Abscess or some other infection?

[Kelli_12]

Hi. I came home from work today to see a lump on my tortoise's under jaw area. It's swollen, but squishy as though its more like extra skin than a lump because I can spread it out. Despite my prodding and poking he didn't really seem to mind. He ate and was still very active. He likes to climb his log then slide down a lot. Is it possible I'm overreacting and may have wounded himself sliding ?

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Didn't mean to attach three times
The white stuff is left over calcium that dried on his face. He's not patient at letting me wash it off

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it was an accident

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

Hmmm difficult to see, it could be an abscess.
I had one on my boxie ear. That we had to lance and drained.
See if it get bigger,also try to soak him. can u see some yellowish

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U might have to go to the vet

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[wellington]

Keep an eye on it. If it seems to hurt him, get bigger, or worse looking then I would take him to a vet. Wait and see what others that have dealt with things like this say. Yvonne hopefully will comment, if not send her a pm and include the link to this thread, she has dealt with this kind of stuff a lot.

 

[Kelli_12]

It has not formed any kind of head yet. I just hope my touching it hasn't made it worse!

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

Keep it clean and soak him more often,if its an abscess it could go away,if is in an early stage

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does it look like this?

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[mikeh]

That looks to be too low to be ear abscess. Hope someone can help you with diagnosis.

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[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

Lol..yes it was one,its already gone and healed up perfectly. I just up loaded the pictures so that he can see if it looks like that

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[Kelli_12]

That is what kinda confuses me because it is lower than the ear. It's more like the area that's similar to where our lymph nodes are. If that makes sense?

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At the moment it is not a defined bump but a swollen mass

 

[mikeh]

Re: RE: Abscess or some other infection?

Lol..yes it was one,its already gone and healed up perfectly. I just up loaded the pictures so that he can see if it looks like that

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I was responding to the OP

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[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

What if u put some.cream on? Or maybe in under jaw infection....

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Or maybe it is the lymph knotes

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Nodes

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How long is it been like that

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[mikeh]

I wouldn't do anything with it until I knew what it was. Is it on both sides?

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[Kelli_12]

It's on one side and it was visible today. It could have started over the weekend little by little without me noticing because I was out a lot for the long weekend.

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

I would just soak him more often , to keep it very clean and wait and see if it gets bigger or not

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[Kelli_12]

Thank you everyone! Ill update tomorrow!

 

[ascott]

Could be a salivary gland inflammation/injury. Could be a small piece of that wood slide, like a splinter, that has lodged in the soft part of the skin and is now inflamed/infected/fester....are you able to take a magnifying glass and get a good look at the center point of it?

If it is squishy (water bed wiggly, then likely not an abscess....

 

[Kelli_12]

This morning he appears to be the same. Although I notice he rubbed the spot a few times with his arms. Pain? Itchy? Guess ill see what happens when I come back from work.

 

[johnreuk]

I would strongly advise you take your tortoise to the vet to get this looked at... they would likely suggest testing eg a fine needle aspirate or biopsy of the area to investigate further, +/- imaging eg X-rays/ultrasound of the area.

Hope that helps

 

[Kelli_12]

Today I came home from work and his swelling has gone down, but I am looking into vets in my area

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

U know what I thought of is maybe something bit him. an insect maybe a spider or something like that

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[Kelli_12]

Well guys.. The past few days things have turned for the worse. He hasn't eaten in three days and all he does is burrow and sleep. The swelling has gone down to wear its a more defined blister bubble that he rubs on his arm. He will be seeing the vet tomorrow.