Kingsley7

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Hi Everyone, I have been dealing with quite an anomaly for the past few months with my 7 month old HET for ivory sulcata. I purchased him from Randy at tort Stork in December and noticed in late January a slight bump under his right eye on his cheek. We concluded it was probably an irritation or pimple at first, until it got bigger a few months later. Just today I took a picture and compared it to the first picture I took when I got him and was shocked at the difference, his entire facial structure has seemed to change, and the lump on his eye has gotten bigger. I am planning on bringing him to a vet to get whatever this is checked out but until then I will upload pictures of when I first got him, to a month or so ago, to now; and hopefully someone out their can lend a piece of advice for my little guy. Side note: Randy has been great with helping me out and lifting some worries, as well as offering suggestions and words of advice throughout this issue. He also helped conclude that my husbandry and set up was on point in order to promote the healthiest possible tort and that this issue is most likely naturally occurring, it is still an anomaly nonetheless. Thanks to anyone who can offer a reply!
IMG_1404.PNG IMG_1403.PNG IMG_1401.jpg
 

Reptilony

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yes, he was about 3 months old in the first picture, 5 and a half to 6 months old in the second, and 7 months in the last picture.

Ok because he look like he has grown very little, almost not...Do you know his before and after weight?
 

EllieMay

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Ok because he look like he has grown very little, almost not...Do you know his before and after weight?

I agree.. the size alone would really concern me.. I can’t even see the first two pictures to see the difference on his little face..
 

Reptilony

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I agree.. the size alone would really concern me.. I can’t even see the first two pictures to see the difference on his little face..

Yes...Wathever he gas caused him not to grow normally...I’ve seen this many times before, I think it’s usually an infection and so the solution might be antibiotics, hopefully a more experienced member on this topic joins soon. If I remember correctly a member had this happen to his sulcata and this person ended succesfully treating the problem with medication.
 

Kingsley7

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Yes...Wathever he gas caused him not to grow normally...I’ve seen this many times before, I think it’s usually an infection and so the solution might be antibiotics, hopefully a more experienced member on this topic joins soon. If I remember correctly a member had this happen to his sulcata and this person ended succesfully treating the problem with medication.

Ah man okay, that sucks to hear, hopefully we can get to the bottom of it soon and smooth things out for my little guy. How big should a 7 month old sulcata be?
 

Reptilony

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Ah man okay, that sucks to hear, hopefully we can get to the bottom of it soon and smooth things out for my little guy. How big should a 7 month old sulcata be?

Mine is the smallest not sick sulcata I have seen and at 7months she was 116g but then at 8 months she was 143, at 11 months she was 225g. Yes getting a food scale is a good idea because yours look like mine the first time I put her on a scale so at 4 months old at 43g. I don’t usually recommend this but if no experienced member on this topic joins soon I would take to a vet this guy really needs help.
 

Kingsley7

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Mine is the smallest not sick sulcata I have seen and at 7months she was 116g but then at 8 months she was 143, at 11 months she was 225g. Yes getting a food scale is a good idea because yours look like mine the first time I put her on a scale so at 4 months old at 43g. I don’t usually recommend this but if no experienced member on this topic joins soon I would take to a vet this guy really needs help.

I’m planning a vet visit this weekend. Thank you for the replies it’s much appreciated.
 

Kingsley7

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I also wanted to add that he is very active, alert, and aware of his surroundings, he’s never acted sick and he eats like a machine as soon as there is food on his plate.... acts like a normal baby tort, which makes the issue even more confusing to me.
 

Kingsley7

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I've been doing a lot of reading around and is it possible that his growth rate isn't something to be concerned over? Despite what everyones saying, I read that every tortoise grows at different rates and at different times, is it possible that he just hasn't hit a major phase of growth yet or is a "late bloomer"? Because, as I noted above, he doesn't have ANY symptoms of a sick tort besides the bump on his right cheek, he's still eating, sleeping, burrowing, investigating, and is always alert and aware.
 

Reptilony

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I've been doing a lot of reading around and is it possible that his growth rate isn't something to be concerned over? Despite what everyones saying, I read that every tortoise grows at different rates and at different times, is it possible that he just hasn't hit a major phase of growth yet or is a "late bloomer"? Because, as I noted above, he doesn't have ANY symptoms of a sick tort besides the bump on his right cheek, he's still eating, sleeping, burrowing, investigating, and is always alert and aware.

He look like he does not have new growth line on shell and he looks identicall to the first pic. Usually that doesn’t lie, unless the last picture is not up to date I would say your sulcata has a problem. A 7 months sulcata doesn’t look like it just hatched unless something is wrong.
 

Reptilony

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This is what my sully (who is the smallest not sick sulcata I have ever seen) looks like at 6 months old.IMG_1396.jpg You can see the growth lines getting wider has she grows.
 

Kingsley7

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This is what my sully (who is the smallest not sick sulcata I have ever seen) looks like at 6 months old.View attachment 268821 You can see the growth lines getting wider has she grows.

He definitely looks bigger than mine, this is the most recent top-view picture I took of mine. I took it on March Third, so at that point he was around 6 months old.57332255633__054C2D39-98A1-43BA-9211-469F6F1C4D22.jpg
 

Reptilony

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When you weigh him it will give a better idea but id’say he’s about ~50g.
 

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