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Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 4:36 pm
by Anavs
I was just cleaning the tank of my red eared sliders and I stopped to check on them. I noticed the girl slider I have, just shy of a year, managed to break the claw off of her front paw. Shes bleeding and Im trying to keep her dry but im not sure exactly what to do.

Help? :(

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 7:03 pm
by steve
Take her out of the tank and keep her in a dry, warm area. This is called "dry docking", and you may need to do it over the next couple of days to allow the bleeding to stop. If possible, wipe the area with diluted novalsan or hibiclens (chlorhexidine) or diluted betadine. Then apply some neosporin over it. Rehydrate her a few times a day for about 10 minutes to let her eat.

Do you know how it was broken? Is it possible the other turtle bit her?

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:00 pm
by Anavs
The bleeding has stopped completely. I put some polysporin on her and I washed off the blood. Ive been watching her and she seems to be okay other than missing the nail.

Im not sure exactly, I was washing the tank and I seperated them, so it wasnt the other turtle's fault.

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 3:00 pm
by steve
It'll still be a good idea to keep them separated until the area has healed.

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 6:16 pm
by Teodora
First of all sorry for my bad English :oops: ... Im from Serbia :)
So I have red ear turtle (our how do you call that breed ) an he broke his claw ( actualy 3 claws ) one on the left leg, and two on the right back leg...
He didn't broke all at once. He broke one claw, and it was bleeding, so it stopped, and I put him in the water, and I saw that the water was red, so I notice that the other claw is broken, and i put him on dry area, an I just saw that there is 3rd claw missing...
What should I do. I have him with me 5 years, I'm so scared for him...
And again sorry for my bad english grammar

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:28 pm
by missibsu
Do you just have one turtle? Do you know how he is breaking is claws? I would dry dock in a warm area again until the bleeding stops. I don't know if neosporin is available in your area or not, but something similar can be used to treat the bleeding areas. Watch for them to scab over.

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:21 pm
by Teodora
Yes i have just one...
My uncle is a surgeon (for human) an he told me that that was infection... :(
I put him some medicine, it is for the fish and turtles.
He is much better...
He had some infection ( I don't know what is the name in U.S. )that involve decomposition of the extremities, rednes, losing necrotic tissue... But he was only missing his claws... We put him just once thad med. and there is no blood :D
Thanks for help :)

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 4:35 pm
by marisa
Keep the tank water really clean so that it doesn't get reinfected. And make sure he basks so that the area periodically gets a chance to dry off.

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 12:15 pm
by Teodora
Thanks :D

Re: Turtle broke its nail

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:39 am
by deagle308
Teodora wrote:Yes i have just one...
My uncle is a surgeon (for human) an he told me that that was infection... :(
I put him some medicine, it is for the fish and turtles.
He is much better...
He had some infection ( I don't know what is the name in U.S. )that involve decomposition of the extremities, rednes, losing necrotic tissue... But he was only missing his claws... We put him just once thad med. and there is no blood :D
Thanks for help :)


Hi! My res has something similar to this right now.. can you ask your uncle what the infection is called? Also, what medicine did you use? Thanks!