Injured Red Earred Slider

Question
Can you give me instructions on repairing a damaged shell on a red earred slider? I picked one up that has been hit by a car. The carapace is cracked approx half way across the top and the front bridges were cracked as well. The turtle is very responsive and still has movement in all legs and the head. Has not walked any yet. Keeping in the garage where its warm and dark (I live in TX). Dry bedding. Misting the skin only, twice daily. I covered up the cracks in the shell with medical tape. Is there something that would be better to use? The crack in the carapace was large enough to see down inside. Thanks for any help you can give me in saving this poor thing.  

Answer
This information is out of Dr. Mader's book "Reptile Medicine and Surgery".

PREP: Remove the tape as gently as possible. Clean and prep the turtle- gently scrub off as much dirt, injured skin, etc. as possible. If there are bone fragments that come loose, clean and save them. Any loose skin that stays down can be saved, but any flaps that do not should be cut gently away. Swab the injured areas with Betadine Solution and dab with antibiotic ointment and let dry for a couple hours.

At this point, you can put the turtle in a hospital tank overnigth to rest for the 'big event'.

A hospital tank would offer the turtle some comfort and hydration. It should be big enough to move around in- about the size of a 20 gallon tank usually, although a plastic tub works perfectly for this.

If the turtle tolerates water, add as much warm (80-85F) water as makes sense (fairly deep if it swims, very shallow if not). Change the water daily, but keep it warm between changes- aquarium heaters are prefered. Minimize stress, etc. Access to some sunshine in a part of the tub would be great, but there needs to be a shady retreat as well. There also needs to be a basking surface it can climb out on.

Clean, warm water will not cause problems with any of its injuries, and being in water is much more relaxing and healthy for it.


REPAIR: Clean the shell off, remove as much residue, algae, etc. as possible.

What you are going to do is to glue the shell back together with metal bandages and quick-set epoxy.

Bandages: Make up several strips of a stiff metal (copper plumber's strap, cut-up pieces of sheet metal, etc.) that are good and stiff. Aim for most bandages being about 1/2-1" wide and about 2.5-3" long. Snip off the sharp corners. Bend the pieces into gentle arches, and bend a flat 'foot' on each end.

You will use the epoxy (made up in small batches) to glue the arches' to the turtle to reposition and support the shell.

Start with a solid piece of shell in the right place and work piece by piece. If pieces of the shell need to be moved, it is often easiest to glue a tab on it and use the tab as a handle to move it with.

You repair the bottom shell the same way, but with arches as flat as you can make them to allow it to crawl easily.

Once you have gone as far as you and the turtle can stand, treat any open spaces with the Betadine and antibiotic ointment and let it rest again overnight. Repeat bandaging until things are nice and solid.

Now- if you do this right- nice, neat arches that do not protrude too much, you can release the turtle into the wild as soon as the glue dries. The epoxy will weaken at the same rate as the shell heals, and the wild environment is far better for it than a captive one is for the recovery.

You may choose to keep the turtle for observation and follow-ups, and if so, I would recommend the care guides at http://www.redearslider.com for info on housing, diet, etc. just keep the temps about 5 degrees warmer than they suggest while it is healing.

Note that I personally do not recommend trying to care for a convalescing turtle- nature does a better job than most of us can do. Yes, it can easily die in the wild with those injuries, but sheer stress kills turtles too, and being kept in a tank and 'tortured' (from its standpoint) is very, very stressful.

Good luck!