Injuries can happen to your turtle just as with any other animal. Regardless of whether the injury is minor or major you as a turtle owner will likely be quite concerned and want to quickly remedy the situation
This article looks into everything you need to do if your turtle has a cut on its leg
Table of Contents
My turtle has a cut on its leg:
Discovering a cut on any of your pet’s legs, turtles included, will be very concerning to any pet owner but with the appropriate care your pet should be just fine,
Here is what you need to know do your turtle has a cut on its leg:
Clean the area:
Cleaning the area will help you get a better view of the injury so you can assess it.
You can start off by running some water, or saline solution, over the injury to clean off any dirt that may have been left on the wound.
Don’t use too harsh of a chemical to clean the wound. Too harsh chemicals will not only burn the turtle but they will also damage your animal’s skin and tissue.
You can use nolvasan wash or hydrogen peroxide and clean water on the wound.
Once clean you can pack the affected area with a triple antibiotic like Neosporin. Dry dock the reptile for an hour or so so that the antibiotic soaks into the wound
Asses the injury:
The next thing that you’d need to do if your pet turtle was bitten on its leg is to assess the injury and determine the extent of the injury.
If the injury is minor then you can treat the injury at home, if it is major then you may have to take your pet to the vet
When examining the animal look for any signs of bleeding, swelling, infection, or redness and whether the wound is deep or superficial
Minor injury:
If the injury is minor then you can treat the animal at home.
If the turtle’s cut is bleeding a little bit then use a clean cloth on the injury and apply pressure to get the bleeding to stop.
Don’t use too much pressure when trying to stop the bleeding as too much pressure can cause issues with blood circulation and damage the tissue.
If the cut is not bleeding then monitor it for a few days to make sure that it is not becoming infected and that it is healing properly.
Major injury:
If the animal’s injury is major then you would need to seek veterinary care, you would also need to seek veterinary care if the injury looks like it is becoming infected.
If the wound is deep, and looks like it needs stitches, then you may have to get the animal to the vet.
Signs of infection at your pet’s wound include oozing, puss, coming from the wound, or maggots in the area.
Environment:
A clean environment will keep your pet’s leg from becoming infected.
Clean out the animal’s tank as well as you can, remove any food or waste that may be lying around, and make sure that the animal filter is working well enough.
Make sure that there are clean and dry basking areas in your pet’s enclosure. Leave the animal here to dry dock and recover away from water.
Keeping the animal in a somewhat cool place, for 48 hours after the bite, will help it get over the trauma from the injury.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: My Turtle Got Bit By A Dog, Can Turtles Live In A Fish Tank, My Turtle Ate My Fish, My Turtle Is Getting Too Big, My Turtles Nails Are Too Long, Do Turtle Tails Grow Back?, My Turtle Bites My Other Turtle, My Turtle Can’t Swim, My Turtle Doesn’t Swim
