Help! Is this shell rot??

[VickiC]

This is my rescue tortoise Gamera. We finally got his enclosure, temp and humidity correct. I check his shell everyday when drying him off after soak. I never put him back in his enclosure wet. Yesterday noticed patches on him. Is this the beginning of shell rot? Should I use diluted betadine, altheles foot cream or something else? He is eating, pooping and wandering around fine. If shell rot should I separate him from the other 2? Worried tortoise mom 😪

 

[wellington]

It is a fungus. Use the athletes foot cream. Betadine should never be used more than once. It slows healing.
The top layer of substrate needs to be dry while the bottom layer is damp. The easiest way in my opinion, is to use coconut coir on the bottom packed down tight and orchid bark on top. Wet the coir by pouring warm water into the corners of the enclosure. This will dampen the bottom, leaving the top dry, unless you pour in too much water.

 

[VickiC]

It is a fungus. Use the athletes foot cream. Betadine should never be used more than once. It slows healing.
The top layer of substrate needs to be dry while the bottom layer is damp. The easiest way in my opinion, is to use coconut coir on the bottom packed down tight and orchid bark on top. Wet the coir by pouring warm water into the corners of the enclosure. This will dampen the bottom, leaving the top dry, unless you pour in too much water.

Thank you so much. We are using the coco coir and reptisoil. We keep the top layer dry and second layer damp but I just cleaned enclosure and "fluffed" the substrate which brought the damper stuff up. Gamera is my tunnel maker and loves to hide. I thought wrongly that fluffing the lower levels of substrate would make it better. So I should pack the second layer right?? Dang it... just showed up last night so athletes foot cream it will be. I appreciate your advice!

 

[wellington]

I would put a layer of orchid bark on top of what you are using. Not sure soil is the best to have on top. The bark would provide a more dumpy coverage on their shell/plastron, letting air in better than a soil would.
Not sure if that was explained good. Hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.
As for packing, yes, I would.

 

[VickiC]

Is orchid bark available at pet stores or should I amazon order? You are explaining perfectly. Not freaking out so much now and I appreciate your help

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Yes, usually it's ZooMed Reptibark, pretty expensive. But there are cheaper options at Chewy (search for the fir bark there).

And yes, stay calm. Redfoots often get plastron fungus and when timely spotted and treated it doesn't do much harm. Apply cream for a week, in a couple of days you can gently scrub fungus leftovers with a plastic card or wooden stick.

 

[VickiC]

Thank you!!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Is orchid bark available at pet stores or should I amazon order? You are explaining perfectly. Not freaking out so much now and I appreciate your help

Home Depot sells it. And it is not expensive

 

[ZEROPILOT]

How long have you had him?
It looks like several patches of very mild fungus. And to me, it looks like it's healing already.
Use Athletes foot cream only.
Betadine is not needed.
This is very easy to stop at that stage. And the scarring will be minimal

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Redfoot. Especially small ones. Will want to dig down a little to sleep.
Just provide dryer surfaces for the daytime so that his/her plastron has the chance to dry completely

 

[VickiC]

How long have you had him?
It looks like several patches of very mild fungus. And to me, it looks like it's healing already.
Use Athletes foot cream only.
Betadine is not needed.
This is very easy to stop at that stage. And the scarring will be minimal

I have had him about 3 months or so. I started athletes foot cream yesterday and will continue until it is gone. I check his shell everyday and didn't see it until 2 days ago so I think it is new but maybe I didn't know what I was looking at. Still learning about how to give the best care.

 

[VickiC]

Redfoot. Especially small ones. Will want to dig down a little to sleep.
Just provide dryer surfaces for the daytime so that his/her plastron has the chance to dry completely

He loves to bury himself ( or she)....to early to tell

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I have had him about 3 months or so. I started athletes foot cream yesterday and will continue until it is gone. I check his shell everyday and didn't see it until 2 days ago so I think it is new but maybe I didn't know what I was looking at. Still learning about how to give the best care.

The areas will look exactly the same even after the fungus is dead. The cream will kill everything within 10 days. Probably less.
You'll see it for months. But as long as none of it is soft. It's healing

 

[VickiC]

Thankfully not soft