Turtle & Tortoise Cracked Shell Repair: How to Fix a Broken Shell At Home
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Maybe your turtle or turtle has just been attacked by the dog. Or have you recently found a turtle or turtle hit by a car on the road?
Regardless of the specifics, all of these cases can cause a turtle or turtle to crack its shell.
Fortunately, these cracked shells can often be easily repaired at home. However, sometimes injuries must be seen by a veterinarian who specializes in exotic animals.
So, what emergency does your special turtle or turtle fall under? DIY cracked shell repair at home or a trip to the vet?
Just read on to understand how to repair cracked shells from home or the signs that a trip to the vet is okay!
Can a turtle survive with a cracked shell?
Many turtles and turtles can actually survive with a cracked shell. Even those with a very severe shell break, if treated properly and allowed to rest and relax, will do well.
If you now find a turtle or turtle whose shell has been badly damaged so that large pieces are missing or organs are hanging out of the cracks, they usually do not survive.
Even though the damage you see on the outside may not be very serious, these shells serve to protect your organs. By cracking their shells, they also damage the internal organs.
Often, you only need to give these turtles or turtles a little care and attention to save their lives. You can easily maintain them healthy again and even release them back into the wild.
⭐️Fun fact: Did you know that it is a common misconception that a turtle or turtle can come out of its shell? You see, both a turtle and a turtle have grown together in their shell, which is part of their skeletal system. As both creatures grow, their shell grows to accommodate their height.
Common causes of broken or cracked shells
There are many ways that your turtle or turtle can crack its shells. These are just a few of the common reasons why they might have cracked or broken their shells …
They were attacked by a dog
If your dog finds a turtle or turtle running around in the back yard, they may think this is a new chew toy.
Although turtles and turtles have a very hard shell, the teeth of many dogs can still cause damage. Larger breeds like Akita and Doberman have enough strength in their jaws to actually break bones. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that they can break seashells too.
They fought with others
Some turtles or turtles can be very aggressive to each other. They can even push each other into things and make them break their shells.
The problem is that turtles and turtles are relatively lonely creatures. This means that they have no strong social ties within their species, and this is especially true for sexually mature men!
They fled their cages
Some turtles and turtles are natural escape artists. And unfortunately this secret talent only becomes visible when they get out!
Often, when they escape, they can fall and fall from very great heights, breaking their shell.
They were dropped accidentally
While of course everyone tries to be very careful when moving their turtle or turtle, accidents can always happen.
Sometimes this is because your turtle or turtle wobbles when you carry it and you drop it. Sometimes a child can pick them up and not be strong enough to carry them, and as a result, drop them.
In any case, try to exercise extreme caution when carrying your pet and make sure that your children leave the heavy lifting to adults only.
You were hit by a car
Perhaps one of the less surprising culprits on our list of being hit by a car is an overly common occurrence that can result in cracked grenades or worse, death. This problem occurs especially in spring and summer when there are many wild turtles and turtles.
Let’s face it … wild turtles and turtles DO NOT fit a car. I mean, what animal really?
Often oncoming drivers do not see turtles or turtles when trying to cross the road. As a result, they can be hit accidentally.
Sometimes these are very large breaks and sometimes there are only small cracks on the side.
Cracked Shell Repair: Find out how you can help …
Now that you’ve understood some of the ways a turtle or turtle can crack its shell, let’s look at how you can repair cracked shells at home!
Step 1: clean the wound
With minor damage, you can easily treat it at home. If there is blood or dirt on the turtle shell, you will need to clean the shell.
Use cleansers such as chlorhexidine solution or diluted iodine to clean the wound a few times a day. You will continue this cleaning for about a week or until all of the dirt and debris is clearly removed from the wound.
Keeping the wound clean not only speeds up the entire healing process, but also discourages others Conditions like shell rot of what is happening.
Step 2: keep them dry
If your turtle lives in water, You need to keep them dry until their skin heals. Water from your tank can cause bacteria and debris to get into the cracks all the time.
Step 3: Give antibiotics if necessary
If there are major defects or major infections in the cracks, your turtle or turtle needs antibiotics. Commonly used antibiotics are Baytril or Ceftazidim, which can be prescribed by a veterinarian.
Your turtle or turtle is treated with antibiotics and detergents for about a week to make sure all infections are cleared.
🤓Expert tip: If your turtle or turtle needs antibiotics, it is important that you give them at least 1 week. Infections that are still present when the fractures begin to close should only fester. The essentially “caught” infection inevitably leads to your turtle or turtle becoming very sick.
Step 4: fix any big cracks
The fixing of large openings or cracks should be left to an exotic veterinarian since they are the ones who have a lot of experience in this department.
There are many different ways you can repair the crack, and all of the methods depend primarily on the location and size of the crack or tears.
Some need wires, others may just need a couple of cable ties that are glued to the shell to hold the parts in place.
Step 5: apply a fiberglass patch
A turtle and turtle safe glass fiber patch is used to cover cracks or indentations on the shell. This patch must be glued to the bowl with glue. You may need to apply a few layers so that the fiberglass plaster sticks to the shell.
After attaching the fiberglass patch to the bowl, you need to make sure it is in an area where things cannot get stuck and get stuck on the glue.
It is best to keep them on a clean surface, e.g. B. in plastic containers, and nothing on the floor until they are no longer sticky.
Step 6: apply resin
After a few days of drying, you can apply the resin to the bowl. This prevents water from getting into the wound.
This is a crucial step for water turtles or turtles that could get wet. Similar to gluing the glass fiber, you would like to plan a few hours of drying ti
me on a clean surface again.
Step 7: Allow to dry completely
Before you can put your turtle or turtle back in its pen and let it get wet or be released into the wild, you need to make sure that its shell is completely dry.
It is usually sufficient to wait about a week after applying the resin to the bowl to make sure the resin is 100% dry.
⭐️Fun fact: Did you know? The upper part of a turtle shell is called tank while the lower part is called Plastron. Both parts together make up about 60 bones and act as a kind of outer rib cage that protects the turtle from the bottom up.
Step 8: bring it back to normal
After they are completely dry, you can put them back in their normal envelope. However, it should be noted that tIt may take a few years for the heir cover to heal completely.
If your turtle or turtle is very young, you will most likely need to reapply the fiberglass patch and resin. You will quickly grow out of this cover in a few months. Keep an eye on your turtle or turtle when it’s time to reapply.
When adding a patch to your turtle or turtle, the most important thing to remember is that you want it to be Make sure you do NOT get epoxy or other material in the wounds.
You also want to make sure that you don’t seal an infection under your patch as described above.
When should you see an exotic veterinarian?
It is always best to have a veterinarian’s opinion when an injury is as critical as that of a cracked shell. With serious injuries, the support of a veterinarian is a MUST!
In the event of very serious damage, including stab wounds from an animal bite or a bleeding wound, you must take your turtle or turtle to the vet as soon as possible!
The reason? Unfortunately, many of these wounds can get infected easily. In this case, the infection may spread to the body of your turtle or turtle.
In severe cases that remain untreated, there is often extensive internal damage that the human eye simply cannot see.
Your vet can clean the wounds for you, cover them, and treat them with antibiotics to prevent infections. You will also carefully examine your turtle or turtle for signs of internal damage or other problems.
Depending on your situation, your vet can also repair the damaged shell. Larger conch wounds require a complete reconstruction of the conch using small pieces of fiberglass and epoxy or other materials.
After the shell has a patch, the shell can heal under those patches.
You should especially contact your veterinarian to repair serious damage to the shell. The severe shell damage can make it difficult to make sure the wounds are clean without causing more damage to your turtle or turtle.
At the end of the day, it is always best for your veterinarian to examine your turtle or turtle for signs of internal damage.
Your veterinarian can assess whether the turtle or turtle has been irreparably damaged and whether humane euthanasia is a better option so your turtle or turtle doesn’t suffer.
How long does it take for a shell tear to heal?
Turtle and turtle shells grow very slowly and it can take months to heal, if not years, to heal properly.
The underlying soft tissue injuries usually heal after 2 to 3 weeks, although it can easily take 4 to 18 months for the shell fractures to be completely stable.
Pack the cracked shell repair
Sometimes your turtle or turtle can damage its shell by itself. In other cases, you, a loved one, the family dog or another can accidentally cause the damage.
Regardless of the damage, you need to clean the wound and then use fiberglass or epoxy to hold the two parts together so they can heal.
Sometimes this is best left to your vet, but often small cracks can be repaired from home by simply doing the cracked shell repair steps listed above.
With enough luck, patience and love, you should be able to help the turtle or turtle heal.
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