Often times a traumatic shell injury in a chelonian may seem hopeless, but in fact these animals seem to recover very nicely despite the visual appearance of this type of wound to the shell itself. In most cases a shell fracture alone may be treated with relative ease, however an injury that is traumatic enough to cause shell damage is often traumatic enough to cause internal hemorrhage, pulmonary contusions, shock or even paralysis. It is these associated injuries combined with the risk of a secondary bacterial infection from a fractured shell that pose the most difficult problems for chelonians with this type of injury. In some cases the fracture may even leave the lungs exposed. This would be a problem for a mammal, but not for a chelonian. Chelonians lack a diaphragm and their respiration is the result of respiratory movements that are caused by the contractions of smooth muscles in the brachial girdle. This allows the turtle to breathe without having to worry about establishing negative pressure within the shell.
The most difficult type of traumatic injury to treat is one that involves the center of the carapace. The vertebrae of a chelonian are fused to the shell, which means that a fracture of the shell involving this area may involve a serious spinal injury. The best method for evaluating a turtle or tortoise with this type of injury is to radiograph the animal to determine the extent of the internal damage involved. If paralysis is involved with the neck or any limbs the spine is more than likely involved and the prognosis will more than likely be very poor.
In the event that the damage is limited to the shell and there are no apparent internal injuries upon x-ray, than the process of treating the shell may begin. The first step in this process is to clean the entire animal by flushing any open wounds with sterile water or dilute chlorhexadine. Once the wounds have been cleaned the issue of any possible secondary infections should be addressed. If the injury is more than a day old the chances of infection are higher than those of an injury that is only a few hours old. If the wound is infected it should be treated with a topical antibiotic and covered in moist bandages until the infection is under control. In severe cases injectable antibiotics may be necessary.
Once any infection is under control the shell fracture itself may be addressed by cleaning and drying the entire shell with water and a soft-scrubbing pad. A piece of fiberglass mesh should then be cut to fit over the fracture itself. A thin layer of 5 minute epoxy resin should then be applied to the outer edges of the fracture, care should be taken to avoid getting the resin in any open wounds or on the margins of the shell where the pieces come together. Allowing any resin to dry on the margins of the shell may inhibit healing.
After the resin has been applied to the shell the fiberglass patch should be placed over the fracture and allowed to dry. A very thin coating of plaster of paris may be applied over the mesh of the fiberglass and allowed to dry. This will prevent any epoxy resin from dropping into any wounds and will not harm the animal, since it is made up of calcium. After the plaster is allowed to dry a coating of epoxy should be placed over the entire patch and allowed to dry, food coloring may be added to the epoxy while it is wet to match the color of the shell. Once the epoxy is dry it may be smoothed out with sandpaper to better blend with the shell. After this step is complete the patch should be allowed to thoroughly dry for 24 hours before the animal is allowed to soak in water.
A simpler method, but one that is not available to most individuals is to use ready made fiberglass casting material that is coated with the epoxy resin once the casting material has dried. Either of these methods are relatively easy to perform and will result in a very happy turtle.
The patch itself will need to be trimmed back slowly over time by using a drimell tool with a sanding attachment along the edges of the patch. Only a small amount of the outer edges will need to be removed about every 2 months or so until eventually the entire patch is gone. If too much of the patch is removed, it may be replaced by simply adding more epoxy resin back over the patch. If a patch is placed on a wild turtle the turtle may be released back into the wild without having to worry about removing the patch. It will eventually be worn off by the turtle itself in a wild environment.
