Ghost attacked by dog

Tim Carlisle

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Ghost was attacked by a stray dog yesterday out in my yard. I was standing maybe 6 feet or so away from him while he grazed. Dog came out of nowhere, made a B-line towards Ghost, picked him up, and carried him about 60 feet. Medium size dog, not sure what breed. When I finally caught up with them, the dog took off and I noticed damage and minor bleeding to Ghost's carapace.

I rushed him inside and immediately cleaned out the wounds with peroxide, then soaked him in tepid water for about 25-30 minutes. I inspected the wounds closer and it appeared that only the front carapace ridge was afflicted. No damage to the plastron. I applied a topical triple antibiotic and covered the wound with gauze pads.

This morning I changed the dressing, and called the vet at 8:30 when they opened. The vet was able to see him at 11:00. He carefully cleaned the wounds and inspected them. VERY nice guy! Been doing aviary and reptiles for 30+ years. He gave him a shot of antibiotics, then applied and antibiotic ointment to the shell.

The vet gave me some povidone-iodine scrub to clean the wound, silver sulfadia cream to be applied every day for 30 days, and Repashy to give as a nutritional supplement. Anyone ever use Repashy before? I've never heard of it. You have to boil water, then add 1 part Repashy to 3 parts water, then refrigerate.

Anyhow, Ghost doesn't seem to have lost his appetite at least, and the vet said he will make a full recovery. He mentioned that within a couple of years when the shell has regrown, I shouldn't notice a difference. Thank God it isn't any worse than it is. Lesson learned from all of this: be especially vigilant of forces unseen!

Ghost_Injury.jpg
 

TechnoCheese

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Very glad to hear he’ll be fine! Repashy makes food for most species of arboreal geckos that mostly eat fruit. I’ve heard great things about their other foods and supplements. Sounds like you have a pretty good vet!
 

Tim Carlisle

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Very glad to hear he’ll be fine! Repashy makes food for most species of arboreal geckos that mostly eat fruit. I’ve heard great things about their other foods and supplements. Sounds like you have a pretty good vet!
He treats the turtles at the aquarium, and I think he treats the torts over at the Cincinnati zoo. He said they give Repashy to all the reptiles there.
 

dmmj

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Def. Sounds like a good vet. Torts are tough shell is designed to protect them. Glad to hear he will do fine.
 

vladimir

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Wow, I'm so glad the dog dropped him. Poor Ghost.

Thanks for sharing. It just goes to show how quickly things can happen.
 

EllieMay

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Poor Ghost! I’m glad this wasn’t any worse... ! I have some repashy salad topper that I ordered. Torts seem to like it. I am always looking for things to offer them to add variety and I had read good things about all the repashy products..
hope the recovery is quick and uneventful!
 

KatApril

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So sorry to hear about Ghost what a survivor! He looks like nothing happened! I feed Repashy to my sulcata once a week or so i try not to give it to him too much but its a top shelf food for fish reptiles inverts and flies
 

wellington

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I use Repashy during the winter months as an added food. Torts love it. It's hard to find and not cheap but I do think worth it.
Glad it was a quick attack and you were there. Hope for a speedy recovery
 

Tim Carlisle

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I use Repashy during the winter months as an added food. Torts love it. It's hard to find and not cheap but I do think worth it.
Glad it was a quick attack and you were there. Hope for a speedy recovery
Well, given all the positive feedback about it, I intend to make it a regular thing. Questio is (and I've yet to find a substantive answer to this), how much to feed him and how often? No intructions anywhere that I could find.
 

wellington

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I feed it as a treat throughout the winter. So not even weekly.
If I were going to feed more often I would still only do it twice a week and mix about 1/4 to 1/2 cup with other foods. A varied diet and not too much of one thing is a good diet of the proper foods. To little of commercial diets is better then too much.
 

Sue Ann

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Poor Ghost! I’m glad this wasn’t any worse... ! I have some repashy salad topper that I ordered. Torts seem to like it. I am always looking for things to offer them to add variety and I had read good things about all the repashy products..
hope the recovery is quick and uneventful!
Where can I find repashy salad topper?
 

Lyn W

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Ghost was attacked by a stray dog yesterday out in my yard. I was standing maybe 6 feet or so away from him while he grazed. Dog came out of nowhere, made a B-line towards Ghost, picked him up, and carried him about 60 feet. Medium size dog, not sure what breed. When I finally caught up with them, the dog took off and I noticed damage and minor bleeding to Ghost's carapace.

I rushed him inside and immediately cleaned out the wounds with peroxide, then soaked him in tepid water for about 25-30 minutes. I inspected the wounds closer and it appeared that only the front carapace ridge was afflicted. No damage to the plastron. I applied a topical triple antibiotic and covered the wound with gauze pads.

This morning I changed the dressing, and called the vet at 8:30 when they opened. The vet was able to see him at 11:00. He carefully cleaned the wounds and inspected them. VERY nice guy! Been doing aviary and reptiles for 30+ years. He gave him a shot of antibiotics, then applied and antibiotic ointment to the shell.

The vet gave me some povidone-iodine scrub to clean the wound, silver sulfadia cream to be applied every day for 30 days, and Repashy to give as a nutritional supplement. Anyone ever use Repashy before? I've never heard of it. You have to boil water, then add 1 part Repashy to 3 parts water, then refrigerate.

Anyhow, Ghost doesn't seem to have lost his appetite at least, and the vet said he will make a full recovery. He mentioned that within a couple of years when the shell has regrown, I shouldn't notice a difference. Thank God it isn't any worse than it is. Lesson learned from all of this: be especially vigilant of forces unseen!

View attachment 279906
So pleased he's OK, what a good job you were there to catch the dog and also have a good vet.
I hope both you and ghost make a speedy recovery from such a nasty shock!!
 

Toddrickfl1

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Just came across this thread, what a crappy experience. Sorry you had to deal with that but super glad ghost is doing better!
 

Toddrickfl1

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I use this for my RedfootsIMG_20191112_181815629.jpg
 
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