# Need help with a cracked shell and bleeding. No vet where we live!



## Chantelle McIver (Aug 10, 2016)

Hello all. This is my first post. We live in Niger, Africa and we have a 7 year old male African sulcata. He weighs about 40 pounds. He was in an accident with a vehicle and his back shell was partially crushed. So he has a 20 cm long crack up his back left. He is bleeding a little bit. All of his legs are still moving although he is limping.





I have a picture but i cant seem to load it here. My husband removed small broken shell fragments and lined it up. At the bottom the shell is still separated. What are our options? What can we do with no vet (or only a very poor one) available to us!


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## Yvonne G (Aug 10, 2016)

You can put duct tape and pull it tight to pull the crack together. But more importantly, he'll need antibiotics. It takes a very long time for an infection to kill a tortoise. Sometimes a year or more after the accident. If you can't get antibiotics from a vet, then try a feed store for this one:






It's not as good as what you can get from a vet, but it will be better than nothing. You use a quarter teaspoon per quart of water and soak the tortoise in it for at least a half hour daily for a couple weeks.


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## Kasia (Aug 10, 2016)

Chantelle McIver said:


> Hello all. This is my first post. We live in Niger, Africa and we have a 7 year old male African sulcata. He weighs about 40 pounds. He was in an accident with a vehicle and his back shell was partially crushed. So he has a 20 cm long crack up his back left. He is bleeding a little bit. All of his legs are still moving although he is limping.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Is there possibility to X ray him? If not you can do as much as Yvonne suggested. Hope he did not suffered internal damedges. Does he have an apetite? Is he active? Watch him closely. If he will become lethargic without any option to see a good reptile specialist you have to consider putting him down and not prolonging his suffering. I hope all will be fine, wish you and your tortie all the best.


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## Gillian M (Aug 10, 2016)

Very sorry that your tort isn't well. 

I live in Jordan, (the Middle East) where there are no vets for torts!  GOD only knows how much that worries me. 

Hope to hear your tort is better soon, and welcome to the forum!


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## Pearly (Aug 10, 2016)

Gosh! I'm so sorry for your tort and for you. Until you get to the feed store, use what you can to keep this clean and covered so no flies can't get in and deposit eggs in there. Keep it covered with clean gauze covered conclusively with good strong tape in a way that hold the broken edges as well approximated together as possible. I'll see if I can find some pictures to post so you know what I'm taking about. That antibiotic soak would be fantastic if you could get that and do daily following by dressing change. If no internal organ damage, your tort may have a good shot at recovering from this. I wonder if our veterinarian doc members get on line any time soon to chime in. @deadheadvet , hi Doc, could you help out if you are around? @Yvonne G, aren't there other vets on here? They are probably busy now at their clinics, but maybe tonight? Or sometime soon? How about our Vet Techs? I have to search some user names... Darn! How about @Tom? Could you help?


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## Yvonne G (Aug 10, 2016)

Here's an interesting article for pulling a crack together:

http://www.asianturtlenetwork.org/library/useful_resources/Easy_shell_repair_03_06.pdf


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## Chantelle McIver (Aug 15, 2016)

Thanks for all your replies. It is not possible to xray him here. We cleaned out the crack and took out a few fragments and then used betadine to clean it and aspirated in some baneocin powder antibiotic. We also got 4 days worth of pills antibitoics that we are putting in apple pieces and have been mostly successful in him eating it. He still seems slow and lethargic and dragging his back end when he moves. All his legs are moving though. I am wondering if it hurts to lift himself all the way up so he drags. 
We also did a tiny hand drilled hole on either side of the crack at the very bottom and used surgical steel wire to make a "stitch" to hold the crack together firmly.
Not sure what else we can do at this point. I don't know how to tell if he is really sick but he's still eating and moving a little bit.


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## Chantelle McIver (Aug 15, 2016)




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## Kasia (Aug 15, 2016)

Chantelle McIver said:


> Thanks for all your replies. It is not possible to xray him here. We cleaned out the crack and took out a few fragments and then used betadine to clean it and aspirated in some baneocin powder antibiotic. We also got 4 days worth of pills antibitoics that we are putting in apple pieces and have been mostly successful in him eating it. He still seems slow and lethargic and dragging his back end when he moves. All his legs are moving though. I am wondering if it hurts to lift himself all the way up so he drags.
> We also did a tiny hand drilled hole on either side of the crack at the very bottom and used surgical steel wire to make a "stitch" to hold the crack together firmly.
> Not sure what else we can do at this point. I don't know how to tell if he is really sick but he's still eating and moving a little bit.


Good job you did there. Give him time. Torts recover slow, it's a positive singh that his eating. Did you checked his back legs? Maybe there is some injury there? If there are ok it's probably as you wrote that his in pain at least I would be if a ended up hit by a car. Feed him plenty, provide water and care. If you can continue with antibiotics at least for a week or two. Later if he has mobility problems you can think about wheels glued to his shell for an extra lift. I keep my fingers crossed for the little guy update on his progress please


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## Gillian M (Aug 15, 2016)

How's your tort today?


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