The rude awakening

My poor little guy Dante, a concentric phased centrata diamondback terrapin, has had a rough last couple years. It all started back when Dot started picking on the little guy. He sustained some life threatening injuries and infections. It took months to nurse him back to health. It took even longer to get him back up to weight and able to be released into our general population of turtles, aka, "The Big Tank."

So we've been keeping a close eye on the little guy. I noticed that he had some odd bumps on the foot in question. They didn't look like anything to worry about, so I only kept an eye on things.

Sure enough, right after we got back from vacation that bump was looking rather raw, but not "meaty" so I continued keeping an eye on the little guy. Soon after, I came home from work one day and there was blood ALL OVER their basking area. It looked like a murder scene. We checked all the animals and sure enough, it was Dante.

We did what you're supposed to do: applied pressure to the wound until the bleeding stopped, and separated him form the others in a dry tank. For the next couple days he would only be with the other turtles during feeding time.

That is, until last weekend. We had a "40 Days Service" to attend on Father's Day first thing in the morning. We left Dante in the tank over night as we would be away more than 24 hours and it wouldn't be healthy for him to spend that long dry. But when we returned his wound was raw and bleeding again.

Here's the problem. Turtles hunt like sharks. If they smell something unusual, they will take a bite out of it. If they smell blood, they want to eat it. They're animals and it's their nature. So an open would will arouse the senses of the population and pick on it.

And that's likely what happened while we were out that day. But Dante seemed fine when we came home. So we used the topical medications we had handy and put him into his "dry bin" overnight. He looked fine at that time and even looked fine when I checked on him before I went to sleep.

However I awoke to a horror scene. I checked Dante the next morning. He was sitting in the middle of the tank in the middle of a pool of his own blood. A moment of fright went through me until Dante looked up at me. Thank goodness he was alive. He looked like he could've bled to death, with the amount in that tank. I immediately scooped him and the bin up. I rinsed him and the wound. I tried to rinse out the tank. There was just too much gore all over the poor animal and in the bin. It looked like a crime scene from a cheap horror flick. I needed help so I rushed upstairs to get Stacey.

I got to the master bedroom and peeked my head into the room. Stacey's gaze met mine. She saw the distress on my face and I only had to utter, "Dante," and she jumped in panic. We both ran down to the basement. I asked her to hold a compress to Dante's wound to stop the bleeding while I clean the bin. When she saw the sanguineous remains she began to despair, but Dante's strength and alertness soothed her troubled mind. She took him while I washed out the last of the crimson remains in the tanks.

Panic-stricken , Stacey only chanted, "I'm bringing Dante to the vet to stop the bleeding," which is a logical thought. We haven't been doing a great job at it. Hopefully the doctor would have some ideas on getting this nightmare to end.

Dr. Lou, a very knowledgeable exotic pet vet on Long Island, was more concerned about infection setting in, given Dante's history. He gave our diamondback terrapin a shot of antibiotic and wanted us to administer the same for two weeks every other day. Stacey, however insisted on oral antibiotics for the poor little guy, as he's suffered quite enough from other injuries. The additional wear and tear from needles will only be torture for the little guy.

And that leads us to last night and this morning. We don't put Dante in the big tank at all, not even for feeding. We hydrate him for a couple hours a day, and feed him alone. We'll be giving the oral antibiotic everyday for the next two weeks starting tomorrow, as the dose is different than the injections. I'll keep you all updated on his condition.