Is my tortoise ok

charl19

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Why is there dark places on my tortoise leg/feet? Is it doing ok? I have it in an enclosed chamber humidity at 86%, basking temp at 101 degrees, cool side is at 82-84 degrees, t5 uv light on 12 hour timer. I soak it for 20 min day in 88-92 degree water, and I have night time heat set at 80 degrees. Thanks

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ZEROPILOT

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It looks like burns to the feet.
But I can't see detail on my tiny phone.
Do you have a underneath heating mat?
Can you get us some photos of your enclosure,lights, etc.
I'm just guessing right now. So don't panick about the "burns".
 

charl19

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No I don’t have an underneath heating pad. The black started out small part but keeps getting bigger
 

TortillaTheTortioise

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Does the substrate get hot in the enclosure? Or is there maybe a rock under a light that is getting hot to touch?
 

charl19

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Does the substrate get hot in the enclosure? Or is there maybe a rock under a light that is getting hot to touch?

I used a temp gun and substrate is in the 80s. I have a ceramic tile under basking light it temps at 101 doesn’t feel to hot to the touch
 

Yvonne G

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It's probably just dirt/stain from the substrate. The poop that you don't see and don't pick up gets smooshed around in the substrate and eventually gets the tortoise's feet and shell pretty dirty.
 

charl19

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I hope it’s just stain. I keep the enclosure picked up from poop everyday and soak the tortoise once a day. It just seems like it’s getting worse and it’s appetite doesn’t seem that great. I have another sulcata that’s a little older with an enclosure built same as I have this one in and it don’t have problem with feet/leg it looks normal and it has a good appetite.
 

Farcryjj

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I think it's just stain from the coconut coil. I put a light color marble tile on top of the coconut coil as a serving plate to my Clyde, and the bottom side of the plate turned dark brown overtime and it's impossible to wash off.
 

TammyJ

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I'd really like to see this get solved. I thought that if it was stains or burns, the plastron would be darkened too?
 

charl19

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I think that it is sick but I don’t know how to treat it. What worries me that the area has spread and don’t have very good appetite. I do pickup a little poop every now and then so tells me has to be eating a little. I have touched the darken area on its legs and some scales have came off I didn’t pick at it I just barley touched it and they fell off. I hope that it’s not slowly dying and I’m not doing something wrong.
 

TammyJ

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I wonder if it is a fungus?
Do you have a good reptile vet in your area? anywhere fairly close? It may be well worth a trip if so.
 

Tom

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I think that it is sick but I don’t know how to treat it. What worries me that the area has spread and don’t have very good appetite. I do pickup a little poop every now and then so tells me has to be eating a little. I have touched the darken area on its legs and some scales have came off I didn’t pick at it I just barley touched it and they fell off. I hope that it’s not slowly dying and I’m not doing something wrong.
The color is just staining. The scales falling off is an indicator that something is terribly wrong. How wet is the substrate? It should be lightly damp, but not wet. Orchid bark is a much better substrate. It can be damp below, but dry on top.

Where did you get the tortoise?
 

TechnoCheese

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Has this tortoise been to a vet before this issue, and if so, were any injections given to this tortoise? Vitamin injections can sometimes cause the skin on a tortoise to quite literally slough off, but I am not sure that it would cause something like this on multiple legs.
 

TammyJ

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Could it be a flesh-eating bacteria? Sure hope not but it needs to be diagnosed and treated for sure.
 

Tanyabobanya

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How is your tortoise doing? A similar thing happened to my baby desert tortoise except worse because the front claws, scales literally came off. The vet was perplexed and summed it up to a predator after doing lab tests that showed no infection. I was keeping her inside at night and outside day when warm but covered enclosure and keep a close eye so I’m not sure that’s what happened. After anti biotics and keeping her inside in a tank and dry paper towels, soaking etc she’s doing better but her poor front paws and part of back wont fully recover to how they were. She seems unfazed and active thru the whole ordeal, except when I had to give her the shot which was terrifying for me. She was born with one back leg bent but over time and exercise it straitened out-we call her Leggy and she’s living up to the name. But that does look like staining to me and could be simply that. I’d love to know what actually was the cause of this.
 

Blackdog1714

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It was asked, but what is your setup-lights, eclosure, substrate. Photos would help
 

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