Urgent Care :: missing tails!

[yoyopeter]

Chomper- 3 inches
Cheese-2.7 inches
Chip- 1 inch
Squirtle- 1 inch

i bought chip and squirtle from my friend who poorly treated his turtles he bought from a vendor. i decided to keep it with my other two turtles, chomper and cheese. apparently cheese has been biting all of the other turtles' tails off. at times cheese would bite some nails too! please tell me what should i do. seperation? and for the tailless ones, should i seek medical help?

[robind]

Yes! They need to be separated right away! I'm not sure if medical attention is necessary, but probably.

[Linus]

Definetly seperaye them. My only worry here is that turtles genetalia are in their tails. I would seek medical attention but maybe wait for someone with more experience to reply.

[meltedspork]

Separate them immediately or the little ones could end up dead. How much of the tail was bitten off? It the entire tail was bitten off, I would say yes, get them to a vet as soon as possible. If it was just a tiny bit at the tip of the tail, I would say it will probably heal on its own, just make sure they have very clean water and - as it suggests in the "health" section of this website - apply Nolvasan cream or Neosporin and dry dock the turtle after applying the medication.

[untsmurf]

Separate separate separate!!! You should probably start looking into finding homes for some of them. Four turtles is a big commitment, they'll require a lot of space when they're older.

[TheComputerGremlin]

What size tank do you have these turtles in? Often aggression begins when the turtles are kept in too small of a tank. Based on the current sizes, you would need at least an 80 gallon tank, double that to 160 gallons before the next year comes, and over 400 gallons when all four are full grown.

I know you meant well by rescuing your friend's turtles, but it is such a huge commitment with that many turtles to care for.

Also, no matter what circumstances you get turtles from, ALWAYS quarantine the new turtles from your old turtles for 90 days in case they are ill. Baby turtles frequently die from illness and can spread it to your healthy older turtles.

Get them separated immediately, at least get the biter out for now. You can buy a cheap rubbermaid container to house them for now. As for the others, assess their missing tails. They need to still have their cloaca complete to make sure they aren't injured badly. If that is missing, they can't poo or lay eggs, which will kill them. The tails won't grow back, but they should heal nicely if it's just the tips missing.

[marisa]

Regarding the ones with the bitten tails. How much was taken off? If they're still able to poop, they should be OK once the tips heal. You can put some triple antibiotic ointment on the wounds, keep them out of the water for about 20 min. to let some of it be absorbed. Do this daily until your sure the wounds are healing. Keep the tank water clean to help prevent infection.