Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 turtles right now, 1 male and one female both about 10 years old. Not too long ago, maybe about a week, my female turtle had a cut on her head, I did not think it was serious. But after looking at it carefully, the cut looked kinda bad. Heres the ugly part.....the her skull is showing, yes the white bony part...it is about 3mm wide. Its not bleeding, it looks like it is starting to heal but I am not sure. I feel horrible right now like it was my fault this happened. I cannot think of how she got this injury, there is nothing sharp in the tank and no accidents have happened before. The only thing I can think of is the male getting into a fight with her, but hes pretty timid and quiet most of the time.

Well, what I wanted to know is will this heal up? Like...the skin healing over the the bony part, I feel really bad for her and i dont know what to do....

Just out of curiousity, what kind of scenario would have to transpire in order for you to seek vetrinary assistance for your turtle? The bone sticking out of the skull sounds pretty severe to me.
If I were you, I would definately shell out(no pun intended) the green and get that looked at ASAP.
...Anne
2 RES
1 Anklebiter (16 months old)

Without a picture it is difficult to say how severe the injury is. You may think you are looking at skull when actually it might just be tissue. In any event you should keep the animal in clean water separate from your other turtle. Keep it dry docked for a portion of the day will help too. If it is that severe a trip to the vet would be a good idea as he can reccommend a salve (like bacitracin or triple antibiotic ointment) for the wound to. Infection is going to be what you should worry over not the wound healing. Separate it, keep it dry docked for a good portion of the day and keep it in clean (out of the tap that you change completely every day) water until it heals. A rubbermaid tub will serve very well as a hospital tank for her.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help. The cut looks like it is healed, I dont see any raw flesh sticking out. I will keep her water as clean as possible. Do/would the flesh heal over the bone? I would feel really bad if she had to have the hole in her head for the rest of her life...

It should heal but I really would keep her in a separate tub and change her water daily for a while. You want to avoid infection now more than worry about how the wound will heal. If you see any redness swelling or discharge from the opening you really should get her to a vet.

Yea i will do that. Im going to clean the tank daily from now on and give her more greens with less pellets. The wound looks fine hoever, like it is closed up, just that the bony part is showing. It proably would cover up later on right?

I seriously doubt that it will leave an opening if it is healing eventually it will close but there will most likely be a pretty good scar from what you described.

Thanks a lot honuman. I've been going ape nuts trying to keep her as comfortable as she can be. She seems just as active and spunky from before this happened, eating regularly, basking a lot and such. Doesn't seem like shes angry or anything either, still eating right out of my hand