HELP! Dog bit my baby leopard tortoise

Katy321

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Hello, my jack Russel bit my baby leopard tortoise and the vets are closed now. The carapace is fine, but the wound on the plastron looks very bad and I am freaking out.

I have cleaned the wound with sterilized, lukewarm water and placed it on a clean white towel and am keeping it warm.

How do I care for the wound for till I can get to a vet? Does anyone have any idea what treatment she might need from the vet?

20170625_160847.jpg
 

JoesMum

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Clean the wound with antiseptic as you would a wound that you get.

Keep your tort on newspaper, to keep dirt out of the wound, with the usual lamps and access to water.

This baby has had a nasty shock and may well refuse to eat for a few days until it decides things are safe.

And you have learned the hard way that even the friendliest of dogs can treat a tort as a chew toy. Dogs and torts must never come together. :(
 

Pearly

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Good news is it was Jackrussell and not fully grown labrador with much bigger jaws, still what you see in the outside is likely to be just a tip on iceberg. The little dog had to apply enough force to puncture/crush the shell, I am concerned about internal injuries in the chest region (lungs/heart, larger blood vessels) I think if the vital organs were damaged you should see that in the next several hrs. I am not a vet but my logic tells me that such traumatic injury to chest region should reveal itself within first 24 hrs. Definitely keep her warm and clean. She probably needs fluids, see if she'll eat/drink, Grate seedless cucumber it's full of water, I'd also dunk her butt in nice warm water hopefully some gets in through the cloaca. So: 1) keep her clean, 2) keep her warm, 3) try to hydrate (this is very important! She's probably in shock) 4) look for emergency vet clinic, I'd think that even cat/dog vet professional will be able to render proper1st aid, give subq. fluids and treat for pain 5) get her to the herp vet asap. She may or may not survive this depending on the extent of the injury inside. I'm wishing you best of luck!
 

zovick

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The red tissue in the wound is exposed muscle. If you can push the displaced shell back together to cover it, I would recommend doing that. Then take some tape (duct tape, adhesive tape, wound healing tape, etc.) and wrap it around the tortoise to keep the pieces of the shell together over the wound. Try to get the tape just behind and under the front legs so the tortoise can use them if it wants to do so. If you have any Neosporin or Bacitracin Ointment, put a little of that on the wound before you close the shell over it and tape it closed.

Good Luck!
 

zovick

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Looking at the picture again, it seems that maybe a piece of the shell is missing. Is that right? If so, I recommend putting some Neosporin Ointment on the wound and then taping some gauze over it to cover the wound until you can get to a vet.
 

Bee62

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The wound looks nasty ! I would treat it like @zovick wrote and take the tort as soon as possible to a VET.
The poor little baby has a bad shock and suffers pain. I guess your tort needs antibiotics.
Please keep us updated.
 

zovick

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@Katy321

We haven't heard anything from you since yesterday morning. Can you provide an update on the status of your Leopard baby? Did it live through the night? If so, are you taking it to the vet today?
 

TammyJ

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We are waiting and hoping for the best! Please update us!
 

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