I keep my young Redfoots on sphagnum moss. I keep it prety moist too. Not sure if this is what early shell rot looks like. I thought I'd ask just to be sure. she's been this way more or less since I got her.
Is this Shell Rot?
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Maggie Cummings
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No, that's under her plastron. Is it soft? Lightly push on it and see if it gives? I'd be taking her to the vet as I think that is kidney trouble. She shouldn't have anything like that under her plastron. Please forgive me for saying this, but it does not look good for her. Get her some liquid Calcionate and give it to her about 3 times a day. The powdered stuff will not help her much at this stage. She seriously needs to go to the Vet on Monday...tell them it's urgent...
I just touched it and its not really that soft. The really dark part is not soft, the light brown part is softer. I'm not sure what I should be looking for here. Here plastron is soft in the middle, but it still feels elastic. Im not sure if its to soft or not.....
How do you give them the Calcionate syrup, do you just add it to the food?
Both my redfoots spend most of their time in their humid hide about 20 hours a day it seems. I keep them in a 20 gallon tank, on a base layer of coco husk and pottinmix and a top layer of sphagnum moss. I use a 75 watt bulb for heat, and there is a water dish. Is this normal baby redfoot behavior.
I just noticed atticus has a simmilar mark on his plastron too
I dont remember it being there before.
How do you give them the Calcionate syrup, do you just add it to the food?
Both my redfoots spend most of their time in their humid hide about 20 hours a day it seems. I keep them in a 20 gallon tank, on a base layer of coco husk and pottinmix and a top layer of sphagnum moss. I use a 75 watt bulb for heat, and there is a water dish. Is this normal baby redfoot behavior.
I just noticed atticus has a simmilar mark on his plastron too
I dont remember it being there before.
shell rot usually looks like pock marks, or sometimes like swiss cheese on the shell, this is something I don't recognize I would go with maggie's advice and see a vet ASAP.
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I am not an expert but that looks like what my little guy had. He was that way when I received him. At first I wasn't concerned because I was such a noob. I had even asked the vet about it when we went for our initial visit to determine health. The vet even told me it was dried evidence of where the egg sack had been. It started like a white flaky mark in middle of plastron. When it started spreading, I freaked. I started to suspect shell rot. I treated it with the instructions found on this site and on turtletary.com. It started to get better after the 1st treatment. That proved to me it was fungal. Try it, but still go to the vet if there is any doubt. It is hard to diagnose from pictures.
Whoa! Hold on there a second...are you talking about the dark areas on the plastron along the midline? If so THAT IS NORMAL PIGMENT! That little guy has what seems to me to be a perfectly normal plastron with the usual variable dark pigment under the scutes. It is not shell rot of any kind.
Frankly, I don't see anything in that photo to suggest any problem. In addition, a red foot tortoise that small is going to have a somewhat soft and pliable plastron.
Frankly, I don't see anything in that photo to suggest any problem. In addition, a red foot tortoise that small is going to have a somewhat soft and pliable plastron.
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Maggie Cummings
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I'd listen to cdmay, I know it is not shell rot, but it does look like it's under the plastron and if that was a DT it would be serious. So cdmay is saying it's normal, so there ya go...
Posted by dmmj - Today 12:13
AM shell rot usually looks like pock marks, or sometimes like swiss cheese on the shell, this is something I don't recognize I would go with maggie's advice and see a vet ASAP.
There is no pock marks or cheezy material on her shell. The plastron feels smooth all around but the black area and the "discolored white" area are my concern.
Posted by cdmay - Today 10:13 AM
Whoa! Hold on there a second...are you talking about the dark areas on the plastron along the midline? If so THAT IS NORMAL PIGMENT! That little guy has what seems to me to be a perfectly normal plastron with the usual variable dark pigment under the scutes. It is not shell rot of any kind.
Frankly, I don't see anything in that photo to suggest any problem. In addition, a red foot tortoise that small is going to have a somewhat soft and pliable plastron.
Oh Good, I was starting to get more concerned about the situation. I was really concerned because they spend so much time in their HHBox. And with all this talk of Sphagnum promoting acidic conditions I began wondering. Their behevior is normal of young RFs as I understand. And they seem to be eating and growing. Their plastrons feel soft but im such a tort amature I dont even know what NORMAL is.
What is DT?
AM shell rot usually looks like pock marks, or sometimes like swiss cheese on the shell, this is something I don't recognize I would go with maggie's advice and see a vet ASAP.
There is no pock marks or cheezy material on her shell. The plastron feels smooth all around but the black area and the "discolored white" area are my concern.
Posted by cdmay - Today 10:13 AM
Whoa! Hold on there a second...are you talking about the dark areas on the plastron along the midline? If so THAT IS NORMAL PIGMENT! That little guy has what seems to me to be a perfectly normal plastron with the usual variable dark pigment under the scutes. It is not shell rot of any kind.
Frankly, I don't see anything in that photo to suggest any problem. In addition, a red foot tortoise that small is going to have a somewhat soft and pliable plastron.
Oh Good, I was starting to get more concerned about the situation. I was really concerned because they spend so much time in their HHBox. And with all this talk of Sphagnum promoting acidic conditions I began wondering. Their behevior is normal of young RFs as I understand. And they seem to be eating and growing. Their plastrons feel soft but im such a tort amature I dont even know what NORMAL is.
What is DT?
young tortoises shells are supposed to be soft, they are born that way, you have to worry when they are hard and then start to go soft, otherwise it is normal for them to be soft (Pliable) for months if not years depending on their diet.
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