my turtle has a wound

Question
QUESTION: hi
i have two red eares sliders.male and female. both are aged 4//
the male is having a wound on his arm... on the dorsal side..as in facing up ,around 1cm large, i dont know wht caused it but i think its because of friction against the walls,, i took him to vet also.. he didnt know wht to do.. but prescribed a mupirocin ointment.. i have tried betadine and neosporin also.. but they all desolve in water.. dressing the wound also was failure as he moves his leg and dressing comes off,, also the scab forms and comes off..
pls help

ANSWER: Hi Anshu,

You do need to try to find out what caused it because you may need to make some changes to the enclosure to prevent it from happening again.  If it seems relatively minor, you can dry dock him (keep him separate and dry except for a daily soak in clean water) and treat the injury with an antibiotic ointment such as the one your vet prescribed, or neosporin or nolvasan (not sure what's available in your area).  Don't bother putting a dressing on it.  Good luck, and I hope he heals quickly.

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

QUESTION: hey there
thanks 4 quick response..
u said i can dry dock him.. for how long can i keep him out of water... ?
he tends to hide in places and scratch his legs against the walls when out of water.. y he displays this behaviour? and one peculiar thing is that he pees wenever i apply neosporin to his wound,,does it hurt him?

Answer
I try to get to questions as fast as I can, because I know people are waiting for answers.  It's normal for them to be a little frantic when taken out of familiar surroundings.  If you put in something for him to hide under, it'll help him feel more protected, and he'll settle down eventually.  Keep him dry docked at least until the wound looks like it's healing.  He won't like being dry docked, but it won't hurt him.  Make sure he gets soaked in clean water every day.    The peeing is a fright or anxiety response.  I don't think the neosporin is hurting him, but the wound may be tender.  Hopefully it will heal fairly quickly and you can get him back in his regular enclosure.