Shell rot?

[AstroFerrari]

Hi,

This is the underneath of our one year old Mediterranean Spur-Thighed tort. She flipped over yesterday and I noticed these black marks under her shell. Her room mate doesn't have them which is worrying - but of course we can't remember if she looked liked this before.

I'm booked to see a vet tomorrow who has told me they only see cats and dogs i.e. they have no clue and the breeder hasn't come back to me. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[AstroFerrari]

Hi,

I've just posted this over on the newbie page before I saw the health one. I'm not sure if my tortoise has an infection. She flipped yesterday and I noticed these black marks - but none of us can remember if she had them before. Nothing I can find online really helps me to decide and I can't take time off work to drive to the reptile vet so am seeing one in my town who has told me they won't really know what they're looking at.

If anyone has any ideas/thoughts I'd be grateful.

 

[Gillian M]

Hi and a warm welcome to the forum.

Can't tell you if it is shell rot-am no tort expert, sorry. But there are very many threads on this subject and reading them may help you. Please separate the two torts, just in case this is shell rot, GOD forbid. And read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread.

 

[Yvonne G]

This is what the plastron (undershell) of a Greek tortoise looks like:

Far as I can tell, it looks just like your tortoise, no?

 

[Sara G.]

Pics of your enclosure will help though.
Are you housing the two torts together?

I agree that it generally looks like what I would expect the bottom of a tort to look like.

 

[Pearly]

If you are worried about the dark coloration, this looks perfectly normal to me. Definitely not a shell rot unless there's something else