Is this an abscess problem?

[mastershake]

also so sorry for the late reply i had surgery again this week and have not been on much at all since Friday. ill continue to try to check to see if there are updates

 

[KarenSoCal]

also so sorry for the late reply i had surgery again this week and have not been on much at all since Friday. ill continue to try to check to see if there are updates

Thanks for responding, and for your help.

 

[Min Kim]

I don't know what to suggest to help him in either case, austwickia or abscess. There are 2 ways to find out what it is. 1)have a vet remove a bump and send it to a lab. Tell the vet we suspect 'Austwickia Chelonae'. 2)wait to see if the antibiotic helps, and if he improves or gets worse.

Please tell your friend about handwashing etc to prevent spread of this to other reptiles. It is very easy to contaminate utensils and surfaces.

And please read the thread I linked in post # 14.

Thank you so much! I will deliver this advice to my buddy.

And keep reading the thread you mentioned.

 

[Min Kim]

this does look like a case i saw of austwickia. it may not be but i have seen something very similar and on an albino. the vet can def scrape and check the spot to see if its an abscess or they can send out a sample but the spot has to be fully removed and in the spot on the jaw that would be much harder to do. now one thing that leads me to believe this may be austwickia is the way they skin on this one looks. this looks suspiciously the same as on many who have had the bacteria for a while and as time goes on the skin gets all dry and looks a lot like this one.

Many thanks for your reply and paying attention to this matter.

Now I am reading all related threads, especially the report you posted in March.

"in testing there is NO one antibiotic that was able to fully treat this. im told it could take a combo of 3-4 and even then its only a chance and prob will not fully "cure" this. sometimes in treatment it gets better symptom wise but will recur in weeks or months. none of the treated animals are alive still and the longest one we had alive before it came back and got a lot worse again was around 12-13 months."

According to this thread, it sounds like there are NO perfect cure and treatment for this case.. If my understanding is correct.

But.. I believe every cloud has a silver lining... just want to ask, is there anything we can do for the baby sulcata?

such as recommendable diet, temperature and humidity and any precautions for the better care...

I am so sorry if making you spend more time while you are being busy. ;(

 

[ZenHerper]

This is the optimized care sheet for African species:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Do keep us posted!

 

[KarenSoCal]

It's very important that the conditions this baby lives in are as close to perfect as possible. Follow that care sheet to the letter.

And don't forget that we could be wrong. I don't know what else could be the problem, but if it isn't austwickia, then he has a great chance for survival. Don't give up on him.

 

[Min Kim]

This is the optimized care sheet for African species:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Do keep us posted!

It's very important that the conditions this baby lives in are as close to perfect as possible. Follow that care sheet to the letter.

And don't forget that we could be wrong. I don't know what else could be the problem, but if it isn't austwickia, then he has a great chance for survival. Don't give up on him.

Thank you both for responding!

We keep watching and taking care of the tort closely based on diagnosis of the vet. Will do everything we can help for our lovely baby.

The tort is now eating Repcal and pooping on a regular basis. We are relieved a little bit.

 

[KarenSoCal]

That's great news! I keep hoping that we are wrong and this baby will continue to grow and thrive!

Please keep us updated as time goes by.

What is the baby's name?

 

[Min Kim]

That's great news! I keep hoping that we are wrong and this baby will continue to grow and thrive!

Please keep us updated as time goes by.

What is the baby's name?

Thanks, Karen! I really appreciate you and the others here.
Your kindness is so heartwarming!

The baby's name is 'Gold' as it looks like the precious gem.

We will bring Gold to the vet later again. Really hope that antibiotics work well by then.

 

[mastershake]

i hope its not austwickia. if it is sadly no there really is nothing that can be done. it takes multiple injectable anti biotics to even try to treat it with a very very low success rate if any at all. keep me posted on their progress and we can def monitor it as you go. the only true method though to diagnose it properly is a biopsy that goes all the way through the skin layers. and even that may not be accurate as it can be in the organs internally. keep me updated with pics and i will be happy to give you my best idea but again i can not be 100% without biopsy.

follow the guide here for the best care. if you follow it and they do not have the bacteria you will have success. this is the best care guide i know of here on the forum. you are always welcome to send me messages if you have specific questions also.

 

[Min Kim]

i hope its not austwickia. if it is sadly no there really is nothing that can be done. it takes multiple injectable anti biotics to even try to treat it with a very very low success rate if any at all. keep me posted on their progress and we can def monitor it as you go. the only true method though to diagnose it properly is a biopsy that goes all the way through the skin layers. and even that may not be accurate as it can be in the organs internally. keep me updated with pics and i will be happy to give you my best idea but again i can not be 100% without biopsy.

follow the guide here for the best care. if you follow it and they do not have the bacteria you will have success. this is the best care guide i know of here on the forum. you are always welcome to send me messages if you have specific questions also.

Thanks you so much for supporting us. We will follow your advice, definitely!

And we will try to post our tort's status and pictures here regularly. We truly hope our case can be helpful somehow for other sick torts - having similar symptoms and suffering from the same illness.

Wish you all a good day.

 

[Min Kim]

i hope its not austwickia. if it is sadly no there really is nothing that can be done. it takes multiple injectable anti biotics to even try to treat it with a very very low success rate if any at all. keep me posted on their progress and we can def monitor it as you go. the only true method though to diagnose it properly is a biopsy that goes all the way through the skin layers. and even that may not be accurate as it can be in the organs internally. keep me updated with pics and i will be happy to give you my best idea but again i can not be 100% without biopsy.

follow the guide here for the best care. if you follow it and they do not have the bacteria you will have success. this is the best care guide i know of here on the forum. you are always welcome to send me messages if you have specific questions also.

Ah, sorry! I forgot to ask you one more question.

Is it okay for us to give our tort Baytril and Doxycycline (powder) as the attached images? If this is such a bad idea, we will not consider buying both!

 

[mastershake]

baytril should be injected or compounded down properly i do not advise using the raw powder like that without being very precisely weighed out. also baytril will cause necrosis at the injection site so it should be diluted 1:1 with sterile water or saline to prevent that from happening if it is injected. doxy also needs to properly be compounded down to be administered orally or needs to be injectable already to be injected. you can not just make a guess with reptiles they need to have proper doseage. if it is austwickia neither of these will be very effective or effective at all. if you do not know how to properly compound these meds for proper dosage and know the proper dose / strength per gram i do not advise against using them in your own as it stands those pills if crushed are WAY to strong for a small baby or even some older torts (depending on weight). from my exp doxy is not the most effective for skin issues anyway. baytril is better but as i said if this is austwickia it has had little to no effect