Urgent Care :: RES turtle's nose bitten off?

[frederick]

I have a 14-year old RES who lives in a tank with another RES. They've lived together since birth and generally get along... but sometimes they fight over food. A while ago I think the other turtle bit off the nose of the other turtle. I can see that a little part of the nose looks pinkish (not really red so it doesn't look like it's actively bleeding or infected) but a big part of the nose is just... missing. I wasn't home, but my parents also say that it used to look better, but now it looks worse.

The turtle has been eating fine and moving around just fine as well. The water is filtered and reasonably clean. Will the nose ever grow back? It appears that some unpigmented (or less pigmented) "skin" is growing back around the edges, but at a very slow rate. Is this a condition that needs to actively be watched or treated more? Should the two turtles be separated?

[steve]

If it's just a little raw, you just need to dry dock for a week or so. Might be a good idea to apply an antibiotic like neosporin to it but not over the nostrils. If a piece is missing, then it should be checked out to make sure if there are no air obstructions. It's even more important if this is a recent episode.

Separation should be done immediately. There's no way around that. To be bitten that hard, there must be a lot of aggression from that other RES. As for re-growing, I have not heard of a nose growing back to normal. Sorry