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!
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!