Urgent Care :: injured turtle.

[graykittie]

Ok, long story short..
I keep my turtle in a pool in the summer and since it's been a very warm October, I've kept her outside longer than usual.
She almost got eaten once, but got away injury free and the animal got spooked by our motion sensor lights..(im assuming it was a raccoon)..
the second incident..my mother freaked out when she wasn't in her pool and woke me up..
I found her on the side of my house, thank god.
she looked normal...I checked her out..and she had dirt around her feet..so I brought her inside and temporarily placed her in a bucket with shallow water until I got her tank up and running..
and I went somewhere, came home..and the water was tinted red..so I took a gander..and boo, she was injured.
so I changed her water and took her next door to my neighbor who is a reptile dealer freak and he looked her over.
the poor thing had her front claws chewed off and a small portion of her back feet as well.
he told me to spray her feet with cooking spray but cooking spray that has olive oil. and to set up a dry tank with a small dish with water so she could sit in it and eat as well..
SO, now that I have written a darn novel...
I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen to their RES?
this is the first time in 3 years that I have kept her outside that I have had a problem with critters.
she's doing ok, but not moving much..has yet to touch her water dish..
so we'll see what happens..
any tips would be awesome.
thanks in advance!

[SpotsMama]

I am so sorry to hear about your turtle. It must be very scary.

I would definitely get that turtle to a vet. It's possible there are other injuries that aren't so obvious. Also, since the open wounds were exposed to dirt and some kind of animal saliva for quite a while there's a big chance that infection has set in. A vet may need to administer antibiotics.

I have never heard of spraying an open wound with cooking spray. What I would do is wash the wounds with clean water and apply some neosporin or other antibiotic ointment until you can get her to a vet. Keep her dry except for putting her in shallow water several times a day to eat and drink. Keep her very clean and avoid stressing her as much as possible. She's been through a terrible ordeal. Hopefully the vet can see her ASAP.

Good luck. Please let us know how it turns out.

[RunninWideOpen]

awww, poor turtle. I have heard of that happening to other folks as well.

I would second SM's suggestion to get her to the vet. Given the situation it would be very easy for those wounds to be infected, plus she's got to be very stressed out after the attack and now she's in an unfamiliar container as well.

[LadyBloodRose]

the reason he said to use the spray with olive oil is that you don't want the tissue of the injuries drying out. There for you use the spray with the olive oil t keep the tissues moist which will help actualy keep it from becoming infected. Its an old trick often used with Beardies, iguanas an yes even turtles.

the dry docking is because water will cause the tissues around the injuries to swell

a note on the cooking spray - its simply what alota people have layin around. If you have abottle of olive oil it works just the same way. You can also use Vasoline , if there is still bleeding vasoline will actualy stop the bleeding by causing the blood to clot as well as work to keep the injruies moist.

[megcornell]

I would nix the cooking spray. Instead you can keep her hydrating by occassionally misting her while she's dry docking, you don't want anything in or near the wounds that doesn't have to be.
I too think a vet visit is in order. Your turtle has dealt with a huge amount of trauma and has some pretty nasty injuries. At the very least her immune system is under a lot of duress from all the stress and the injuries so she'll probably need a strong antibiotic to keep those wounds from getting infected.
Until you can get an appointment keep her dry docked and use the antibiotic ointment. You can offer food, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's still too stressed and uncomfortable to eat. But do keep in mind that the longer you wait and the longer she goes without eating, the weaker she'll be so try to get into the vet's as soon as possible.
Good luck.

[SpotsMama]

I suppose if there's benefit to keeping a wound from drying out then neosporin would do the same thing. At some point, though, I'd think you'd want it to scab over.