Help is this shellrot? My Redfoot losing plastron scutes

[SuzR]

I was giving my 3 yr old redfoot a bath and I noticed one of her plastron scutes had fallen off. I was kind of horrified by that but after a lot of research I started immediately treating her with Beta iodine and a topical skin cream. I also used Chlorhexidine diluted to clean the area scrubbing it with a toothbrush. It was looking better but today I noticed a larger scute is now coming off. I’m so upset I thought this was getting under control. I rubbed betaiodine on the underside so it is so sad to see a large scute coming off. I am having a hard time finding a vet, Berkeley cat and dog list their reptile vet so they can’t help. I might have found a place in Castro valley. Can anyone help me out? What am i doing wrong? She is very active and eating normally.

 

[wellington]

Stop using the Betadine. Put the tortoise on a towel, paper towel, or plain flooring with no substrate so it can be kept clean.
@Yvonne G @ZEROPILOT

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Are you using an "underneath" heater of any kind? Anything that could cause a thermal burn? A "hot rock" or a thermal mat?
Is the RF constantly in water?
This is not at all common. And it's not a fungal issue. At least not one I've ever seen. I've only seen this with burning. And in contaminated water as a bacterial infection.
Can he have been chewed on by rats? A dog? Or another tortoise?
This one is puzzling to me.
Stop the betadine and place him in a temporary enclosure on paper towels.
Tomorrow get us fresh photos of him dry

 

[SuzR]

Yes when it’s cold I’ve been heating a microwave pet warmer and wrapping it in a thick layer of fabric and putting in his Hyde. It’s summer so i haven’t heated it in a while but I did last night because it was cold

 

[turtlesteve]

Wow I agree this looks weird. More like a burn than an infection. The hindlimb on that side is affected too, it’s missing some scales.

 

[SuzR]

This is terrible! My poor girl! I cleaned her enclosure and sterilized everything

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Yes when it’s cold I’ve been heating a microwave pet warmer and wrapping it in a thick layer of fabric and putting in his Hyde. It’s summer so i haven’t heated it in a while but I did last night because it was cold

All heat needs to come from above.
At night and even during the daytime your best bet would be with a suspended CHE.
Or Ceramic heat emitter
I've been able to blow up the picture and it looks like an entire area has been chewed on or burned. Some of the plastron around the leg is missing.
There are no dogs nearby?

 

[SuzR]

And I have her in a dry enclosure, I took the water out because people said you have to dry out the bacteria. There was some dark gunk on the side of the remaining scute (next to the one missing) that I scrubbed with a toothbrush. I have given her baths 3 or more times a week since I got her for 30-45 minutes. But I am soaking her an hour twice a day now that she is in a dry enclosure (no water pool)

 

[turtlesteve]

Yes when it’s cold I’ve been heating a microwave pet warmer and wrapping it in a thick layer of fabric and putting in his Hyde. It’s summer so i haven’t heated it in a while but I did last night because it was cold

Is it possible she got the fabric off and came in contact with the hot warmer directly? Or maybe it got wet / peed on so the heat transmitted through more?

Tortoises are dumb when it comes to heat from underneath. They will not necessarily crawl off of a warm object even if it is burning them.

I do not think the missing bone was chewed I think it was burned off. There are no tooth marks anywhere.

 

[SuzR]

All heat needs to come from above.
At night and even during the daytime your best bet would be with a suspended CHE.
Or Ceramic heat emitter
I've been able to blow up the picture and it looks like an entire area has been chewed on. Some of the plastron around the leg is missing.
There are no dogs nearby?

No she is never around any animals she is indoors in an enclosure. I take her outside for walks but I’m always right there with her. It couldn’t be an animal. My home is very clean, no rats or mice or anything like that. She has a uvb bulb, and I had a ceramic bulb but I thought the pet warmer would be better because there’s no light in the Hyde.

 

[SuzR]

Is it possible she got the fabric off and came in contact with the hot warmer directly? Or maybe it got wet / peed on so the heat transmitted through more?

Tortoises are dumb when it comes to heat from underneath. They will not necessarily crawl off of a warm object even if it is burning them.

I do not think the missing bone was chewed I think it was burned off. There are no tooth marks anywhere.

Yes, it is possible she peed on the fabric, i would say likely.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Curious.
Humor me please. So I can put the chewed on by an animal theory to rest. Or confirm it.
Does the shell carapace. (Upper shell) have any scrapes or scratches of any kind?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

No she is never around any animals she is indoors in an enclosure. I take her outside for walks but I’m always right there with her. It couldn’t be an animal. My home is very clean, no rats or mice or anything like that. She has a uvb bulb, and I had a ceramic bulb but I thought the pet warmer would be better because there’s no light in the Hyde.

Whatever that pet warmer is, it's not suitable for tortoises.
Weather it did or didn't have anything to do with this issue

 

[SuzR]

Is it possible she got the fabric off and came in contact with the hot warmer directly? Or maybe it got wet / peed on so the heat transmitted through more?

Tortoises are dumb when it comes to heat from underneath. They will not necessarily crawl off of a warm object even if it is burning them.

I do not think the missing bone was chewed I think it was burned off. There are no tooth marks anywhere.

If that’s true then this must be what happened. So sad I thought I was making her more cozy. I can get rid of that right away. Will the scutes grow back? I have been applying a topical cream and i ordered some athletes cream someone on one of the blogs recommended.

 

[SuzR]

Curious.
Humor me please. So I can put the chewed on by an animal theory to rest. Or confirm it.
Does the shell carapace. (Upper shell) have any scrapes or scratches of any kind?

No the top she’ll seems fine.

 

[wellington]

I think she did indeed get burned. The red on her leg along with the scute missing and the one that's loose
Only way heat from underneath is safe is if there is also heat above and both on a thermostat.
Never heat something and wrap them up like you did.
Build a proper hide for night time with the proper heating or bring her in the house to a proper sized enclosure heated enclosure.

 

[SuzR]

This is super helpful, it never occurred to me it might be a burn

 

[SuzR]

This is super helpful, it never occurred to me it might be a burn

And I heated the pet pad last night then this morning the large scute was loose

 

[wellington]

If that’s true then this must be what happened. So sad I thought I was making her more cozy. I can get rid of that right away. Will the scutes grow back? I have been applying a topical cream and i ordered some athletes cream someone on one of the blogs recommended.

You do not need the athletes foot cream. That's for shell rot. This is not rot. This likely is from wrapping her with a heated element.

 

[SuzR]

I think she did indeed get burned. The red on her leg along with the scute missing and the one that's loose
Only way heat from underneath is safe is if there is also heat above and both on a thermostat.
Never heat something and wrap them up like you did.
Build a proper hide for night time with the proper heating or bring her in the house to a proper sized enclosure heated enclosure.

She is in the house all the time and she has a professional enclosure and a Hyde. I was just trying to make her cozy, I didn’t know they would not move away from heat or that they could get burned. It’s terrible. But I am glad I know what might be going on. I wouldn’t have kniwn