Possible septicemia?

[Malvarez77]

Howdy!
Sulcata tortoise 4 year old female,
Mixed greens, mazuri, calabaza, or squash cut, dusted with calcium & lightly misted so she gets water in every bite. She has reptibark & moss in her enclosure, I do have a couple rocks in there just so her food doesn’t sit on the bark. Never had any injuries or cuts that I know of. She’s a big healthy tort but during her bath I noticed this pink spot. I touched the spot and didn’t appear to hurt her, it also blanched normally (blood flow rushing after removing pressure from the area). Does this look like septicemia, I’ll call the vet first thing but for ease of mind today any help or thoughts would help.

 

[Lyn W]

@zovick may be able to help you.

If you post pics of his enclosure members can help you make sure his set up is not affecting him.

Moss isn't usually recommended for tort enclosures because if it's eaten it can cause impaction in the gut.

These caresheets are also great guides for diet, temps, humidity and substrates

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

and

For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[zovick]

Howdy!
Sulcata tortoise 4 year old female,
Mixed greens, mazuri, calabaza, or squash cut, dusted with calcium & lightly misted so she gets water in every bite. She has reptibark & moss in her enclosure, I do have a couple rocks in there just so her food doesn’t sit on the bark. Never had any injuries or cuts that I know of. She’s a big healthy tort but during her bath I noticed this pink spot. I touched the spot and didn’t appear to hurt her, it also blanched normally (blood flow rushing after removing pressure from the area). Does this look like septicemia, I’ll call the vet first thing but for ease of mind today any help or thoughts would help.

Your photo does not look like septicemia. Septicemia is a generalized condition and usually causes a large area of reddish color over the entire plastron.

Your picture shows what I believe to be increased vascularity in an area of rapid new growth.

 

[Malvarez77]

Your photo does not look like septicemia. Septicemia is a generalized condition and usually causes a large area of reddish color over the entire plastron.

Your picture shows what I believe to be increased vascularity in an area of rapid new growth.

Thank you! Shortly after (I.e. hours of anxiety lmfao) I realized okay this is not it. This morning it looks much better very little pink is showing now & she’s still up and around. I had some rocks in her enclose but I’m gonna rotate them for some smoother ones I have as a preventative. Thank you

 

[Tom]

Howdy!
Sulcata tortoise 4 year old female,
Mixed greens, mazuri, calabaza, or squash cut, dusted with calcium & lightly misted so she gets water in every bite. She has reptibark & moss in her enclosure, I do have a couple rocks in there just so her food doesn’t sit on the bark. Never had any injuries or cuts that I know of. She’s a big healthy tort but during her bath I noticed this pink spot. I touched the spot and didn’t appear to hurt her, it also blanched normally (blood flow rushing after removing pressure from the area). Does this look like septicemia, I’ll call the vet first thing but for ease of mind today any help or thoughts would help.

They only need calcium supplementation once or twice a week. Every day is too much.

Moss will be eaten and can cause impaction. It should not be used.

Rocks are fine, but best to use tera cotta saucers sunk into the substrate for food and water.

Grocery store greens are not good food and should be a last resort if you can't find anything better. If you must use grocery store greens, favor endive and escarole, but also add in some amendments to make the greens more suitable as tortoise food. Any new food or changes to food will take time for the tortoise to get used to. Make the changes gradually by mixing in small amounts of the new and better stuff with the old favorites. Gradually increase the ratio over time. This is all explained in the links that Lyn left for you. Questions are welcome.