Redfoot foot injury

Leesa

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My redfoot (about 14yo, about 19 lbs) has a foot injury that happened yesterday. I think he stepped on the threshold of our sliding glass door and it pulled at a "scale" (I don't know what it's called but that's what it looks like) on the bottom of his foot. It's not near the nail, toward the back/inside of his foot. It was bleeding quite a bit and he left a trail of blood as he walked. I rinsed and held a tissue to it to stop the bleeding but as he walks around I think it gets aggravated and starts bleeding again. This morning it was bleeding quite a bit so I put a bandaid on it and then some tape (the white medical tape you would use to hold a bandage on a large scape or burn) over it and around his ankle (not tight, circulation okay) to hold it on. It seems to be doing the trick and not bleeding any longer (past 3-4 hours). I don't see any blood coming through the tape.

I called our vet and he hasn't returned he call so I started looking around online and there doesn't seem to be any info about this. The "scale" on the bottom of his foot is still attached on one side but I don't know if it will heal back on, or should be removed. I don't want to try to pull it off and hurt him, or start more bleeding.

I'd post a pic but I don't want to take the tape and bandaid off right now, unless I really need to. And now I'm worried about hurting his skin when I have to take the tape off.

Anyone know anything about this?
 

Yvonne G

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I can only hazard a guess because I haven't seen it first hand. My guess is that the hanging spur is aggravated each time he steps on it, causing it to bleed again. I think the only way it's going to heal is to cut it all the way off. I think a vet should do this because he has the 'tools' to make the bleeding stop, and it IS going to bleed. I'm pretty sure it won't reattach.
 

MPRC

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I doubt it will re-attach. You are doing what I would. Keep it clean, change the band-aid daily and use neospirin. Could you take a photo when you change the dressing? If it's like a flap and 'sealing' the injury it might be okay, but if its dangling it will probably need to be removed.

I had a redfoot lose a nail and she bled like crazy.
 

Leesa

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You were both right. We got in to see the Dr. today and he removed the scale and it bled but he had stuff for that. Turtle also got an antibiotics shot to ensure it doesn't become infected since there is a bit of an open wound now. And since we were there we added on the pedicure and beak trim so now I have a very mad turtle, but he's good to go.

Thanks for the comments and information. We've had our turtle for 10+ years and never had anything like this happen before so it was pretty alarming to see so much blood. All good now.
 

Leesa

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I'm coming back to this thread because I have a new concern but it stems from the old one so the details of that are above. Turtle was very upset yesterday. He threw up while we were a the Dr. (I didn't know a turtle *could* throw up) and he was concerned that it was quite a lot of water (it was only water, no food). We all got home, turtle wasn't very happy and just went to sleep not long afterward. Dr. called to check on him after we got home and said he was concerned about how much water had come back up, wanted us to try to feed him last night. I told him that turtle had already put himself to bed (gone to his corner to sleep) and so I thought I might leave him alone for the evening and try to feed him in the morning. Dr. said okay, good idea, turtle had a tough day (wound care, nail and beak trim, antibiotic shot, car ride to Dr., that's a lot). So today he came out, went to the kitchen where he usually eats and seemed to be perking up. I put some food in front of him, no interest. I gave him a variety of things that he usually goes for, no interest. Dr. said yesterday that if he didn't want to eat that we should try to give him some honey to keep his blood sugar up. So, I put some honey on a spoon and put it in front of him, no interest. Tried to dab a little on his beak/mouth, nothing. I'm not sure how to get honey into a turtle, I've never had to try to force feed him before. Anyone know how to do this? or have suggestions for something else I could try to feed him that might get his attention?

I tried to call our Dr., office closed. Hoping for some good advice here so I can try something tonight and not have to wait for them to open tomorrow morning.

The good news is that his foot looks great, no more bleeding and no sign of any infection.

TIA!
 

MPRC

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If he's bright and active I would make sure he's warm and has access to food and water and let him be. They can go a long time without eating. He's probably still just stressed.

I've only seen a tortoise puke once and it was also stress related, she got dropped by a kid and up came her lunch. She was fine a day later.
 

Leesa

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Okay, thanks, that makes me feel a little better. We live in Chicago and when the days are short and it's little colder, he will sleep for sometimes three days straight so I don't worry about eating then (he'll come out for food when he's ready) I was concerned this time because he is usually a pretty hearty eater in the warmer months. I'll give him another day to get over the trauma. I feel bad for him, it was a lot yesterday.
 

TammyJ

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I hope your tort makes a full recovery! I guess the vet is concerned about dehydration. Keep in contact with him about how your tort is doing, and with us!
The neosporin is good (the one without the pain killer, so I hear) and also there is a cream called Silver Sulphadiazene (Silvadene?) which is great for reptile injuries, I used it on my iguana's wounds once and it worked wonders.
 

Leesa

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Foot looks great and he seems to be drinking plenty, but he's not eating yet and hasn't since his "day of trauma" as we are now calling it. He hasn't been outside since the whole foot thing began but I put him outside about an hour ago and will give him a couple hours (mild temps today) and see if that perks him up.
 

BrianWI

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Keep some styptic powder around for emergencies to stop bleeding. Superglue works in a pinch.
 

Leesa

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Yay, he's eating... as of today. He's still limping on the leg where he got the shot but I guess with a slow turtle metabolism it could take longer for the muscle soreness to subside. I figure if it's a good two days for a person who gets a shot in the arm it's maybe 5 - 6 days for a turtle. Anyone know if that's true?
 
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