Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:06 pm
You are right to want preventative measures, as an infection can occur. So, here's what to do:
1) Check for bleeding, inflammation, discoloration (along the green/brown/black color that would indicate the area was rotting or dying). If nothing, proceed with preventative measures. If yes to any of them, you really should see a vet, preferably a herp vet, but any vet should be able to heal an animals.
2) Keep the water super clean, like sparkling clean. You may need to keep your turtle in a separate container and change the water several times daily.
3) Apply triple antibiotic ointment (for humans) on the area. Put on, dab, allow to completely dry. You may also want to "dry dock" the turtle for a few days to allow the healing. Dry docking, if you haven't seen the term before, means leaving the turtle out of the water for all of the time beyond eating and pottying. You put the turtle back in about twice a day to allow for feeding and give about half an hour after feeding for pottying. Then dry off, apply the ointment, and keep in a container on a towel in a location where the turtle won't get cold and won't escape. I would say less than a week is needed as long as it's healing fine.
If at any point your turtle becomes lethargic, stops eating, starts to smell like rotting, the area starts to turn green/brown/black like rotting or death, get to a vet asap.
All in all, minor damages to the shell will heal itself over some time.
JAX
- - -
Baby Boy - January 9th, 2011! (3 months old)
1 RES - 7" long - Umi (3.5 years old)
1 black lab/hound mix - Josie (1.5 year old)
2 cats - Mysti and Molly (6.5 years old)
