Hi…has anyone read the Judy Blume book, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing? At the end, Fudge devours Peter’s pet turtle, Dribble and has to go to the hospital to get it removed.
I’ve always wanted to know how that happened, exactly. How could one eat a pet turtle and has anyone else wondered about this? (I’m not sure this a General Question…more of an opinion thing, so I put it here.) What are your thoughts on the matter? Its plagued me for years- before I discovered the SD, that is…
Are you asking how someone could be so heartless as to eat
a pet turtle or how it is physically possible?
I’ve not read the book but your descripyion reminds me of the fish eating scene in A Fish Called Wanda.
Also, I was recently told a story about a midget trapeze artist who, whilst atempting to land on a safety net, misjudged his landing and happened to land in the mouth of a yawning hippopotamus at the edge of the circus ring. He was then swallowed and died.
I remember puzzling over the same thing. Then I found out, a lot of turtles are smaller than I had supposed.
yeah, but even the small turtles are pretty big to swallow, especially for a little kid. But if he didn’t swallow it, he had to crunch it up. Which is possible (I’ve seen my dog do it).
If I remember the book (I think I read it when I was in 4th grade), Peter gets a new dog out of the deal right?
Maybe the turtle was a baby?
IIRC, Peter saw the X-ray showing his turtle in Fudge. After said turtle was extracted, Peter had asked if the turtle was all right. If the turtle had been chewed up, he presumably wouldn’t have asked that question, right?
Mmmmmm, calipash and calipee…
How its physically possible for it to happen.
The idea of a little boy who still has his baby teeth crunching a turtle’s shell- yech. I guess he could have just swallowed it down.
Peter was pretty young- maybe he didn’t know it was kind of impossible for Dribble to be alright after that ordeal…but then…WOULD it have been possible for a turtle to survive that? I’d also like to know how the turtle was removed…or do I NOT wanna know? 
The TV show episode doesn’t show how any of this fun stuff ocurred…
Yeah Peter did get a dog out of it. A puppy who would grow up to be huge so that Fudge couldn’t eat it, heh. Even though they did live in a small apartment…
No, a turtle couldn’t survive that due to 1) the toxic stomach enzymes and acids 2) lack of oxygen.
If the turtle does not pass through the body and causes an obstruction of either the stomach or intestines they would have to remove it surgically in an operation similar to an appendectomy.
I don’t think they operated on Fudge. Or maybe they did. I know that everyone made a big deal out of him and gave him lots of presents…I guess having a turtle in you is an occasion to remember. What would have happened if the turtle had remained inside of Fudge? Like if the parents hadn’t realized that Fudge ate Dribble?