Fixing an Injured Turtle?

[Aozora]

So our reptile reputation is apparently getting out and we're becoming a rescue organization. My stepdad found an injured young painted turtle, and I need advice on how to take care of him.

His carapace is about 5" long and 3.5" across. He's got a nasty hole in his shell, about 2cm long, 3/4cm wide, and roughly 1/2cm deep. I can't see bone or organs, but there's some shell impacted into the wound. I did a sort of lavage with a running tap and got some of it out, but there's one piece which we'll try to remove with tweezers, very carefully, when my mom gets home. I'll take pictures and post them later tonight--roommate has my camera.

I plan on packing the hole with Neosporin and leaving him more or less alone until the wound's at least scabbed over really well. I want to release him into our river once I know he won't get an infection, but I'm not sure how to care for a deeply injured water turtle until he reaches that point.

I have him in a spare bin--I can probably scare him up a good sized cardboard box if need be--with paper towels lining the bottom. We have a light and hood so I can set up a basking area.

Should I give him a place where he can get into water, or should I keep him totally dry until he's more healed up?

For food, I'm assuming earthworms and pieces of raw freshwater fish will be sufficient, or should I give this wild turtle pet turtle chow?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Buzzard]

When I (Jamie, Buzzard's wife) worked for the FL Aquarium we often had injured turtles. The best thing to do is to keep his/her carapace as dry as possible and Nolvasan (or the generic version) is the best thing to use on the wound to keep it clean a few times a day. When we had one with a cracked carapace we actually patched them up with veterinary grade superglue (it is purple in color and used when suturing). I would recommend sticking with fish if possible and some will eat crayfish (depending on turtle species) - you can put them in a shallow tub of water (not covering carapace) and put the fish in it to allow movement and interest in food. As long as the carapace is not bleeding or there is no bone exposure then you should be okay to release him/her back into the wild. I can try to dig up some old pictures of surgeries and injuries if you need them. Hope this helps a little - we have rescued many in our area as well that have been hit by cars, etc. and we typically keep them overnight or a couple of days to make sure injuries are okay then release them back into the wild.