HELP! Is this normal

[RainbowDrops]

My Russains under a year old. Not sure of its gender yet. He/she's been shedding all the time on its neck, once it falls off it starts again, like a constant cycle. Now it's starting on his/her face. The scales on the side of its cheeks have fallen off and now it's starting on the top of her head. Is this normal? He/she's eating fine, drinking fine and she's asleep most of the time. The temps are all perfect. Plus he/she just got over an eye infection, which she had by the time i brought her. Really worrying me

 

[bholmes88]

Are his eyes swollen?

 

[Laura]

what kind of lights do you use? coil?
did you use an ointment inthe eye for the infection? it looks like build up of something.. not normal..
Diet?
DO you soak them?

 

[RainbowDrops]

I had brought him, the same day his eye was swollen (didn't realise till i took him home). Took him vets and got eyedrops, worked fine after a while then it came back. Thought it could be dehydration so i bathe her every morning for a drink. Give her plenty of vitamin A along with the calcium dust. I dont have a coil, just a normal heat bulb the petshops gave me along with a long UV light. I read using cod liver oil on the eye is supposed to soothe them so i've started that. The vets is apparently big around here and he said this shedding is normal but i needed to see your guys opinions as it's quiet drastic looking!

 

[dannel]

Looks weird. Is he becoming lethargic?

 

[jeninak907]

Poor little thing.. That is not normal. I haven't seen it before I hope some one else has. Goodl luck!

 

[Laurie]

How are you giving vitamin A? I remember reading that vit A shots can cause the skin to slough off.

 

[RainbowDrops]

Shes running around and chilling out, shes got a big appetite and goes to sleep then wakes up looking around then has a drink or what not. Thats why i was so confused. She seems perfectly fine yet she's shredded so much! Vet says its normal growth shredding but to me it looked pretty bad! Got worried! It just happened so suddenly after a growth spurt.

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Although to be fair the picture doesnt do it any justice! It doesn't look as bad as the photo! Even i cringed just looking at it then lol!

 

[lynnedit]

The skin sloughing off like that is not normal. Her eyes are involved, so she may not be able to see well.
Hopefully someone more experienced in tortoise diseases will pipe in.

If you are soaking daily, keeping her temps right with a good basking area, offering a variety of greens and weeds, that is all you can do. Laurie is right, make sure they are not giving vitamin A injections!!!! At this point, if I were you, I would stop any topicals, cod liver oil, etc. You don't want to irritate this further.

Are you seeing a Reptile vet? Not just a vet who says they can 'care for reptiles'?

Will try to PM a few members who might be able to help.

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Oh, I just saw your recent post, glad the photo makes it look worse than it is!
Very encouraging that she is active and eats.
Won't hurt to get some other opinions.

 

[dmmj]

Shedding is indeed normal, but your tortoise looks wrong. The eyes look swollen, which can be a sign of vitamin A deficiency, it could be he beginning signs of an RI. What did the vet treat it with? did the vet give a diagnosis beside just swollen eyes. For the time being the fact it is eating and active is a good sign, he looks CB to me.

 

[RainbowDrops]

Whats CB? Its the reptile vets near mine. I thought he was crazy when he said it was fine! Well im glad to get your opinions so i'm going to look into this further!

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Just booked her in another reptile vets but it's far away hopefully they can help me

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Oh also how come no vitamin A injections? What do they do??

 

[Laurie]

If the tortoise is vit A deficient it can be corrected with diet. I'm not sure if the shots cause some kind of vit A toxicity, but I know I read of people on here whos torts were given the injections, it can cause the skin to slough off. I'm going to send a link of this thread to Yvonne, maybe she will know. Good luck

 

[dannel]

CB= Captive Bred

 

[lynnedit]

Good luck, you are really trying to do the best for your tort. Keep us posted.

 

[Yvonne G]

Too much vitamin A causes the skin to flake and peel off just like what's happening to your tortoise. Only it gets so bad that it peels down to the raw tissue under the skin. Not enough vitamin A causes the eyes to swell and stick closed. Vitamin A should be given the tortoise in his food...sweet potatoes, aquatic plants, dark greens, carrots, etc, and never through injections or supplements. I wonder if the vet injected your tortoise with the dreaded vitamin A,D,E shot.

I hate to tell you to feed foods high in vitamin A until you find out if your vet gave the above mentioned injection. In the meantime, soak him in warm water every day. Make sure the water stays clean. Soak for about 15 or 20 minutes each time. It might be a good idea to keep him on paper towells or newspaper until he's all healed.

Don't focus too much on vitamin A, as there are other things that cause swollen eyes too. The spiral bulbs (Compact fluorescent bulb CFL), allergy to substrate, too dusty, too dry. So go through all your husbandry practices and be sure the tortoise is in a correct set-up.

Have you read the care sheet on russtiantortoise.org?

 

[RainbowDrops]

She just tends to munch all the grated carrot rather than any of the other food. Do you think that's giving her to much Vit A? Oh i'm feeling sick now, has she been in pain I need Monday to hurry up! The petshops gave me this tank with these exact bulbs, I wonder if it's the bulb that's to close to her? I will add a picture on. Please correct my set-up as it may be wrong for her! The temps are all perfect in the basking and cool end but i'm thinking the heat bulb may need changing? Or will i need one with a cover around it?
It seems very close to her and i pointed that out to the petshop but they said all their tanks were like that and it's okay?

 

[Laurie]

It looks like you are using rabbit pellets for substrate? That's no good, they're way too dry. A better choice would be coco coir or cypress mulch. These will hold moisture better. But, I would probably just switch to something like Yvonne suggested (wet paper towels) until her skin is healed.

When you said you were giving lots of calcium and vitamin A, I assumed you were given too much supplements.

It's hard to tell how close your bulb is, but it does look close. There's usually a minimum distance in the manufacturers directions.

 

[RainbowDrops]

I asked the petshop for wood chippings, as he gave me that the 1st time but he said hey this stuff is far more better, so i brought that thinking it may help her eyes. It absolutely stank so i changed it back to wood chippings after a day! But do you think the wood chippings could be playing a part in this to? I'm going to put some paper down asap

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And i'm going to put her heat bulb higher somehow, i feel this isn't helping her. She likes to plop herself directly under it. Plus what Watt is the bulb supposed to be? Although the heat's right, the shop keeps giving me different Watt bulbs? I need to make a complaint to that shop to ensure all their animals are being health checked.

 

[dannel]

Most people use coco coir. If the wood chippings are smelly they could irritate the tort and there could be a buildup of sawdust in the folds of your torts skin.

 

[lynnedit]

They won't get too much of any vitamin from food. Make sure you only feed the grated carrot 1-2x per week for now. Eventually it more of a once per month treat in the form of a stick to trim their beak.
Why don't u remove the substrate and replace now with newspaper as Yvonne suggests with some shredded in the hide and in another corner. Just in case. Keep soaking daily. Good basking temps.

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Just saw you are putting newspaper down. If the bulb is an MVB 100w it should be 12" from the tort shell. Move it as far away as u can, yet still maintain basking area of 95-100F.