This is a question for those of you who take care of your turtle and tortoise ear abscesses yourself.
I've lanced many, many ear abscesses over the years, and never had anything go wrong. But this newest one has me stumped. It's a western painted turtle that came to me as a rescue last year. I decided to keep her and put her in my pond. Prior to hibernation last autumn I saw her sunning and noticed she had an ear abscess. It's almost impossible to catch a turtle in my pond, as it's just a big mud hole in the ground and the water is not clear and quite muddy. I have seen the turtle on a few more occasions, but have never been able to catch her until a couple days ago. She was out on the bank, just beyond the fence and within reaching distance, and I just reached over and grabbed her.
By this time, she's had the lump on the side of her head for almost a year. I got all my lancing supplies ready, and made the 'X' incision over the lump, however, there's nothing but flesh inside the opening. Huge lump on the side of the head, but raw flesh inside the incision. I gently spread apart the skin with a toothpick, and you can't see anything inside the incision but flesh.
Obviously, the turtle isn't feeling well or I wouldn't have been able to grab her. Have any of you ever lanced an ear abscess and not been able to find the actual abscess? Any suggestions? I've soaked her in antibiotic water overnight.
I've lanced many, many ear abscesses over the years, and never had anything go wrong. But this newest one has me stumped. It's a western painted turtle that came to me as a rescue last year. I decided to keep her and put her in my pond. Prior to hibernation last autumn I saw her sunning and noticed she had an ear abscess. It's almost impossible to catch a turtle in my pond, as it's just a big mud hole in the ground and the water is not clear and quite muddy. I have seen the turtle on a few more occasions, but have never been able to catch her until a couple days ago. She was out on the bank, just beyond the fence and within reaching distance, and I just reached over and grabbed her.
By this time, she's had the lump on the side of her head for almost a year. I got all my lancing supplies ready, and made the 'X' incision over the lump, however, there's nothing but flesh inside the opening. Huge lump on the side of the head, but raw flesh inside the incision. I gently spread apart the skin with a toothpick, and you can't see anything inside the incision but flesh.
Obviously, the turtle isn't feeling well or I wouldn't have been able to grab her. Have any of you ever lanced an ear abscess and not been able to find the actual abscess? Any suggestions? I've soaked her in antibiotic water overnight.
