Scales falling off foot

blakebeyer

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IMG_1453.JPG hey guys I'm new to the site and am looking to the hive mind to help my little guy. I have 2 baby Redfoot torts, one about a year and another about 6 months. Both of which are very active and AVID eaters. Yesterday I took my one year old out to get some time away from their enclosure and noticed the bottom of her front right foot was white. I take them out just about every day if not every other day and never noticed this before. The younger one doesn't have any discoloration to him and the rest of my one year olds feet/ skin are fine so I am totally baffled as to what might be cause it. Some background info on my care/ inclosure. I built them a tortoise table that is 4.5 ft by 3ft, has peat moss mixed with spagnum and a little untreated soil. There are native edible plants for them to munch on. I also have a fluorescent UV buld set up for them by their basking spot which I used to have a couple flat rocks under but have since removed because I was afraid that she may have possible burned her foot on one of the rocks? They get fed every other day a mix of peppers, mango kale, carrots, zucchini, crushed tortoise pellets and a few freeze dried meal worms just to get a little protein in them and I dust that lightly with a good multivitamin. They are misted as needed and the enclosure is kept moist but not wet. Her behavior has not changed at all, she still comes running out of her hide box when you call her name looking for food and still tromps around her enclosure like her foot isn't bothering her at all. Any insight would be great, thanks in advance!
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome !

It's hard to tell from a picture, but because the underside of those nails on that foot are also white, I'm kinda' wondering if it really is skinned or just discolored. Take a soft bristle brush and a little soapy water and lightly scrub it to see if the color comes off. Otherwise, if it really is skinned or raw, you can dab on a bit of Neosporin and keep her on a clean surface for a half hour to an hour to give the salve a chance to work its magic.
 

blakebeyer

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Thank you so much for all of your help! I washed the foot and it is definitely her foot, not anything stuck to it. I attached a better, closer picture of it. She does not have this anywhere else on her body, and it is even starting to climb up her leg a little bit towards her body. I picked up Neosporin from the drugstore today and will be sure to follow your advise. Again, thank you so much for all of your help!

UpdateFoot.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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Oh my, yes. That's a much clearer picture. You can plainly see now that it is raw flesh. Did you actually touch the stone to see how hot it got? Is there a rough surface that she might be digging on to cause it to become raw? After seeing this picture, if it were my tortoise, I would put the Neosporin on then wrap the foot with clean bandage material to keep it dry and help it heal. You may have to change the bandage frequently. Is it at all possible a mouse or rat could have chewed the foot?
 

blakebeyer

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it is pretty unlikely it could have been a rodent, we are on the second floor of an apartment and have never seen and signs of any rodents in the apartment before. Before I took the rocks out it was quite hot, not scalding to myself but to a little tort hanging out on it for a long time I suppose it may have given her a burn. The only other thing we can think of is that whenever my fiancé and I come home she gets very excited and comes out of her hide to see what's going on and she tries to climb her enclosure wall until we take her out. She usually scratches at the wall with her right foot so maybe she has been causing some irritation from doing that? That is a great idea to wrap her little foot up, the only thing we are concerned with is her younger brother is VERY munchy and likes to take a nibble out of anything he can reach so we are afraid that if her bandage falls off he may try to eat it and either get himself impacted with the bandage or do some other damage to himself. We are doing the neosporin and will do so several times a day and let her sit in a nice clean dry place for as long as we can keep her still with some of her favorite treats. Thank you for your help and any suggestions on our thinking/ approach is welcome
 

MyersTortoise

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FYI: if it is a burn, neosporin will be great to aid healing and to prevent infection, but if it is fungal, then you will need some antifungal cream AND he should be quarantined so the other tortoise does not catch it.
 

JoesMum

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FYI: if it is a burn, neosporin will be great to aid healing and to prevent infection, but if it is fungal, then you will need some antifungal cream AND he should be quarantined so the other tortoise does not catch it.
Neosporin is an antibiotic. It will only help if there is a bacterial infection.

I very much doubt there is any bacterial infection there.

The whole world is being encouraged not to use antibiotics "just in case" as bacteria are becoming resistant to the meds and we are rapidly running out of other antibiotics to use instead.

Don't use antibiotics on you or your pets unless you have to.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Can you provide us with photos of the enclosure?
The wound is very peculiar looking and maybe one of us can make a better theory if given a better oportunity to decide.
 

domalle

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It is true that overuse of antibiotics is a serious concern. However, antibiotics are prescribed for wounds like these to prevent secondary bacterial infection, that is, prevention of infection by bacterial agents after skin is broken leaving tissue exposed and vulnerable to entry.
The turtle should be isolated. The wound should be left open and the animal kept on paper towels or newspaper during treatment. Quick healing will usually occur with the application of topical antibiotic ointment (Silver Sulfadiazine cream if you can get it) twice a day.
Have you considered whether the patient's 'munchy' cagemate either caused the initial injury or is 'worrying' the wound site? Compromised animals will often be singled out for adverse attention from their peers.
 

domalle

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it is pretty unlikely it could have been a rodent, we are on the second floor of an apartment and have never seen and signs of any rodents in the apartment before. Before I took the rocks out it was quite hot, not scalding to myself but to a little tort hanging out on it for a long time I suppose it may have given her a burn. The only other thing we can think of is that whenever my fiancé and I come home she gets very excited and comes out of her hide to see what's going on and she tries to climb her enclosure wall until we take her out. She usually scratches at the wall with her right foot so maybe she has been causing some irritation from doing that? That is a great idea to wrap her little foot up, the only thing we are concerned with is her younger brother is VERY munchy and likes to take a nibble out of anything he can reach so we are afraid that if her bandage falls off he may try to eat it and either get himself impacted with the bandage or do some other damage to himself. We are doing the neosporin and will do so several times a day and let her sit in a nice clean dry place for as long as we can keep her still with some of her favorite treats. Thank you for your help and any suggestions on our thinking/ approach is welcome

Should this condition persist or spread, loss of epithelial tissue integrity and sloughing of skin resulting in open sores can be caused by Vitamin A problems, both excess and deficiency. I have seen it most often in overdose after Vitamin A injection.
You might also want to reconsider the every other day administration of multivitamin and such liberal use of high concentration Vitamin A food sources like carrots as a dietary staple.
 

blakebeyer

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IMG_1837.PNG Hey, just wanted to give an update for everyone who sent out their suggestions and anyone who reads this looking for advise on a similar issue. It's been a few months now and little Pico de gallo's foot is looking much much better! The area of skin that is discolored has shrunk substantially. I put antibiotic ointment on it once a day for maybe a month just to be sure there were no openings in the skin that could become infected. She has been going about her normal business and no new marks have shown up on her or her little brother Sriracha so it must have been a burn from a rock in their basking spot that has long been removed now. Thanks for all of your help and advise!
 

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