Pet owners are being reminded to secure their animals after an escaped tortoise in Somerset was struck by a vehicle. Tom, a six-year-old tortoise from Taunton, went missing from his garden in July before sustaining injuries in a road accident.
Veterinary surgeons at Kingfisher Veterinary Practice, part of Inspiring Vet Care, treated Tom despite limited experience with tortoises. The team carefully wired his cracked shell to facilitate healing, and just weeks later, Tom has made a promising recovery and returned to his usual behaviour.
The warm summer months often lead to increased tortoise activity, particularly among males seeking mates. Owners are advised to regularly inspect fencing and garden boundaries and consider microchipping their tortoises to prevent similar incidents.
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Tom lives alongside five other tortoises in his home pen. After he went missing, a member of the local community found him with a severe crack in his shell and promptly took him to Kingfisher Veterinary Practice. The clinic was able to identify Tom’s owners, and vet Andrew Carpenter immediately commenced treatment.
The injury was carefully repaired by wiring the shell fragments together and applying special glue to protect the repair. Though the shell may take months or even years to fully heal, Tom was reported to be eating well and back to normal just two weeks after treatment.
Vet Andrew Carpenter observed marks on Tom’s shell that might have been fox bite marks, suggesting that a fox may have briefly picked him up before abandoning him on the road. Following treatment, Tom has been relocated to a secure, fox-proof enclosure with a roof, alongside his tortoise companions.
Andrew Carpenter said: “This was an unusual case for our team, and we’re very pleased to see Tom recovering so well. A tortoise’s shell is very strong, composed of bone and keratin, but damage heals slowly. Once we confirmed the injury hadn’t reached the abdominal cavity, we wired the shell to align the fragments and sealed the repair with epoxy resin. While healing will be lengthy, we are optimistic about his prognosis.
“I commend our team for their swift actions and thank the Taunton community for locating Tom and helping us reconnect him with his owners. We wish Tom and his family all the best.”
Earlier this summer, the Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) reported that four escaped tortoises were handed in on a single day. Steve Byrne, GSPCA manager, stated that the charity deals with 20 to 30 lost or escaped tortoises annually, especially during warm spells.
He explained that tortoises are adept climbers and escape artists, with warm weather increasing their activity levels and mobility beyond what owners might expect. He urged owners to regularly inspect security measures such as fences and roofs and to consider microchipping their tortoises for identification purposes.