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Injured RFT

22 16:00:09

Question
I have a Red Footed Tortoise (Charlie), appx 8 mo old. Somehow he cut himself on the side of his face, from the split of his mouth opening (beginning of the jaw) to under his eye. I have been using neosporin daily to keep the infection away, but he keeps re-opening the wound every time he eats and it seeps blood for an hour or so after he eats. I can't imagine that a vet could use sutures to close it because he is so small, the wound is thin, and they probably wouldn't hold as they would pull every time he eats. I thought to maybe try Liquid bandage. Would that be safe?

Answer
Hi Jacque,

Tortoises take a long time to heal, which can be a problem in cases like this.  The Neosporin is safe, but I wouldn't use anything else because it's so close to his mouth.  You didn't say how long he's had the injury, but if it's been more than a couple of weeks and it doesn't seem to be healing at all, I'd take him to the vet for an examination.  He may be developing an underlying infection, and there may be a better antibiotic ointment to use.  The other thing to try is skipping feedings in order to give the tissue a chance to heal.  Tortoises don't need to eat daily (although they like it), and it won't hurt him to eat less often for a couple of weeks, so try skipping a couple of days between feedings and see if that makes a difference.