Urgent Care :: HELP ME ASAP HALF OF TAIL GONE!!!

[jdubcoshdawg469]

I just upgraded my tank and everything yeterday and moved my 2 turtles into the new setup today and i noticed something so bad! I noticed on that my one turtle is missing half of its tail i noticed that at the end it looks like an open wound so i have no clue what to do. I don`t know if maybe they were fighting and the other one bit it off or what. The vet is closed i have to call tomorow but i was just wondering on any suggestions!
thanks

[marisa]

Clean the wound, let it dry and apply some antibacterial ointment like Neosporin. Keep the turtle out of the water a while for some of it to be absorbed. You could even keep him out of the water overnight.

Even if they weren't fighting, the thing with wounds is, the scent of them will really be attractive to the other turtle, so it's likely he'll be focused on it if he gets near it (more biting).

Can you keep the injured turtle in the old set-up for now?

[jdubcoshdawg469]

yeah i can keep it in the old setup for now..will it grow back and be ok?

[marisa]

It should heal, but it won't grow back. As long as he can still poop and it heals, he'll be OK.

[jdubcoshdawg469]

ok thank you so much! should i do the neosporin maybe twice a day?

[Rosepruner]

That's what I would recomend, and dry dock him for a few hours.

[RyanJ]

If you can, check the tail to make sure the vent is still there. His water will need to be pristine to avoid infection, but he should be alright. Sorry to say, but unless you can get a much larger tank with a lot of things to break up line of sight, they probably need to be housed seperately from now on. Aggression isn't always intentional, but it'll likely happen again. Good luck!

[jdubcoshdawg469]

well i`ve been doing the neosporin and keeping her out of the water and put her back in with the other one watching closely the bigger one again went for a bite luckily i stopped it before any major damage....I judt don`t understand they have been together since they were born and I never had any trouble before now...anything that could cause this?? could it be that the bigger one is not getting enough food?

[jdubcoshdawg469]

and yes the vent hole is still visible. the part missing is just after that..

[marisa]

Often it's a lack of space (this happened before the upgrade, did it not?), but not always. It happens---one starts to bully the other and agression ensues. Once there is an open wound, it's like a magnet to the aggressor. I've had this with my Eastern Painteds. Only separation stopped the agression and stress for the one being bitten.

[jdubcoshdawg469]

yeah 1st happend right before the upgrade...and today i got anxious to get her back in the big tank and then the other girl swam towards and her and tried biting the tail again and i intervened before anything could happen. obviously i should of waited till the wound was healed completly. Maybe it was beacuse it was an opened wound it attacked again at least i hope. I`ll just keep them seperated until the wound is completly healed and see what happens and hopefully there will not be any problems.

[marisa]

If you put them together, I'm willing to bet at some point the one turtle will have a new wound---and you don't want any more of that tail to go. If it's not the tail, it will be somewhere else. One of my Eastern Painteds had a nail bit off and some of his tail taken off. When they were healed, the other painted started on his neck and eyelids.

Seriously consider a second set-up.

[jdubcoshdawg469]

I just wanted to apologize i didn`t even look to see if anyone else had this happen in the forum... I`m a huge animal lover any animal. I`m just so upset. I never knew what i was getting into when I got them and i found this site and i was doing everything right and i hope everything works out and i can have them in the big new tank i got them..i know i wouldn`t be able to get a complete new setup for the other one....

[marisa]

Your other alternative, if you have a big tank, is to divide it. I've got my two EPs in a 150-gallon stock tank that's divided in half. You can use plexiglass or something like eggcrate to divide it (and I've seen tank dividers for tanks up to 55 gallons you can purchase, but hopefully your tank is bigger).

Each of my painteds has his own basking area, MVB light, water heater and assorted decorations. Depending on how you arranged objects, you might have to do something similar (if you have a good filter, you probably wouldn't need a second one). It would save the cost of a second tank, but not much of the equipment needed to furnish it.

[bradmeisel]

I went thorugh a similar problem. This was another post on the same topic. I hope it helps. I ended up getting a 75 gal and used eggcrate to separate it. I posted pictures somewhere. This is a link to the other thread.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=