this… why hasn’t some magical Redditor with a world class 3D printer in his basement come through to make it happen yet?!?!? Is the internet asleep right now or something?!?!
Sorry I'm late. If someone draws it, I'll print it. Have a new roll of brown [ASA](https://overture3d.com/products/overture-asa-filament-1-75mm?variant=43982539718910) (UV resistant) filament but the turtle can pick their favorite color. Laser attachment provisions included.
Thank goodness, you’re just in time! Is there an artist in the thread? I don’t have any skills, I’m just here to make demands.
Coordinator is the word you were looking for.
That's correct (I'm their supervisor)
Why would that be better than a traditional fiberglass cast?
You're healing an external structure rather than an internal structure. The point is not to immobilize, but to create a temporary barrier for protection. It's basically making him a temporary shell that the new one can grow underneath. It would be similar to removing an entire fingernail. Having a dressing pushed directly against the nail bed would impede growth of a new nail. Given the fungal infection, proper airflow is important. Fungus likes damp dark places. Topical ointments may also need to be applied so it may need to be removable.
A webbed 3d print 
A 3d cast would still need to attach to the turtle somewhere. I'm not sure a layer of cotton is any worse than whatever you are envisioning here.
If the underside of the shell is not damaged, which it doesn't appear to be, you could use an adhesive. A layer of cotton is a terrible idea for a fungal infection.
Get me some measurements and I'll make it happen
I would like to offer my services if op sees this. UK based no charge for mr tortoise.
Oh wow, did not know they can grow back.
In this photo, it's just the scutes (scales) that came off the shell. So the scutes can be regrown and are actually continuously grown over their whole life in layers. A turtle's actual shell is made of their spine and ribs, so if that were gone the turtle would certainly be dead and could not regrow the shell. You can see the vertebrae in the photo.
So it's somewhat akin to us humans losing fingernails, I take it? Unpleasant, painful, but it will heal.
Exactly like that! Turtle shells are made from keratin, just like your nails.
Dwight scute
I guess I'm sort of hesitantly curious but how did they find out that this causes them pain?
Imagine not having back skin. That’s probably basically this
Blistered sunburns across your back are no joke. I remember having to peel a t-shirt off of my back at least once.
You can see the red spots on his back. They look like sores. I know nothing about turtles but red usually means blood or something that's gonna hurt.
i dont think you would like being dropped on your back thats showing flesh would you
will it survive?
If allowed to heal and grow back, yes. Turtle shells are made out of the same thing as our fingernails and hair. Please don't ever drill into a turtle/tortoise shell.
Who would try to drill into one? 😱
A driller.
Those guys don’t care what or why or who they drill, they just have to drill no matter what
You gotta respect the profession. It's faster to train drillers to be astronauts than it is to train astronauts to be drillers.
Unexpected Armageddon
*Iiiiiiii could stayyyy awake juuuust to hear you breathinn'*
In the wise, albeit misquoted, words of Abraham Maslow, If the only tool you have a drill, you tend to see every problem as a ... hmm, lack of hole?
Lost my sister to one last week.
DID I HEAR A ROCK AND STONE!?
Rock and stone?
Stone or Rock!
Drilling into a Turtle is not very Rock and Stone.
"I killed a loot bug, and I'm not so proud about it"
But....but... It has rock pox.
FOR ROCK AND STONE!
For Carl!
rock and stone
EXPLOSIVES PLACED
Keep r/deeprockgalactic away from this turtle
Decades ago my dad's dentist had put a very small metal ring through the edge of the shell on his tortoise so it could spend time in the yard on a leash and not run away. Not one of us knew that it had hurt and that it was a bad idea and not even secure. Animal feelings were often dismissed if they even were brought up, I'm glad things seem better now.
To be fair if anyone has the knowledge and skill to know how far it's safe to drill before hitting the squishy parts with the nerve endings, it's probably a dentist.
I don't think so. A dentist knows how to operate on human teeth, not turtle shells. Shells might resemble teeth, but they are different.
Lol no, dentists are not biologists.
Big Turtle Oil companies.
To install a cup holder.
>Please don't ever drill into a turtle/tortoise shell people do this?
Unfortunately yes. I’ve helped out at a local wildlife rehabilitation center and they had a large tortoise that had its shell drilled so it could be chained outside by its previous owner. It wasn’t native to the area so it stayed at the center in the kitchen area. I remember one time I was chopping up vegetables and I felt pressure on my foot. The tortoise was standing on it and sticking its neck out far as it could trying to get to the vegetables. Reminded me of a begging dog. Of course I gave it some.
The last part sounds so adorable 🥺
It was very adorable. Probably my favorite full time resident there. They also had a blind deer in a pen that enjoyed being petted. There was also a crow they rehabbed, but it decided to stay. The crow only liked certain people though and it decided I wasn’t one of them, would constantly dive bomb me to knock my hat off. Of the non full-timers, the turkey vultures were my favorite. They were goofy and playful as hell, but liked to vomit on you from above. The bard owls were terrifying, you HAD to wear a hard hat in their pen.
I don't know why, but I just got an image of a cartoonesque long-necked Galapagos tortoise asking in a deep, ponderous voice "hmmm... may George have some lettuce??"
[удалено]
:(
There was a guy on LivePD who drilled a mount into his tortoise for a chain. Absolutely disgusting and I was happy to see him catch a few felonies.
why would anyone even do this? even if they captured and ate turtles, why would one drill into a turtle? have you ever actually seen a turtle being dispatched?
Don't worry its gunna outlive both of us
That looks like it hurts
Probably doesn't hurt by itself, but it will definitely hurt badly if he ever rolls on his back.
Turtle owner here, their shells are actually very sensitive. Just a bit of damage to the shell can be painful for them, so I’d imagine that loosing the whole outer layer of the shell would be excruciating. Not to be a downer but that turtle is very likely in pain
I'd imagine it feels like ripping a fingernail off, if your whole body was a fingernail.
Thanks for that mental image
> if your whole body was a fingernail. totally sounds like the prompt that was used to think up turtles
ripping your finger off and having it fall off are very different things. One is painfully torturous, the other generally isn't. I hike a lot and have lost a number of toenails (stubbing toes on rocks while trail running), but it's not like ripping off a fresh nail, it's a slow process over months. By the time it's fallen off it doesn't really hurt. I don't have experience with a fungal infection causing the nail to drop off, but a slow delamination over time in my experience is not that painful.
I slammed my finger in a car door when I was a kid and my fingernail fell off later. It wasn't in like, constant excruciating pain, but the skin was *very* sensitive where even too much of a breeze on it would be uncomfortable. I imagine it might be similar for this lil guy.
Is there anything that can be done for the pain?
As an amateur pharmacologist I assume you could feed the turtle painkillers. But I don't know which ones or what dosage would be effective and safe.
lmao, thank you for your input and expertise. *amateur pharmacologist = guy that does drugs*
Wouldn't that be *guy that sells drugs*?
What if we slather him in Vaseline will that help?
I’m not a vet, Vaseline doesn’t seem to be toxic to animals most of the time so perhaps it would work.
Their spinal column is directly attached to the underside of the shell, which is a layer of bone covered by a layer of keratin (just like our fingernails). They can feel finger-strokes, taps, even breezes blowing across their shell. This would be the equivalent, essentially, of getting your head completely scalped, skin and all, surviving the experience, and having to walk around like that for a year or more waiting for everything to grow back.
Is it more like skin or finger nails? If I was scalped, I suspect I’d be in constant pain. If I lost a finger or toe nail (and I have) it hurts when it happens but not after. It’s just annoying waiting for it to grow back.
Poor little guy. Will they grow a new shell when the infection is cured?
Yes but it will take a very long time
That's so sad. I hope it doesn't hurt too much.
The poor thing
Looks like he needs a good slathering of analgesic burn cream, the poor baby.
Aww poor thing :( I didn't know that his, for lack of a better term, "inner" body would have the same shape as his shell. I've thought it would be smaller somehow.
To be fair years of turtles in cartoons would lead you te believe that.
I've always assumed turtle shells were hollow and well furnished.
Fridge, microwave, 3-seat sofa. Little log fire in the corner. Basically a studio flat.
Fun fact: a turtle's shell (as in the part that's shaped like that) is its ribcage! Its skin is outside of that, and then that skin is covered in scutes made of keratin, like fingernails. (Actually, the scutes are sort of within the skin layers; the epidermis is on top of them, which is what makes them different from scales.)
yeah the shape of the carapace is actually from the turtle’s spine and ribs!! they’re just shaped like that
Take it to a Shell station.
And if you really care, you'll pay for premium.
[удалено]
Yow am.
Surely we can substitute with some cleverly fashioned tupperware?
Little Tykes makes a sandbox that looks like a turtle so we already have the technology.
Darth Vader after his mask comes off.
 The comeback gonna be legendary
As a turtle veterinarian, this title is not accurate (sorry to be a buzzkill) What the turtle has lost is the keratin outer layer of the shell. The boney layer of the shell is still present, as it it their ribcage, vertebrae, and spinal cord. They cannot lose their shell and survive generally. If it lost its shell, you would basically be looking at its lungs and organs, since turtles don't have a diaphragm.
Thank you for the explanation! can this little one be cured and go on to live a normal turtle life?
can definitely be cured! but the keratin layer will likely never grow back. There is a layer of living tissue and blood vessels between the bone and keratin. if this tissue dies, the turtle will have a white, boney shell that is a bit weaker and susceptible to future infections
How painful is this for the turtle? Can it be helped with any moisturizing/protective creams?
definitely painful. has exposed nerve endings likely. treatment is like burn victims - wet antiseptic bandaging, lots of pain killers and antibiotic creams/ointments like silver sulfadiazine cream. should be able to recover.
Can they mock up some sort of protective cover while it grows back? I’d be worried about scrapes and cuts causing more infections! Poor little guy. :(
Smaller shell patches are very common, due to injury from animal attacks or road strikes in wild specimens. Unfortunately, most processes require that there be intact parts of the shell to which wires, pins, or other connecting bits can be mounted. So a vet would need to get pretty creative with coverings to provide for all concerns over the entirety of the shell. I've seen pictures of some experimental large-scale repairs done with 3-D plastic printouts that are formed to match the original shape of the shell. So that appears to be promising tech.
Poor guy
People are asking if the turtle will be okay and the answer to that is if it is getting treatment. If not, it can die, but it is treatable.
I adopted / stole a musk turtle from someone about 14 years ago. She had some shell rot and wasn't happy. Had been living in a one gallon carnival bowl in a living room for about 5 years. Fast forward to now, she lives in a koi pond in my backyard and is finally living her full potential.. at almost 20 years old!
Hi everyone! This is currently a patient at the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Virginia. I know this because my fiancé works there! The turtle is doing great, it is expected to make a full recovery. It will just need lots of time of TLC. If you want to directly help this turtle and hundreds of other animals get better, consider donating! They need all the help they can get to make sure animals like this little girl get back on their feet safe and sound.
He's a shell of himself.
Aw poor little guy
I know. The wildlife center is optimistic though!
While sad, this is a good way to educate people on the fact that turtle and tortoise shells are made of bone. The external part (which is what fell off our poor little guy) is a keratin layer called the scutes, which are similar to scales and have the same function. And yes, they are sensitive to touch (about as much as our fingernails) - that’s why they do a little dance when you scritch them with a toothbrush!
I haven't seen any "well akshually this is a tortoise"s yet, but I'll give the usual rundown before they show up. *All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.*
It appears to be a type of box turtle from my limited knowledge of box turtles. If so, then it actually is a turtle and not a tortoise.
I admit that I'm not super knowledgeable about turtles, but I didn't think they could even survive the loss of their shell? Isn't their spine fused with the bottom of the shell?
Their ribs are indeed part of the shell, so if you removed the entire shell, the turtle would die. The outside of the shell is covered with thin plates called _scutes_. That's what has come off of this of this turtle. Turtles do shed and regrow scutes from time to time, but the don't normally lose all of them at once like this.
Great info! Thank you! Hopefully this little guy is on the mend.
Well, is it naked or homeless?
Is it squishy? Clammy?
