I want to preface this post by stating that I've already beat myself up and cried for a night straight about this mistake and am publicly posting this to help others not make this mistake - so please be gentle and kind, as I have already done enough emotional damage to myself on this one.
I love my tortoise. I've had him for about 6 months, and yes, I like having him out and interacting with my family and other animals. I have always had a ton of animals, as I am the daughter of two veterinarians, and I have always had a way of introducing species to one another and having them coexist—chickens, cats, Horses, dogs, Pigs, and Turkeys, all of it.
Tortoises are not this type of animal, and I learned a valuable lesson yesterday, allowing my tortoise to roam while I was distracted by my 3-year-old daughter for a short while. Our incredibly sensitive and nurturing dog got a hold of him and punctured a wound on both the top of his shell and his underbelly.
I reprimanded the dog (please don't debate me on this) as I believe they know right from wrong, and I began working on Dino (my year-old sulcata) - I hope you never run into this but if you do, these are the steps I took and hopefully the expert in this community can provide more details:
1. Assess the damage and look for any signs of bleeding or internal damage.
2. flushed out the wounds with saline
3. added triple antibiotic to the wounds (because at the time, this is all I had, I live in a rural area one grocery store within an hour radius)
4. because he is so small, I opted for a clear round adhesive bandaid, as it ensures no access to the wound while he's in his cage.
5. My Mom (also my vet) will come up and provide him with antibiotic shots, 2-3 rounds + low-dose pain meds if needed.
6. Puppy pads: I will add puppy pads to his home and allow the wound to air out later this week and ensure no substrates or foreign objects can get lodged into the open wounds
Other things I've learned: Betadine is good to use one time. Then switch to triple antibiotic or Vetricyn. Cover the wounds with some gauze and surgical tape to keep dirt and flies out of it for a while.
DO NOT MIX ANIMALS, NO MATTER HOW TRUSTED YOUR DOG/CAT IS.
I love my tortoise. I've had him for about 6 months, and yes, I like having him out and interacting with my family and other animals. I have always had a ton of animals, as I am the daughter of two veterinarians, and I have always had a way of introducing species to one another and having them coexist—chickens, cats, Horses, dogs, Pigs, and Turkeys, all of it.
Tortoises are not this type of animal, and I learned a valuable lesson yesterday, allowing my tortoise to roam while I was distracted by my 3-year-old daughter for a short while. Our incredibly sensitive and nurturing dog got a hold of him and punctured a wound on both the top of his shell and his underbelly.
I reprimanded the dog (please don't debate me on this) as I believe they know right from wrong, and I began working on Dino (my year-old sulcata) - I hope you never run into this but if you do, these are the steps I took and hopefully the expert in this community can provide more details:
1. Assess the damage and look for any signs of bleeding or internal damage.
2. flushed out the wounds with saline
3. added triple antibiotic to the wounds (because at the time, this is all I had, I live in a rural area one grocery store within an hour radius)
4. because he is so small, I opted for a clear round adhesive bandaid, as it ensures no access to the wound while he's in his cage.
5. My Mom (also my vet) will come up and provide him with antibiotic shots, 2-3 rounds + low-dose pain meds if needed.
6. Puppy pads: I will add puppy pads to his home and allow the wound to air out later this week and ensure no substrates or foreign objects can get lodged into the open wounds
Other things I've learned: Betadine is good to use one time. Then switch to triple antibiotic or Vetricyn. Cover the wounds with some gauze and surgical tape to keep dirt and flies out of it for a while.
DO NOT MIX ANIMALS, NO MATTER HOW TRUSTED YOUR DOG/CAT IS.
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