Urgent Care :: RES bleeding from mouth after fall

[chipper]

We usually leave our 10 month old RES out on the balcony of our apartment for a few hours to get some sun, he usually just sleeps in a corner. Yesterday, he climbed over the edge (which is quite high) and fell down 3 floors. We found him at the bottom bleeding a little from his mouth and nose. There are no other external injuries to his shell or skin. We immediately called the vet who said there is nothing we can do for internal injuries but just wait and see, he should be ok.

We cleaned him up and left him in a dry box all night. This morning we found a little more blood in the box and a tiny stone/piece of bone. We put him back in his tank and he swam around and ate like normal. Now a little later, he is is sitting in his basking spot bleeding again from his mouth.

We are so worried about little Chip. Is there something we can do? Why is he bleeding from his mouth? We feel terrible about what happened.

[gwennie]

I'm very sorry to hear about your turtle's fall

He's most likely suffering from some internal damage since he's bleeding from his mouth and nose - internal organs are bleeding, which are causing him to bleed from there.

There really isn't much you can do but keep him comfortable and happy I'm guessing - the only way to really find out what's happened is a possible xray and I'm not sure that would show up everything - they're expensive as well.

[joeybsmooth]

Sorry to hear about your turtle. Gwen is right about everything. I just posting to give support.

[worldpeace]

I had the same experience but the bleeding wasn't serious and it stopped after a few minutes. After the fall I placed him on the basking dock and he stayed there for most of the day. The next day when I woke up he was swimming and begging for food like nothing happened. I hope this will be the case for you.

[chipper]

Just a quick update on Chip. We called a reptile specialist who told us that for the bleeding to stop, he should not be swimming or moving around so that the wound could clot. We took him out and kept him warm in a shoe box near a light bulb for a couple of days. Whenever possible we left him in sunlight as well. We put him in a tub with about 1cm of water occasionally so that he would not get dehydrated. At night we would turn off the light of course. He was restless at first but then settled down. There hasn't been any bleeding for over 48 hours now. We put him back in the tank this morning cos he was acting restless and trying to climb out of the box. He's eating well and swimming. Here's hoping he has a full recovery!