Injured Herman

[Tammydavies559]

So woke my tortoise up early and found she had been chewed by something. ??devastated, she’s 10 years old. Vet kept her a couple of nights then I brought her home to care for her. It’s to the bone on most of the leg, I’m dressing every other day now with cream but I don’t know if it’s healing. We are now in lockdown, should I persevere or is it time to think about amputation ??

 

[Yvonne G]

Wow! That's some serious chewing. Probably a rat.

If you can't take the tortoise to the vet then buy some Betadyne and, using a cotton swab, clean the wound thoroughly. Only use the Betadyne one time, as it inhibits the growth of white blood cells. After cleaning, coat the wound with Neosporin or something like that. Since this is on the bottom of the leg, the part that comes into contact with the ground, I'd keep the tortoise on non-shedding cloth or newspaper until the wound scabs over. Next, buy some Chlorhexidine and the next day, after the Betadyne cleaning, use Chlorhexidine from then on. This is a wound wash. So clean the wound and afterwards dab on the first aid cream.

Needless to say, keep this tortoise in the house so flies can't lay eggs on the flesh. If at all possible, see your vet for antibiotics. This isn't life threatening, however many tortoises die from infection rather than from the injury.

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

Yeah, I'm 100% in agreement with Yvonne. That definitely looks like rodent damage. I've seen it done to snakes who were given live food and instead became dinner. Everything Yvonne said about care is right on. Also even in quarantine, many 24/7 emergency pet clinics are still open, so maybe call around.

 

[Tammydavies559]

I’ve been to the vet before the quarantine she has had antibiotics and painkillers and had it washed and dressed, I’m just doing after care. I have a cream from the vet to apply every time I redress, is it going to heal? She’s inside on a puppy pad so I can monitor pooing and weeing, she took a while but is now eating and the above and moving around a lot although not using that leg.

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

It will likely heal, especially if kept clean, but will definitely be used gingerly even after healing. The leg scales will probably never grow back. I've never seen rodent attacks on a tortoise, so it's hard to tell how she'll be in 2 or 3 years. It's very stressing to heal, so I'd ask the vet or others here about adding electrolytes to drinking water as well? I've seen a snake and a lizard that was heavily damaged by rodents and both recovered as best as one could hope. The lizard had an amputated hind leg, but he didn't act like he was missing anything. Snake had a large scaleless scar. I've known far more that succumbed to their injury. Absolutely hoping for the best for your little gal!

Hopefully you have a few tortoise-proof rodent traps placed around your home.