Plastron Questions

[herpgirl24]

Should a two month old's Plastron be smooth?

Tippy's plastron has dents in it and a squished appearence. I was wondering if it will smooth out? Is that normal or should it be smooth? I do have pics but forgot the camera at home.

 

[moswen]

mos doesn't have a smooth plastron, i believe it's part of his pyramiding carapace, where the scutes are joined together on his plastron he has huge thick lines, like you know what scar tissue looks like? but i can't imagine what you mean by a "squished" appearance.

fina has a pretty smooth plastron, but she has what i call an "ugly belly button," it looks like her shell has been gathered, like fabric, around her belly button. my spiders and even tula don't have perfectly smooth plastrons, both my spiders have very wrinkly plastrons.

yana's my only tortoise with a completely 100% smooth plastron.

my point: every tort is different, i don't think it hurts to have a less-than-smooth plastron.

 

[herpgirl24]

Here is a picture. Its not very good though. He is eating and moves around fine I was just curious.

 

[moswen]

oh wow! that looks really... not smooth...

can you get a better picture?

 

[herpgirl24]

Yea I will get better pics up tomorrow.

 

[Tom]

Some are pretty smooth and others are pretty lumpy. With sun, hydration and calcium it should smooth out as he grows.
I've gotten my best results by following this:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies

 

[herpgirl24]

Here are a few more pics. Tippy was not loving the upside down photo shoot

 

[Cfr200]

One of my two were like that, but after about 6 months she/he is nice and smooth. I would not worry about it if Tippy is eating and active. Tom knows what he is talking about keep Tippy hydrated and allow plenty of outside time in the sun and all should be fine.

 

[herpgirl24]

I soak him daily and mist the enclosure once a day. For now he has a 18" strip UVB light, will be upgrading to MVB bulbs for all my reptiles at tax time.

Thanks for the input everyone, I feel less concerned now!

 

[Tom]

Mandi, in your new pics I see something that might be of concern. It looks like his umbilical scar might be infected.

Try using tinypic.com to post your pics, so we can all see them a little better. Its really easy. You don't have to sign up or give them any personal info at all. Just upload any size photo and then copy/paste the IMG code into your forum post.

If he's got an infection going, it could be the cause of your unusual amount of lumpiness. Try putting some peroxide on that area and see if it foams up. It won't hurt anything to put some triple antibiotic on there either.

Now that I've seen your second set of pics, I think you might want to let a reptile vet check that out in person. I'm no medical expert and the photos are pretty small. Just being cautious.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I agree with Tom. Get some Betadine from the drug store and pour that on after the peroxide is done foaming. For a while I would act like it's infected and treat it every day, peroxide and antibiotic ointment. But do the Betadine once in the beginning.
It's not much to really worry about, but it is something that needs to be treated...

Use the link that Tom posted, as it looks like Tippy needs to be kept more humid...

 

[Yvonne G]

I've never seen a lumpy plastron like that, so I can't really tell you anything. When you press on the lumps are they hard? Here's a blow-up of your picture, but blowing it up made it blurry:

Tom is talking about the dark spot in the middle of the plastron. Does that spot smell? Is it soft?

When baby tortoises are inside the egg they are sort of folded in not quite half and they usually have a fold wrinkle on the plastron. But that goes away as the baby grows. How old is your baby? edit - oh, I see he's 2 months old. (slaps back of head) Pay attention, Yvonne!!

 

[Shelly]

She said in OP that it is 2 months.

 

[egyptiandan]

It looks like your Sulcata hatched with a rather large yolk sack (the lumpy plastron says this too) and instead of keeping it moist/soft the breeder let it dry out. What your seeing is what was left and has dried out. It's like a scab right now. Something like that can take up to 3 or 4 months to eventually fall off.
Unless it smells, it doesn't look infected to me. It can't hurt though to put some triple antibiotic ointment on it until it falls off.
With a hatchling like this you need to be very diligent and go what most people would consider overboard with the vitamins and calcium. I'd be soaking your hatchling in Vitasol for birds (you add this to the soaking water, just enough to make it light yellow) once a week.

Danny

 

[herpgirl24]

Here are the pics again using tiny pic.

Infected? Oh no, I hope not. There is no smell at all and no softness to the shell. I will use some peroxide on it and some antibacterial just to be safe.

The Vitasol is a great idea! Wish I read this earlier, I was at the Petstore!

I went and got a MVB today! So nice only needing the one bulb! Perfect 100 degree basking.

Thanks for the great advice everyone! I will keep you posted. Have a great Christmas!

 

[herpgirl24]

Quick update:

Been doing the peroxide and antibacterial once every few days. Today as I was cleaning all around the stub just peeled away! It was very gross, but the area looks loads better now!

I started putting vitamins in when I soak him, every other day and he has perked up alot!

I also bought a scale to keep track of his weight!

Thanks everyone so much for the advice! I am so happy I bought this litle guy on a whim, I would hate for hi to have gone home with someone else and not received the special attention