Help! Pip broke out of her home and the dog carried her outside!

[Anna!]

I came home tonight and as I was walking up I saw my 1 year old sulcata on the porch! I have no idea how, but somehow she broke out of her house, fell down off the table her home is kept on, got picked up by one of our dogs and carried out the dog door to the porch. She has a few teeth marks on her from the dogs and she must have been out there for at least 4 or 5 hours in the icy temperatures because she is freezing! Somehow she survived all of this, but the emergency vet in our area won't see her so I can't get her to the vet until the exotic vet opens tomorrow. I am attaching a few pics of her shell damage. I have her right under her basking lamp to bring up her body temperature but I have no idea what to do about the places where the dogs got her. I am completely panicked and feel horrible for putting her in a home where this could happen! Is this something that will cause lasting damage? Can her shell heal itself? Does it hurt her? Am I the worst tort mom ever?! What do I do?! I am a crying mess and feel absolutely awful!

 

[sibi]

Hi, I'm sibi. I own 4 sulcatas, and whenever I get a chance, I always warn owners, especially new ones here, to keep torts away from dogs. Now, I have seen worse damage to the carapace (shell), and the front area that's most damage is called the gular. The damage is permanent, I'm afraid. Buy, the good news is that he'll be alright. Give him warm soaks for several hours, making sure that the water doesn't get cold. That's the best way to bring his temp up. I once had an experience where my torts almost froze to death. It took them about six hours in constant warm soaks to get back to normal. The danger with the wounds is infection. If you're seeing the vet tomorrow, then he'll clean the wounds and tell you how to care to it. It will heal, but, the damaged area will not grow back. Hopefully, as he grows, the gular will grow too. Keep us posted.

 

[Yvonne G]

No, you're not the worst tort mom ever. We've all had the occasional bad thing happen in our tortoise worlds. Try to figure out how the tortoise got out of the habitat. Could a dog have reached in and got the tortoise? It's pretty important that you figure this out so it doesn't happen again, because you're quite lucky the tortoise only has those two spots. Dog chews are usually a whole lot worse than what your tortoise experienced.

 

[Jodie]

I completely understand your devastation. I found my leopard upside down on the back porch a few years ago. His scars remain, but he survived. He is active and healthy. Keep the wounds clean and keep him extra warm, so he can fight infection. Best wishes.

 

[Prairie Mom]

I don't have experience to give you any advice here, but just wanted to wish your sweetheart a safe and quick recovery. I'm sure she hurts pretty badly now and am so glad you found her.

When I soak my tortoise, the water cools by about 15 min and would need to be replaced. I'm sure it varies depending on the amount of water.

My larger foundling sulcata arrived with what forum members helped me guess were old dog chew marks. The shell does seem to heal over in time. I presume there will always be some deformity, but my sulcata's shell looks better and better as new growth comes in.
Good luck!!! Big hugs and hope you figure out the housing issue!

 

[sibi]

Update please