# Open wounds, what should I do?



## Cbprf

Some of you may know my females have been battling, if you've read my thread on the Behavior section. And just recently I found two open wounds on my sable female, who is the submissive, walk all over me type. But we're not too sure how she obtained them and when she obtained them. I'm assuming it's from when they were fighting a lot. But we removed two of the mean ones about three days ago and left one in there who doesn't really do much, but does chase them every so often.

I can't get any pictures because the camera quite literally sucks. But I will describe them to my best ability and let you guys decide on what I need to do.

On her left side, reaching from halfway down from her front left leg is a gash which stretches all the way to her back left leg and this causes her to limp. Then on her rump she has like a little circular open wound, very small, but when you look close enough it's pretty obvious. Both wounds are very red, but don't seem to be bleeding. She has been grooming a lot, so I'm assuming they're very clean too.

But what do I need to do as her owner? Do I need to seperate her from the others? Or will she be fine in there with the others? How about her wounds? Do I need to do anything about them or will they heal over time?


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## julieszoo

I'd clean the wounds and make sure she stays dry and clean while they are healing. If they are severe, antibiotics might be necessary to stop infection. You could use wound powder to help dry them up. Hope she is OK.


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## Cbprf

Thank you, I will head out to the local pet stores soon, hopefully, and get some.


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## Maplewood Stud

tea tree oil is also ok to use and so is savlon x


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## yyoung

I have had a problem with fighting to ..... A nasty wound resulted.....see below.

I have been putting Bepanthen (yes babies nappy cream) on the wound and it is virtually healed up and this was a nasty wound as you can see.

He doesn't mind having the cream applied at all. I am surprised at how well this has healed and how quickly given the severity of the wound.



















And how he looks today .............. almost completely healed


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## Cbprf

Thats how the wound on her rump looks. I will try the oil first seeing as my boyfriends mom has some sitting right in the cabinet then I might go out and find that wound powder if this stuff doesn't work, thanks a lot everyone, I was freaking out. I'm a first time owner after all, haha!


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## yyoung

The stuff I used wasn't a powder...... it's a cream. You normally buy it for babies bottoms. I had read that it had been used with success on guinea pigs and thought I would give it a try. I has been lovely to see the wound healing day by day and I think he gets some relief from the cream because he seems to enjoy having it applied.

Are your wounds as bad as his were ? I would be very careful about infection getting into such a large open wound. I just kept a very close eye on him. Anything pus like or infected looking and I would have ran to the vets. I think I got lucky 

Good luck.


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## Cbprf

Yeah they are pretty bad. Infact we pulled her out the other day and got a closer look and yeah, they are bad. I will try the baby bottom cream actually, I guess his mom doesn't have any oil, I thought she did.

Can I use any type of baby bottom cream? Or is there something I should look out for?


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## Mari

Yyoung, was it a particular cream? Like for diaper rash (Zinc oxide) or something different? I wonder if things might be different over here, if it's not Zinc Oxide, as that's what is usually used. I've used it on various different things on my dogs before with some success (mainly 'moist' wounds/irritations).


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## Cbprf

Ah well... we tried neosporin... boyfriends mom used it on the dogs. I hope it doesn't harm her but so far she seems content. She didn't mind me putting it on her or anything. Thank gosh. But... now I hope it's okay to use. I wasn't really thinking at first and now that I already did it... I'm slightly worried. But not quite. The wounds have been added on too by the way... reaches back over her hind left leg, under her tail to the other side just a little bit.

I have decided to keep her in a different cage and hopefully find her a doe just like her for a companion. One who is submissive and doesn't want to fight.

It makes me want to cry because I feel so bad  She doesn't deserve this treatment.


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## Mari

As far as the Neosporin, I use it a lot on the reptiles. I don't know if it's similar, but would imagine the application would be similar in the fact that it's ok to use as long as it's the non pain reliever kind. I'm not sure if it's through absorbtion or fear of ingestion, to be honest, but I know the kind with the pain reliever is not supposed to be used. I find when I cannnot find the non pain reliever Neo, I opt for the generic brand, as usually they carry it without pain reliever and it's cheaper, too.  I usually get it at Wal-Mart and it's really cheap, as you're also in the US. Equate brand, I think it is. I get the one that *doesn't* say 'with pain relief/reliever' or something like that on the box. Hope that helps!


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## Cbprf

Oh good god... now I'm freaking out. I checked the bottle and it's the pain reliever crap. Man I hope she will be okay! She has been acting normal lately, just limping a lot due to the wounds but they look a whole lot better too. Not to mention she's more active as well, she tries to run on the wheel, ends up walking though hehe. She's eating and drinking normally, I don't see anything odd about her.

Gosh I hope that Neosporin pain reliever crap won't mess her up!!!  I did only apply it twice. And after that we stopped because they healed up enough to where it doesn't look too gruesome.


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## Mari

If she's acting ok now and it was only applied twice, I would think she would be ok. I'm sorry to make you freak out! I think the reptile systems might be a little more fragile, but I still use the same guidelines, just in case. I would just discontinue the pain reliever kind of Neo, keep an eye on her, and try to get some non pain reliever just so you have it for use in the future and if she seems to need any more for this particular problem. She sounds like she's already doing a bit better?


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## Cbprf

Yeah she is doing better. The gash has healed, not completely but it is scabbed over, and the wound on her butt is healing too. She acts just like she always has, just drinking a lot more otherwise she's active and eats and sleeps perfectly fine.

I will have to go out and buy some neosporin regular then. Just incase something like this happens again, but... everyone's fine with their cagemates now. Rusty likes her new companion and Baby doesn't get harrassed by Frosty anymore and the other two "mean" ones like her as well now. It's nice. Just the occasional chase, but I think it might be for fun.


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## Mari

I'm so glad things have sorted out and they all seem to be happy in their mousey little worlds! I'm sure it's a big relief for you!


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## Cbprf

It has been a huge relief, heh. I feel at ease now instead of hanging around her cage constantly, it was probably annoying her, haha.


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