General Care Discussion :: Wound scab to scar - when return to tank?

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 4:45 pm   Wound scab to scar - when return to tank?

Hello,

Earlier this year I rescued a 5 inch male red eared slider from a tank where he was being attacked by a larger female RES. There was serious, repeated bite wounds to his neck and he was missing the tip of his tail.

For the last 4 months (since I got him in mid January) I have had him dry docked in a tub with blankets and soaking for an hour a few times a day to eat and hydrate. He has a 5.0 13 watt UVB lamp on during the day and ceramic heat lamp so the air temperature is 75 on one side and 68 on the other. He was treated with Iodine and Curad Silver Gel for about a month while the wound was still open.

Now his neck wound has been fully scabbed over but still not turned into a scar.

His energy is ok, he likes to bask under the light and also bury himself under the towels, especially at night. But he's appetite has reduced and he doesn't eat pallets that he used to love. I can still get him to eat a treat like a mealworm or fried shrimp but obviously don't want to overfeed those.

My question is should I be waiting for the entire scab to fall off before moving him to his new aquarium home? It's a new 65 gallon that he will live in alone so will still need to cycle.

I don't want to risk infection but wondering how much longer he should be dry docked.
daruma
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 1:17 am   Re: Wound scab to scar - when return to tank?

Can you post a picture of the wound? It doesn't have to be healed perfectly, just mainly that the skin has closed up.
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steve
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