msgreentea
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2016
- Messages
- 2
I have a desert tortoise who was recently attacked by rats while he was hibernating. I think we found him hours after the attack. He was badly injured to all 4 of his limbs but his head and tail appear fine. We initially thought he was dead and kept him inside a car in a box to be buried the next day. However, the next morning, we realized he had his limbs back inside his shell (movement). We took him to the vet but unfortunately the vet said he's not sure if our tortoise is dead or alive but he thinks the tortoise is dead but as he is hibernating, the vet said he couldn't tell but either way there is nothing he can do. So we took him home and cleaned up his wounds with tea tree oil and witch hazel and bandaged him up. Yesterday, I applied honey to his wounds as I read that in cases of emergency this is how you can treat tortoises. He is still tightly curled up in his shell so I can't tell if he's still hibernating. I also don't know what to do if he's still hibernating. I don't want to wake him up fully since he's so badly injured that I fear it would stress him and make him more sick. But at the same time, I don't know if treating a wounded tortoise while he's hibernating is going to help him at all.