Bite Marks?

There are three very small (about 5 years old) desert tortoises here that I haven't allowed to hibernate yet, so every fall I set them up on the car port in big cement habitats with a plywood lid that I close at night. Yesterday I was walking through the big desert tortoise yard and I found one of the females looking pretty darned thin, so I decided she should not be allowed to hibernate this year and I added her to the habitat on the car port. It is about 4'x8', and I've used this same habitat for the past 5 years to house the three young ones and my original adult female that has a recurring nasal abscess and I don't allow her to hibernate either.

So, last night I forgot to close the lid, but it's not really that cold yet, so it was no big deal, except, something bit one of the little tortoises:



What it amounts to is the keratin layer has been scraped off in two spots, and almost scraped off in a third spot. There are no teeth marks or scrapes like you would expect to see if a mammal with sharp teeth had tried to chew the tortoise. So I'm thinking the open lid was not part of the problem, but that the big, skinny female that I put in there was the problem. I'm only guessing, but it looks to me as if the bigger tortoise bit the edges of the shell of the smaller tortoise causing the keratin to come loose or off. This wasn't because she wanted to eat the smaller tortoise, but because she's dominant and was chasing him out.

Of course, this is only a guess, but I really don't think it was a rat or a skunk or a whatever.

Ouch!

poor little guy i hope he gets all healed up

Poor thing and in the home that was his first, bitten by a guest. Too bad you left the lid off, then you would know for sure, 100% it was her and not a chance of something else. At least the poor thing is in good healing hands.

Poor little guy. I hope he is not in pain.

That looks very painful :-( what kind of treatment do you do for that sort of thing? Do you just clean it and put Betadine and the Neosporin on it? I hope I never have to mend my tortoise but I should learn what to do in case it happens. Of course if there were any puncture wounds I would take it to the vet.

Yvonne, that looks like a pretty aggressive damage....I mean, I know these guys can be pretty aggressive, but I wonder if the damage was actually from the female...as you said that there are other torts in there as well? Did they receive any damage?

glad no soft parts got chomped.

Wow, that's nasty. Time for a housing shift...

I think you are right Yvonne. There would be scrape marks from any sort of mammalian teeth. Rodents wouldn't be able to affect such a large area all at once.

Bummer. Sorry this happened.

Ouch! My old male gulf coast box turtle once damaged a younger female's shell in a similar way. Not as badly or in the same spot, but scraped off the top layer to expose blood. She was adamant about not coming out of her shell and receiving his sexual advances. He's been living alone ever since.

None of the other small tortoises had any damage. Also, I have a plastic tub with 4 yearling box turtles right next to the desert tortoises' winter box, and none of them suffered any damage. They are much smaller and easier for a predator to chew.

I clean and disinfect the spots and dab on some neosporin. The tortoise will be fine. Poor thing. This little tortoise came to me about two years ago (or maybe last year) because he had been chewed by a dog. He's one of my favorites.

Yvonne G said:

None of the other small tortoises had any damage. Also, I have a plastic tub with 4 yearling box turtles right next to the desert tortoises' winter box, and none of them suffered any damage. They are much smaller and easier for a predator to chew.

I clean and disinfect the spots and dab on some neosporin. The tortoise will be fine. Poor thing. This little tortoise came to me about two years ago (or maybe last year) because he had been chewed by a dog. He's one of my favorites.

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I am still suspect on the female as the cause...just does not feel right....but that may just be me....the little one should heal just beautifully nonetheless....

Poor little guy. You should rename him Knog after the brand of chew toy, or perhaps rawhide. Hope he mends quickly.


0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)

ascott said:

I am still suspect on the female as the cause...just does not feel right....but that may just be me....the little one should heal just beautifully nonetheless....

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I may be leaning towards the bigger female sitting on the small tortoise and squashing it. I don't know if this would cause the keratin to pop off the bone, but it's a very heavy female. One of the bigger desert tortoises I've seen. Reason for this change of heart is that the small tortoise is now having trouble with its back legs. They move, so are not paralyzed, but have no strength to lift the tortoise up to walk. And yes, I have separated them. The younger tortoise is all by itself.

Yvonne G said:

I may be leaning towards the bigger female sitting on the small tortoise and squashing it. I don't know if this would cause the keratin to pop off the bone, but it's a very heavy female. One of the bigger desert tortoises I've seen. Reason for this change of heart is that the small tortoise is now having trouble with its back legs. They move, so are not paralyzed, but have no strength to lift the tortoise up to walk. And yes, I have separated them. The younger tortoise is all by itself.

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Yvonne, that is entirely possible....is there anything in the enclosure that the tort could have wedged himself into/between/under in attempt to get out of the way of the female is she was being aggressive....I mean, have you really looked about in the enclosure to see if you see any trace blood, perhaps the scene of the injury--you know what I mean?

No, it's just a big open space. And it may not have been an act of aggression at all. The smaller one simply may have been in the way.