PatMicklewaite
New Member
I wish I were joining under better circumstances but my greek torto is having some issues. He's had what appears to be an injury on his plastron for a while, the vet said it doesn't look like shell rot but isn't sure what it is. Vet's advice was to soak him every day first in warm water, then warm salt water (1 tablespoon salt/1 pint water) then apply silver sulfadiazine cream (1%) and do this every day for 30 days. To keep him from getting substrate in the cream I put a bandage over it once it's been on for a minute or so.
I've been doing this for almost a week now. My tort never liked to be handled so I expected he'd get frustrated with the routine. But I think he's taking issue with the cream. Side effects are itching/burning/irritation and he's basically been going mental, trying to bury himself, moving his food plate to hide under, shoving his log hide, all around freak out behavior.
I feel terrible but I also want him to get better. He's definitely stressed and I've been doing my best to make the soaks as comfortable as possible. I don't want him to hurt himself either by getting stuck during one of his tirades.
Other than that he is eating, pooping, and peeing and he's clearly not lethargic. I just feel terrible. And I also feel like I made a big mistake not noticing the problem. I may have been too hands off with him and now it's hands on every night plus obvious discomfort from the cream. I'm keeping tabs on each days' progress, there appears to be improvement but I don't know.
I apologize if any of my language is inappropriate, I don't think I used any swears but I'm generally a potty mouth so I'll just apologize in advance if any snuck through.
I've been doing this for almost a week now. My tort never liked to be handled so I expected he'd get frustrated with the routine. But I think he's taking issue with the cream. Side effects are itching/burning/irritation and he's basically been going mental, trying to bury himself, moving his food plate to hide under, shoving his log hide, all around freak out behavior.
I feel terrible but I also want him to get better. He's definitely stressed and I've been doing my best to make the soaks as comfortable as possible. I don't want him to hurt himself either by getting stuck during one of his tirades.
Other than that he is eating, pooping, and peeing and he's clearly not lethargic. I just feel terrible. And I also feel like I made a big mistake not noticing the problem. I may have been too hands off with him and now it's hands on every night plus obvious discomfort from the cream. I'm keeping tabs on each days' progress, there appears to be improvement but I don't know.
I apologize if any of my language is inappropriate, I don't think I used any swears but I'm generally a potty mouth so I'll just apologize in advance if any snuck through.