Terrible Shell Rot in Aldabra

ZEROPILOT

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Unfortunately the athletes foot ointment that greg @ALDABRAMAN recommended (in his prior post) cost almost $5 here. I hope the coconut oil works so I don’t have to spend a fortune on a dozen tubes of this ointment for an aldabra this size.. thanks @ZEROPILOT
Where are you located?
Is there a "DOLLAR STORE" around?
That's where I get mine.
Even that might not be very economical with a tortoise of that size.
(I hadn't given the square footage too much thought:))
 
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Unfortunately the athletes foot ointment that greg @ALDABRAMAN recommended (in his prior post) cost almost $5 here. I hope the coconut oil works so I don’t have to spend a fortune on a dozen tubes of this ointment for an aldabra this size.. thanks @ZEROPILOT

A big Tortoise needs big spending when something is wrong. Maybe something to consider, if you are allready worried about the foot cream. Maybe if you get the Tortoise there will be something else wrong you don't know yet. Not to be rude or anything, just my thoughts...
I do think it would be awsome to rescue an Aldabra though!! If I had the space for an Aldabra I would get one in a heartbeat. But I live in a small, crowded country. So I keep small Tortoises. Lol
Good luck!!
 

ALDABRAMAN

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@ALDABRAMAN @Olddog
If left untreated, will it damage the shell?

~ Yes, if treated it should be fine.

~ Here is a female we purchased and had shell rot, unsure if it was from fungal or bacterial, however after treated it is now healed and is very healthy. Pic #1 was when we initially purchased her. Pic #2 is after the first treatment and Pic #3 was about a year after the second treatment. These pictures are many years old and she is totally healed and looks fantastic today.

~ I will look for a current picture and post one, the shell looks fantastic now.

~ Having a medical professional in the family has benefits, however much of our treatments have vet support behind it.

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Taco*mom

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These are the two products beng compared in the current backyard trial. The coconut oil was purchased from Amazon and the Petroleum jelly from Walmart ($1.97).
We know there is a higher inidence of Candida vaginial infections in women who use petroleum jelly as a lubricant as compared to those who use other products. We know cold pressed coconut oil is superior to mineral oil as far as antifungal properties with various dermatitis. That said, this is not Candida and the superior antifungal properties of coconut oil may be overshadowed by the binding and lasting effects of the petroleum jelly.

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Would anticipate a treatment interval of about every two weeks (or longer if using petroleum jelly). I appliy with a three inch paint brush and try to apply an initial thin coating to a dry clean shell. If weather is hot, would likely use the petroleum jelly but likely either will likely work. I do not know which will do better in wet season. A jar of petroleum jelly will treat several tortoises. Do NOT try to liquify petroleum jelly in the microwave. It will brush out just fine out of the jar.

Any number of antifungal agents could be used but the vapor barrier is likely all that is required for this fungus.

Do not mean to hijack your thread.

Not hijacked at all. Love what you shared with us here. Learning new things everyday.. thanks!
 

Taco*mom

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Where are you located?
Is there a "DOLLAR STORE" around?
That's where I get mine.
Even that might not be very economical with a tortoise of that size.
(I hadn't given the square footage too much thought:))


I live in Indonesia. I find it weird that Lamisil that Greg recommended costs so much here. Well, not the same brand actually, but the ingredients is the same. Medicines are a lot cheaper here. But dunno why that antifungal cream is so expensive..
 

Taco*mom

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~ Yes, if treated it should be fine.

~ Here is a female we purchased and had shell rot, unsure if it was from fungal or bacterial, however after treated it is now healed and is very healthy. Pic #1 was when we initially purchased her. Pic #2 is after the first treatment and Pic #3 was about a year after the second treatment. These pictures are many years old and she is totally healed and looks fantastic today.

~ I will look for a current picture and post one, the shell looks fantastic now.

~ Having a medical professional in the family has benefits, however much of our treatments have vet support behind it.

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Wonderful Greg!
Did you use the Lamisil ointment on this female? Last picture have shown so much improvement. Probably now people can’t tell that she had had that rot before.

Off the topic, does anyone have issues using this forum? I was in the middle of replying people in this thread when suddenly I couldn’t post my reply (kept saying that my ip address has been banned). I thought @Yvonne has fixed it before, because I was able to sign in using my phone again. But it banned me again. And when I tried again just now, I was able to sign in. Very weird..
 

Taco*mom

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ALDABRAMAN

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Did you use the Lamisil ointment on this female?

~ no, we did not use the ointment on this female, we simply cleaned her with a solution of vinegar and water. Most of the white came off, the the rest went away after a few weeks in full sun exposure. A vet should be consulted before using the vinegar and water solution. The vinegar can be damaging if it is not diluted properly, applied and rinsed properly.
 

StephandTay

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~ This was a female that we purchased and had a superficial white fungus all over her shell. After one good cleaning and treatment she never had any further issues.

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These guys are beautiful!!! Do you have to live some where warm and humid like FL to have them flourish and be healthy? I could never have one right this moment but would love one when time is right? Do you have to be careful about them burrowing or they are not ones that burrow?! I know I can look all that up but figured I would just ask. They are super awesome!
 

wellington

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These guys are beautiful!!! Do you have to live some where warm and humid like FL to have them flourish and be healthy? I could never have one right this moment but would love one when time is right? Do you have to be careful about them burrowing or they are not ones that burrow?! I know I can look all that up but figured I would just ask. They are super awesome!
Quick answers with a good amount of property and money to build a big insulated and heated winter enclosure you can have them anywhere. They don't burrow.
 

ALDABRAMAN

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I never would've thought the sunshine could help so much. Can't argue with those results. ;)

~ I think it was a combination, a good cleaning (basically killed the topical fungus) and the sun just burned it off. These two efforts and daily showers resolved it very good. I will add that the location she came from had other tortoises with the same issues. The habitat was very shaded, we thought this contributed to the overgrowth of the fungus.

~ This was her the day after a good cleaning, you can clearly see the residual white superficial fungus all over her shell. The sun does powerful things, natural sunshine is vital.

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