Is this shell rot?

[bignasty]

Hi again!

I just cleaned up my leopard tortoise early this morning and noticed the following:

Is this shell rot? The shell is tough when I touched it, doesn't feel soft at all but I have no idea what shell rot symptoms are. Just need confirmation if this is shell rot so I can proceed with the proper treatment.. or return it to the seller since I just bought him/her 2 days ago

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UPDATE: I searched for symptoms or signs of shell rot and one of them was a pungent smell.. this one definitely has some funky smell that's concentrated around that area. Looks like this guy has shell rot. Proceeding with betadine and 1% clotrimazole treatment. I also contacted the seller but haven't received a reply.

 

[Greg T]

Hopefully someone with more experience will provide some input also. It looks like it may be the beginning of shell rot, or some type of shell damage. It shouldn't hurt to treat it with some betadine just in case. Looks pretty minor, so maybe you can knock it out quickly.

Good luck.

 

[Neal]

That's a smooth looking leopard, if possible I'd hang on to it if I were you. I don't have too much experience with shell rot, but it doesn't look too bad.

 

[Tom]

I'd really like to know how the seller kept and raised this one. It is exceedingly smooth for a leopard, but the shell problems worry me. I'd love to figure out if that was from dirty conditions or too much wetness. All the nasty stuff caked on the plastron sort of answers the question, but I'd still like to hear how wet it was kept.

 

[bignasty]

That's a smooth looking leopard, if possible I'd hang on to it if I were you. I don't have too much experience with shell rot, but it doesn't look too bad.

Thanks! Yeah, I was able to talk with the seller and I told him I'd try to treat the tort first. I'm treating the shell rot right now, I hope it doesn't affect his/her feeding.

I'd really like to know how the seller kept and raised this one. It is exceedingly smooth for a leopard, but the shell problems worry me. I'd love to figure out if that was from dirty conditions or too much wetness. All the nasty stuff caked on the plastron sort of answers the question, but I'd still like to hear how wet it was kept.

It's not really smooth, but maybe looks that way because of the pattern. It's actually starting to pyramid, I'll post pictures for you guys to see.

From what the seller told me, the tort was kept on alfalfa hay bedding (the one sold as rabbit food) and was fed mostly veggies and maybe timothy hay. I asked if it was wild caught, the seller said it wasn't but I'm thinking it is. I don't think it was raised on a high humidity environment or wet substrate.

 

[Neal]

From what the seller told me, the tort was kept on alfalfa hay bedding (the one sold as rabbit food) and was fed mostly veggies and maybe timothy hay. I asked if it was wild caught, the seller said it wasn't but I'm thinking it is. I don't think it was raised on a high humidity environment or wet substrate.

Are you in the US? If you are than it is definatley not wild caught, I think the ban on wild caught leopards has been in place for over ten years (maybe I'm wrong on the date) but a tortoise that small is only a couple years old so couldn't be WC.

The back end looks smooth, can't wait to see the whole tortoise.

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Just saw your profile, I'm not sure what the import / export rules are on tortoises in the Phillipines, but seeing as to how you're in a humid environment you can probably get away with keeping them on a dry substrate such as alfalfa and still have smooth shell growth.

 

[bignasty]

From what the seller told me, the tort was kept on alfalfa hay bedding (the one sold as rabbit food) and was fed mostly veggies and maybe timothy hay. I asked if it was wild caught, the seller said it wasn't but I'm thinking it is. I don't think it was raised on a high humidity environment or wet substrate.

Are you in the US? If you are than it is definatley not wild caught, I think the ban on wild caught leopards has been in place for over ten years (maybe I'm wrong on the date) but a tortoise that small is only a couple years old so couldn't be WC.

The back end looks smooth, can't wait to see the whole tortoise.

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Just saw your profile, I'm not sure what the import / export rules are on tortoises in the Phillipines, but seeing as to how you're in a humid environment you can probably get away with keeping them on a dry substrate such as alfalfa and still have smooth shell growth.

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Here are pictures of the tort:

We have strict import/export of animals here in the Philippines, but some people get away with smuggling some. As can be seen in the pictures, the tort is starting to pyramid - the shell looks bumpy. I hope it can still be corrected.

 

[Az tortoise compound]

To me it almost looks like a partially healed puncture wound. Is that a hole in the center? I have seen similar on rescued tortoises (dog bites).
Maybe my eyes deceive me.

 

[egyptiandan]

If it smells than it is infected. You need to take off the dead bit of scute material (the discolored bit in a circle around the small hole) over the rot. This will help you get to the infection and have it dry out (which will help healing).
Yes it's wild caught and most likely came in with the hole and the infection going on.

Danny

 

[bignasty]

Hi all, just wanted to update this thread. My tort is doing well, the shell rot is gone - i think. The bad smell is gone and the tort's underside is looking well (although the cracks are still there).

Just wanted to ask regarding the tort's shell. It still looks the same as the one in the first picture albeit without the bad smell. I'm wondering if I have to strip off/take off the surrounding area of the shell for it to heal properly.

Should I chip off/peel off these parts around the hole (as highlighted in red) as suggested by egyptiandan?

I'm a bit hesitant peeling off the shell because it might hurt the tort. It's been close to 3 weeks and the shell looks the same as the first time I saw it. The only difference is there's no more bad smell coming from it.

 

[laura808]

ahhhhh! Wouldnt ripping off parts of the tortoises shell feel like someone ripping off your skin??? ow, I don't know if thats needed.