Torn nail due to a fall. Really worried, please help!
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 9:57 am
Sad news Today, I accidentally dropped my turtle during a routine cleaning of the tank. He was dropped from about 2 feet height.
Initially, I thought he was fine, because he dropped belly down, like a vertical thud, I didn't register any tumbling, so I put him back into the water. About a minute later, I noticed a red spot by his right claw. I have not seen turtle bleed before, so I went to check and indeed, he was bleeding.
I immediately separated him and his pal and put him in a separate tank filled with water just enough to cover his head. Then I dropped 15 drops of Betadine into the water. By this time, he seemed to have stopped bleeding as there was no more blood pooling beside the claw. I thought his blood clotting was god speed as the bleeding had stopped literally within 2 minutes of injury.
He remained in the Betadine solution for 20 minutes. He was very calm and relaxed. I decided that he might be ok then, so I brought him outside to get some warmth. It was very sunny but due to his injury, I put him in a shade. Then he began crawling around in the basking tub like he always does and the bleeding started again. All the while, he was just like his normal self, behaving as though nothing had happened...
I brought him back indoor (28ºC), ran some tap water over him and dropped some Betadine over his wound. I pat dry him, put him in a dry plastic tub and then placed it at a dark corner in my room. He became very calm again probably because of the foreign environment. He was not moving much, which was great as movements would have caused further bleeding. He chilled in there, slept a bit, for about 6-7 hours. By the end of this, I took some pictures:
I did not pick him up for the photos, so these were the best I got. It can be seen that the middle nail was snapped and no longer in alignment with the rest of the nails.
After this, it was his meal time. I put some water in the tub and gave him a lettuce leaf the size of his shell, shredded small so he did not have to tear it with his claws, and 6 Mazuri turtle pellets, and some Koi pellets. He was very cautious during feeding, because of the new environment I guess, but he ate them all leaving nothing behind. Then, I poured away the feeding water, took him out to take some more pictures.
His claw looked really poorly! I was shocked and surprised by the extent of the injury, I had no idea how this could have happened as it did not look like a nasty fall at all. I feel so guilty to have done this to him...
My plan for him for the next two days is
- Betadine bath twice a day, the rest of the time is dry docking
- Betadine drops on the wound before dry docking
- Silver Sulfadiazine cream on the wound every night
- Meals as usual, maybe more Mazuri (protein for healing?)
What are you suggestions? Does this warrant a vet visit? Then again, a vet visit would be pretty pointless for me as in my area, there isn't any herp vet and I would say you guys know a lot more than them.
Please help, thank you!!
Initially, I thought he was fine, because he dropped belly down, like a vertical thud, I didn't register any tumbling, so I put him back into the water. About a minute later, I noticed a red spot by his right claw. I have not seen turtle bleed before, so I went to check and indeed, he was bleeding.
I immediately separated him and his pal and put him in a separate tank filled with water just enough to cover his head. Then I dropped 15 drops of Betadine into the water. By this time, he seemed to have stopped bleeding as there was no more blood pooling beside the claw. I thought his blood clotting was god speed as the bleeding had stopped literally within 2 minutes of injury.
He remained in the Betadine solution for 20 minutes. He was very calm and relaxed. I decided that he might be ok then, so I brought him outside to get some warmth. It was very sunny but due to his injury, I put him in a shade. Then he began crawling around in the basking tub like he always does and the bleeding started again. All the while, he was just like his normal self, behaving as though nothing had happened...
I brought him back indoor (28ºC), ran some tap water over him and dropped some Betadine over his wound. I pat dry him, put him in a dry plastic tub and then placed it at a dark corner in my room. He became very calm again probably because of the foreign environment. He was not moving much, which was great as movements would have caused further bleeding. He chilled in there, slept a bit, for about 6-7 hours. By the end of this, I took some pictures:
I did not pick him up for the photos, so these were the best I got. It can be seen that the middle nail was snapped and no longer in alignment with the rest of the nails.
After this, it was his meal time. I put some water in the tub and gave him a lettuce leaf the size of his shell, shredded small so he did not have to tear it with his claws, and 6 Mazuri turtle pellets, and some Koi pellets. He was very cautious during feeding, because of the new environment I guess, but he ate them all leaving nothing behind. Then, I poured away the feeding water, took him out to take some more pictures.
His claw looked really poorly! I was shocked and surprised by the extent of the injury, I had no idea how this could have happened as it did not look like a nasty fall at all. I feel so guilty to have done this to him...
My plan for him for the next two days is
- Betadine bath twice a day, the rest of the time is dry docking
- Betadine drops on the wound before dry docking
- Silver Sulfadiazine cream on the wound every night
- Meals as usual, maybe more Mazuri (protein for healing?)
What are you suggestions? Does this warrant a vet visit? Then again, a vet visit would be pretty pointless for me as in my area, there isn't any herp vet and I would say you guys know a lot more than them.
Please help, thank you!!