today i realised a sort of cut right under my turtles nose and then i went out and when i came back i found that it had gotten worse its seemed to get deeper like a hole.
i read up my turtle booklet to find out what to do and it said to let it out of the water into a dry environment and use some stuff for it to get better but tis late and all the stores are closed ive got some antiseptic cream but do i put the turtle out of its environment into a box do i need a heater HELP!!!

Time to get your parents involved fella. This is not stuff you should be facing alone at your age. Turtles heal well on the proviso that the water surrounding them is clean and the average temps are around 84f or so. Personally I would clean the wound with some povidone iodine on a cotton bud. Have the turtles been fighting already? Seriously a turtle is a big responsibility for someone of your age, they should never really be owned without some parental guidance, they are simply a level of difficulty beyond most childrens abilities, and only your parents will be able to get veterinary treatment authorised if needed.

If you can get them on here so we can have a little chat with them about what needs to be done. You will need their help. Children arent legally allowed to handle many of the treatments your turtle might need and you should not try to fix this on your own.

With this animal , you may have bitten off more than you can chew, and your parents will have to be involved, even if they know nothing of herpetology. The animal will need to be professionally assessed in the absence of someone with real herpetological skill in the home.

Get one of the folks online so we can have a chat, and im sure the wound issue will be resolved, but to reiterate, this is not something you should have responsibility for. You will need their help with this.

If you can provide a photo of the wound, please do so as soon as possible so that at least we have an idea of the severity, it will also help if you can post a picture of your entire turtle tank so we can see how suitable it will be for helping the turtle to recover, and what may have caused the problem initially.

not to be rude but my dads in sydney and my mums asleep its 12:00 in the morning here im getting a photo of the wound now its a bit blurry the cut is right beneath the snout so look there ive got this savlon antiseptic cream would that also work

this is the picture attached

this is the best picture of the tank i could get(on my phone)

done my best with your image..

can you put more light on the tank for a photo?

Thats not a really significant cut for a turtle, perhaps it will heal on its own.Even so a little savlon applies to the wound with a cotton bud will do no harm, but TBH it will probably just wash off, which is why I suggested povidone iodine, it sticks like glue, and penetrates the wound a little after only a few minutes, so you dont have to keep the turtle out of water for hours on end and risk dehydration. Looks like the sort of wound you'd get as a result of feeding competition. If you try to put salvon on, watch your fingers, most turtles touched around there will bite reflexively.

Id still recommend you get your parents involved as soon as you can though, a wound that gets infected can turn to septacaemia, and you have to be very careful of wounds near to the mouth, reptiles often get stomatitus (mouthrot) very easily.

Just thought id add, - you say the turtles do get sunlight..er.. did you know the UVB range reptiles need cant penetrate glass? You actually have to take them outside for uvb exposure unless you have a good quality reptile light. If you rely on putting them near a window that isnt open, they wont be getting UVB. Also cant see a spotlight on that pic, just a strip, and you will find the turtles bask better if there is actually some heat in the light, metabolically they will pick up, heal better and calcium will get to the bones, skin and other tissues more effectively.

Your basking platform looks like a floating one, and youll find that if you can get a solid one that doesnt float about they will use it better. Something to think about getting sorted fairly soon.

Alas that CUTE looking pic shows just why people are seduced into buying turtles ...

thanks for the info

i couldnt go to the pharmacy for the stuff becaus eit was closed(remembrence day in autralia)
the turtles are getting along finwe now and the cut has neally healed up.


thanks again for info

hello puka777 ideally you need to get yourself a basking lamp as the strip light will not provide a hot spot needed for basking you will need somthing like these

you will need to mount the light fitting and bulb in the corner of your tank above the basking spot but not in reach of you turtles to touch it