Star tortoise bruises/bump on tail

akanksha 10

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Hello all, I'm new here so trying how this works. My name is DollyView attachment 301711View attachment 301713 and my tortoise is Milo, a female Indian Star. I've had Milo since almost 8 years now, she's 9 years old. Since 3-4 days she's having these bruises/bumps/abrasions on the underside of her tail. She's never had these before and I'm too much worried about them now. I'll be taking her to the vet though but can someone tell me what does it look like ? She doesnt go in any rough surfaces and roams around her room only, no other tortoise is in vicinity she's the only one I have so obviously there's no fight or bullying etc, she is given a bath every 8-9 days or so and she's eating fine and pooping fine but once in 4 days, but not constipated for sure as sometimes she poops small amounts daily or sometimes a heavy poop once 4-5 days depends on her mood really. No other signs of sickness but this bruise is too much alarming. What can it be ? I'm attaching a photo of her tail underside. Please let me know soon, thanks !!View attachment 301711View attachment 301713
 

zovick

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Hello all, I'm new here so trying how this works. My name is DollyView attachment 301711View attachment 301713 and my tortoise is Milo, a female Indian Star. I've had Milo since almost 8 years now, she's 9 years old. Since 3-4 days she's having these bruises/bumps/abrasions on the underside of her tail. She's never had these before and I'm too much worried about them now. I'll be taking her to the vet though but can someone tell me what does it look like ? She doesnt go in any rough surfaces and roams around her room only, no other tortoise is in vicinity she's the only one I have so obviously there's no fight or bullying etc, she is given a bath every 8-9 days or so and she's eating fine and pooping fine but once in 4 days, but not constipated for sure as sometimes she poops small amounts daily or sometimes a heavy poop once 4-5 days depends on her mood really. No other signs of sickness but this bruise is too much alarming. What can it be ? I'm attaching a photo of her tail underside. Please let me know soon, thanks !!View attachment 301711View attachment 301713
Hello Dolly,
I would like to help you, but the attachments aren't working. Can you try to download them another way?
 

dolly10

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Hello Dolly,
I would like to help you, but the attachments aren't working. Can you try to download them another way?
Hi Zovick,
This is my another profile some technical issues with the old one.
Here's the close up picture of her bruise please let me know ??IMG_20200730_223646.jpg
 

dolly10

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this is Milo ??
Pic 1 - soaking 20 mins in her tub before toothbrush scrub and shower.
pic 2 - underside of her shell today's pic after shower. I also have a question about it though, no matter how much I scrub her plastron in her bath this white cast doesn't seem to go away. It wasn't there when she was a baby but with time she kept getting this whitish cast on the underside of her shell. She's given regular baths still? its maybe the urea from her toilet but she gets cleaned with tissues after every pee as well. I try to remove it with brush in bath but it doesn't go. Any ideas why ? Is it harmful in the long run ?
IMG_20191102_194645.jpg
IMG_20200730_223635.jpg
 

zovick

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Hi Zovick,
This is my another profile some technical issues with the old one.
Here's the close up picture of her bruise please let me know ??View attachment 301721
Hi Dolly,
This does not appear to be anything very serious. It appears they could be ant bites. They should heal up and go away in 10-14 days or so. Tortoises take longer than humans to heal, so be patient. Meanwhile check to see that there are no ant mounds in your tortoise's enclosure or ants near any food that you have given her.

If not ant bites, they also could be minor scrapes from the tortoise walking over a rough surface or a rock.
 

dolly10

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Hi Dolly,
This does not appear to be anything very serious. It appears they could be ant bites. They should heal up and go away in 10-14 days or so. Tortoises take longer than humans to heal, so be patient. Meanwhile check to see that there are no ant mounds in your tortoise's enclosure or ants near any food that you have given her.

If not ant bites, they also could be minor scrapes from the tortoise walking over a rough surface or a rock.
Hi
There's not a single ant in her room, and no rock as well.
She eats usually carrots and okra and occasionally a fruit bite like a snack. But i clean everything and keep it in her tray so no ants or mites there as well. That's why I'm worried. Can they develop these bumps on their own ? Is it some kind of infection ?
 

zovick

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this is Milo ??
Pic 1 - soaking 20 mins in her tub before toothbrush scrub and shower.
pic 2 - underside of her shell today's pic after shower. I also have a question about it though, no matter how much I scrub her plastron in her bath this white cast doesn't seem to go away. It wasn't there when she was a baby but with time she kept getting this whitish cast on the underside of her shell. She's given regular baths still? its maybe the urea from her toilet but she gets cleaned with tissues after every pee as well. I try to remove it with brush in bath but it doesn't go. Any ideas why ? Is it harmful in the long run ?
View attachment 301722
View attachment 301723
The white on the plastron is calcium and other minerals which are built up over time from your water. When the water dries on the shell, the minerals do not evaporate with the water and are deposited on the tortoise's shell. This deposit can be removed with vinegar or lemon juice and a toothbrush. Just be careful not to get it in the eyes of your tortoise.
 

Yvonne G

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Are you keeping the tortoise on a hard surface with no substrate? To me it looks like this is damage from scraping along on cement or some sort of hard surface, the tail AND the shell both.
 

turtlesteve

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When she walks does she lift her shell completely off the ground, or does it drag at the back?

Just a wild guess but seems like it could also be dragging if she is not walking normally.
 

dolly10

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You say she gets wiped with a tissue after she pees...maybe her skin is getting sensitive from the wiping, or irritated by the tissue.
It's getting completely reduced now...Maybe it was the tissue !
I'll avoid wiping her with tissues now
 

dolly10

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Are you keeping the tortoise on a hard surface with no substrate? To me it looks like this is damage from scraping along on cement or some sort of hard surface, the tail AND the shell both.
There's no cement in her room. Its smooth tiles. It was scraping from tissues maybe that I had used to wipe her toilet. Will avoid now
 

dolly10

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When she walks does she lift her shell completely off the ground, or does it drag at the back?

Just a wild guess but seems like it could also be dragging if she is not walking normally.
Yes she lifts her shell completely and walks normally
 

dolly10

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Hi all,
I would like to ask everyone a question.
What type of lighting should i fix for my 9 yr old star tortoise ?
What should be its power in Watts etc
What must be the distance of the uv lamp from the tortoise ?
And how long should I keep the tort for basking under it? I understand she herself will go to her basking spot when she feels like but still how much time is recommended for beginning ? Since she'll be having an indoor uv light first time in 9 yrs. I don't want to over do or under do it.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks !
 

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