Advice on tortoise after injury

[Angelbrook]

Hi all. I am new to this forum. We have owned Ben, a Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise from 18 years old when we acquired him to his current age of 54 years. He has had the same large garden to roam in all his time with us and of which he knows every corner. He has always been adventurous and very active. He is also very social and curious and comes to see us and anyone else when we are in the garden. Recently a dog got into our garden and briefly attacked him. We have been to the vet 3 times who examined him and considered the injuries to be superficial, but advised us to keep him indoors for 2 weeks and prescribed antibiotics. He seemed to recover well and a follow-up visit to the vet ended in a recommended resin carapace to be fitted to the breastplate of the shell where damage was more noticeable. From that point he hardly moved although continued to eat well and poo properly. The carapace was a lot thicker than we had anticipated so we took him back to the vet who agreed it could be removed, and he was prescribed pain-killers which we gave him for 2 weeks. The shell looks fine now. However his behaviour, while improving somewhat, has not changed. He is bright-eyed, pink-tongued and feeds well on a wide-ranging diet, is a good weight, but he continues to be uninterested in moving around, and if not particularly hungry will just watch us (alertly) but not come to see us as he did before. Is this all trauma from the attack or is there something else that could be affecting him and making him reluctant to move around? We are approaching autumn now so he naturally slows down as it gets towards his normal hibernation time of early October, but any advice anyone can give us is appreciated. (We are in touch with the vet again by the way).

 

[wellington]

We can really only take guesses but yes, I believe it is. Lots went on, attached, then vet, then a shell put on them off, all the meds, etc. My guess would be he doesn't feel quite sure if he is safe. After all he was doing is normal in a home he's had for years, that he searched out many times and knew he was in a safe place, then all that changed for the bad. Give him more time and see how he does. You could also try changing just a couple things, like adding a safe plant or two for coverage, that might make him feel safer.
In the meantime, fix whatever needs fixing so it can't happen again. Once a dog knows the tortoise is there, he will likely try again. Next time he might not be so lucky.
Dogs should never have access to a tortoise. They will never be friends. A tortoise is a moving chew toy.

 

[Angelbrook]

We can really only take guesses but yes, I believe it is. Lots went on, attached, then vet, then a shell put on them off, all the meds, etc. My guess would be he doesn't feel quite sure if he is safe. After all he was doing is normal in a home he's had for years, that he searched out many times and knew he was in a safe place, then all that changed for the bad. Give him more time and see how he does. You could also try changing just a couple things, like adding a safe plant or two for coverage, that might make him feel safer.
In the meantime, fix whatever needs fixing so it can't happen again. Once a dog knows the tortoise is there, he will likely try again. Next time he might not be so lucky.
Dogs should never have access to a tortoise. They will never be friends. A tortoise is a moving chew toy.

Thanks and yes of course will ensure to best of my ability that we are totally dog-proof. We have many neighbours with dogs and have already raised our fences to stop incursions.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Could you send a photo of the injury? I think you should check with the vet on whether or not your tortoise is ready for brumation this year.