September 15, 2026
Tom the tortoise is now recovering from a severely cracked shell after an escape from his home led to an unfortunate incident that ended at Kingfisher Vets.
Back in July, Tom, a 6-year-old tortoise, went missing from his pen at home, where he lives with five other tortoises. Sadly, he was later run over by a car, resulting in a huge crack through his shell.
Thankfully, he was soon found by a passerby who brought him to Kingfisher Vets in Taunton for immediate veterinary help.
Our colleagues were then able to trace his owner and let her know Tom had been found. Andrew Carpenter, Veterinary Surgeon and Clinical Director, quickly got to work, carefully wiring the tortoise’s shell back together.
“Once we were confident that the injury had not penetrated the abdominal cavity, we repaired the severe shell damage with a series of wires to bring the edges back together. Once the repair was fully stable, epoxy resin was used to seal the repair.” Andrew said.
During treatment, the Kingfisher team noticed additional marks on Tom's shell that appeared to be bites. They concluded that a fox picked may have picked him up but later gave up, meaning Tom was lucky to survive!
Weeks on from the incident, Tom is already in better shape, back to eating well and enjoying life again. Although the shell will likely take many months, and possibly even years to fully heal, his recovery so far has been remarkable.
“A tortoise shell is very strong, made up of bone and keratin, but heals very slowly if severely damaged,” Andrew explains.
Tom and his five pen mates have now safely settled into a brand-new, fox-proof enclosure complete with a roof.
Andrew also shared an update: “This was certainly an unusual case for the team here and we’re delighted to hear that Tom is doing well since his treatment and has returned to his normal self.
“I’m proud of the team at Kingfisher Veterinary Practice for acting so quickly, and grateful to the Taunton community for finding Tom, and helping us trace his owner. We wish Tom, his tortoise friends and their owners all the best.”