Baby tortoise attacked by a rat

Question
QUESTION: I am in India at the moment, found a tiny tortoise and caring for it - it was doing really well for months BUT during the night a VERY small rat or ? must have got into the cage as it was badly bitten, two feet its face were black with brusing, bleeding from deep wound on one side where all the shell was gone. I bathed it, applied a baby anticeptic cream to wounds. it is now very swollen but eating and bathing. is it OK to grind 1 antihistamine pill mix with water and put one drop into its bath. I love it so much please help

ANSWER: Hi Davina,

Please do NOT give the tortoise ANY medication without consulting a knowledgeable vet.  Many medications are very toxic to tortoises.  An antihistamine wouldn't help in any case.  If you can get Nolvasan, you can use a dilute solution to clean the injuries--a very dilute solution of Betadine would work as well.  Keep it in a very clean enclosure.  The tortoise needs a course of antibiotics, though.  You really need to find a vet to treat it, but with injuries like this the likelihood of survival in a very small tortoise is pretty slim.  Please post back and let me know how it's doing.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your reply and care Sadly Gigi my baby tortoise died, I am so upset I loved her so much. On reflection I was surprised that even a very tiny rat could have got into her cage - it is possible therefore that she was attacked by fire ants, I am in a tropical coconut grove so they are everywhere. I had been giving her clean bedding, fresh food and swimming water everyday, but she was very fragile as she was not only very tiny but an 'albino' creamy white with red eyes. Due to a huge amount of building in my area recently a number of tortoises have 'adopted' me as they are disorientated. The bigger ones are now healthy enough for me to set them free in a forest area near a river an hour away The others can be set free when they are older. I had however planned to keep Gigi she was very tame, even playful and being albino may not have survived in the wild. As it happens something attacked and killed her, seems crazy but I miss her. Sadly I have no reliable vet to turn to, I therefore appreciate all your help. I tried to attach a picture no success what format do you use. Best regards Davina

Answer
Hi Davina,

I'm so sorry you lost Gigi.  You're right, she may very well have been attacked by fire ants as they pose quite a threat to tortoises and I have heard of small tortoises being killed by them.  I haven't heard that they would actually cause shell injuries, but it's possible.  There may not have been much that could have been done even if you had a vet to take her to.  I'm glad you have been able to save some of the bigger tortoises, though.  Thank you for caring about them and Gigi.

I'm not sure what format they use for pictures, but if you have a photobucket or other account you can post the link.