Tortoise leg bleeding

[Sweep]

We have two 2 year old tortoises, Timmy & Terry. Timmy was stood onTerry's back, and Terry seems to have bitten Timmy's leg in reaction.
There's been some blood. It now seem to have stopped bleeding. We bathed Timmy in clean water with bi-carbonate soda (read this on a website).
We are going to continue bathing him on a daily basis - but we are just worried about infection.

Has anyone had anything similar ?

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Tortoises should not be kept in pairs. This is a sign of bullying. Most people keeping tortoises in pairs will experience this or a form of it at some point. Seperate the two asap

 

[Sweep]

Thanks. Up until this moment they have been fine together.
This morning one was on its back & the other seemed to be helping the other get back over (it didn't push it, it fell on its back as it was climbing). So I stupidly was thinking how well they get on.

I will keep an eye out for bullying & will separate if this is the case - however in this instance I would say the one I would have thought would have been the bully, is the one that was bitten. If it was the other way round I would automatically think bullying.

I'm concerned about whether the leg is just a superficial wound or whether there is likelihood of infection.

Thanks

 

[Jodie]

Definitely separate. Infection is a dager. I would see a vet. They may start antibiotics.

 

[crimson_lotus]

Put some neosporin on the wound after his bath, and keep it clean.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'd be willing to bet Timmy and Terry are Russian tortoises, right? ...and they are kept in an indoor enclosure, right? You quite often see bleeding when you keep more than one Russian tortoise in the same enclosure.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thanks. Up until this moment they have been fine together.
This morning one was on its back & the other seemed to be helping the other get back over (it didn't push it, it fell on its back as it was climbing). So I stupidly was thinking how well they get on.

I will keep an eye out for bullying & will separate if this is the case - however in this instance I would say the one I would have thought would have been the bully, is the one that was bitten. If it was the other way round I would automatically think bullying.

I'm concerned about whether the leg is just a superficial wound or whether there is likelihood of infection.

Thanks

They were not 'getting on.' They were fighting. He was trying to get the other one up so he could continue the fight. You will see more bloody injuries if you keep them together.

 

[wellington]

You need to separate them now! The signs of bullying is in your posts. The bleeding leg bite, the ramming, not helping the other flip over, those are obvious signs. The less obvious is most likely happening to and your not seeing it.

 

[Sweep]

They are spur thighed tortoises, not Russian.
It was helping the other roll over, it didn't push it over, it was over the other side, and this was earlier on.

from what I saw Timmy was on Terry's back trying to climb out - they are always trying to climb out, as we've been letting them outside quite a lot so they've enjoyed the space, however they've been stuck in the tortoise table all day because of the weather.

I will definitely watch out for the bullying - we have another table so can separate.

Thanks everyone

 

[wellington]

Tortoises don't help tortoise turn over or back over because they are being helpful. They do it out of bullying!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

A lot of bullying is not obvious to us, the little bits of 'cuddling up', the 'helping the other one turn over', sitting close at night and so on. These are solitary animals and do not want or require company, they are very territorial.
Please read http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/pairs.34837/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/bad-day-for-baby.114328/
as well as http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/
Please separate them before one is seriously hurt or killed, you cannot be watching all the time.

 

[leigti]

Thanks. Up until this moment they have been fine together.
This morning one was on its back & the other seemed to be helping the other get back over (it didn't push it, it fell on its back as it was climbing). So I stupidly was thinking how well they get on.

I will keep an eye out for bullying & will separate if this is the case - however in this instance I would say the one I would have thought would have been the bully, is the one that was bitten. If it was the other way round I would automatically think bullying.

I'm concerned about whether the leg is just a superficial wound or whether there is likelihood of infection.

Thanks

You are already seeing signs of bullying. Just separate them from now on. Put the one that got bitten in a new enclosure with new clean substrate. You can put a little Betadine on the world, but just once then after that use Neosporin. Look up some of the threads about keeping tortoises in pairs here on this site. I think it will be convinced that both tortoises will be much happier on their own. And hey, we love pictures here show us a picture so we have a face to put with the names.

 

[Sweep]

Timmy & Terry

Thanks all, I'm going to separate them.