Help! My russian tortoise has something black in the corner of his mouth

[zeusandruth]

My two year old russian tortoise has something black in the corner of his mouth. I've tried to soak it off with water. It sort of looks like dried poop and the corner of his mouth looks a little swollen. I'm sorry I really don't know how to describe it (I don't speak English as my native language). Any advice will be appreciated!

Pictures:

http://m.imgur.com/xKb8vQY
http://m.imgur.com/B1Zsm5j
http://m.imgur.com/O094o6C

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

During the soak, have you tried using a q-tip to rub it off?
It doesnt look like something stuck to his face though. Im not sure what it is either.
Lets wait for someone else to come along & give their thoughts

 

[zeusandruth]

During the soak, have you tried using a q-tip to rub it off?
It doesnt look like something stuck to his face though. Im not sure what it is either.
Lets wait for someone else to come along & give their thoughts

Thank you very much for responding! And yes, I have tried that. Nothing comes off. He doesn't resist when I touch the dark part.

 

[Pearly]

Your English seems great to me. I can't really see very well in the pictures you have attached. I do see that left cheek looks little puffy and I also see a black dot there but when I enlarge the image it becomes too blurry to distinguish anything. Can you get her under a very good light and take a very good look at it? Try to watch her eat when she opens her mouth to see if anything is stuck un there (something sharp maybe like piece of substrate with jagged edges) the swelling is what has me concerned. Or... Could you take few more pictures with high resolution camera or use good close-up lens? My vet opens my baby torts' mouths to look inside. He gently held the head with two fingers so they wouldn't pull inside, and, somehow with the other hand quickly opened the jaw. They don't like it, but maybe you could try that to see what's inside. Or if there's some injury, or abscess.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi

 

[Yvonne G]

The corners of the mouth are a usual spot for an injury. Tortoises climb the walls then accidentally slip down. If he had his mouth open at the time, he might not have been able to close it in time, and the quick slip might have forced the mouth open too wide, causing a cut or small injury. You're picture doesn't show the area very well, but I'm guessing what you're seeing is a scab. For a couple weeks, cut his food up into tiny pieces so he doesn't have to open his mouth real wide to eat. Hopefully it will heal in a couple weeks. You can help it heal by putting Neosporin on it.

 

[zeusandruth]

I took more pictures:

http://imgur.com/yfK5PYl
http://imgur.com/UzykiK8

 

[zeusandruth]

Your English seems great to me. I can't really see very well in the pictures you have attached. I do see that left cheek looks little puffy and I also see a black dot there but when I enlarge the image it becomes too blurry to distinguish anything. Can you get her under a very good light and take a very good look at it? Try to watch her eat when she opens her mouth to see if anything is stuck un there (something sharp maybe like piece of substrate with jagged edges) the swelling is what has me concerned. Or... Could you take few more pictures with high resolution camera or use good close-up lens? My vet opens my baby torts' mouths to look inside. He gently held the head with two fingers so they wouldn't pull inside, and, somehow with the other hand quickly opened the jaw. They don't like it, but maybe you could try that to see what's inside. Or if there's some injury, or abscess.

He opened his mouth when I gave him food and I could see that the dark spot reached the corner of his mouth. He won't open his mouth as wide as he usually would. (Thank you for your kind and helpful response, I took some more pictures and posted them in this thread. I hope they're more clear)

 

[zeusandruth]

The corners of the mouth are a usual spot for an injury. Tortoises climb the walls then accidentally slip down. If he had he mouth open at the time, he might not have been able to close it in time, and the quick slip might have forced the mouth open too wide, causing a cut or small injury. You're picture doesn't show the area very well, but I'm guessing what you're seeing is a scab. For a couple weeks, cut his food up into tiny pieces so he doesn't have to open his mouth real wide to eat. Hopefully it will heal in a couple weeks. You can help it heal by putting Neosporin on it.

He does climb a lot so that's probably the case. Thank you very much for your reply!

 

[zeusandruth]

Hi
View attachment 179668

Thank you!

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[zeusandruth]

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you!

 

[Gillian M]

Thank you!

What a cute tort you have.

 

[zeusandruth]

What a cute tort you have.

Yours is very adorable too (the one on your profile picture, I assume). What species is he/she?

 

[Yvonne G]

Yup, looks like a scab. Neosporin will keep it soft so it doesn't keep cracking open.

 

[Gillian M]

Yours is very adorable too (the one on your profile picture, I assume). What species is he/she?

Oh thank you so much! Mine is a naughty Greek tort. He really is naughty but still I LOVE him.

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with Yvonne to keep Neosporin on it until healed and to cut his food up into tiny pieces. Hope his mouth heals quickly.

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome, the second pics were much better . I think its a scab also , go with the Neosporin as Yvonne G. has advised !

 

[BrianWI]

He'll be fine in no time. I personally like make sure my temps are up to snuff for a sick or injured tort, I keep them on the high side at those times.