Scute flaking

[lbailey4487]

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! I was getting my Russian tort, Ziggy, ready for his soak and noticed one of his back scutes seems to be coming off? Is this normal or an injury? I’m not sure how he would have injured it. The only thing different is that he has been digging under a log in his habitat. He otherwise seems ok—eating fine, weight is ok, pooping and peeing. Is there anything I should do for it? With the edge slightly elevated, I’m afraid he’s going to get it caught on something. He is soaked for 20-30 minutes almost every day. I will also attach a couple pictures of the rest of him to see if he overall looks ok!

 

[zovick]

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! I was getting my Russian tort, Ziggy, ready for his soak and noticed one of his back scutes seems to be coming off? Is this normal or an injury? I’m not sure how he would have injured it. The only thing different is that he has been digging under a log in his habitat. He otherwise seems ok—eating fine, weight is ok, pooping and peeing. Is there anything I should do for it? With the edge slightly elevated, I’m afraid he’s going to get it caught on something. He is soaked for 20-30 minutes almost every day. I will also attach a couple pictures of the rest of him to see if he overall looks ok!

The scute lifting up is not normal. I attribute it to a bacterial or fungal irritation of the seam between the scutes which has begun to undermine the scute. You could try cleaning out the debris under the edge with an instrument such as dental scaler or even a small screwdriver, then applying an antibiotic ointment to that seam area. You could alternate the applications with Neosporin (for bacteria) one day and and athlete's foot cream such as Lotrimin (for fungus) the next day. You would most likely need to treat the area for at least 10 days. The scute may still come off, but this should help keep the spot from spreading to other scutes.

As for your other question, the beak and front nails are a tad long. It looks as though you could safely take about 1/8" off the front nails and almost the same off the beak. Can't see the back feet quite well enough to make a definitive comment on those nails. From what I can see, I would take some off of those nails as well, maybe 1/16 to 1/8 inch.

 

[biochemnerd808]

Handsome little tortoise you have there!
Is the injury on the marginal scute? It does look like it is lifting and might come off - that is not normal, as Zovick says. It could be that it was an old injury that got dirt and/or bacteria or fungi caught under it, and that exacerbated whatever was going on.
I would wash it out with water and a toothbrush and then swab it with diluted iodine tincture (should look like weak tea). 2% or 4% chlorhexidine would work too. This is just to disinfect it. You can actually mix a small dab of antibiotic ointment with a small dab of clotrimazole (foot fungus cream) and apply both together. I'd do that 2x per day for 10-14 days.

It should heal on its own in time, though the scute may come off (but don't pick it). As long as it doesn't get reddish or have a smell, don't worry about it. The new keratin should form underneath the exposed bone.

This is probably an old injury, but I would still recommend you check his habitat for sharp edges. Feeling under his hide or anywhere else by hand is probably more effective than looking visually.

I noticed that his beak looks a little overgrown. Are you able to increase the percent of (tougher) weeds you feed, as oppose to feeding grocery greens? Feeding on a slate will also help.

 

[lbailey4487]

Thank you for the information! I will start treating it today. I had wondered if you could mix the anti fungal cream and antibiotic cream. I have chlorohexidine i keep on hand for my dogs, too. I have had to trim his beak several times even though he eats off of a river rock or from his terra cotta dishes and up until the past couple weeks ate all food picked from nature. What else could help? He’s for sure a sweet guy but I’m a relative reptile newbie. I worry over my care of him, though I go over the guides here often! I’ve had him right at a year. Could the injury be that old?

 

[lbailey4487]

The scute lifting up is not normal. I attribute it to a bacterial or fungal irritation of the seam between the scutes which has begun to undermine the scute. You could try cleaning out the debris under the edge with an instrument such as dental scaler or even a small screwdriver, then applying an antibiotic ointment to that seam area. You could alternate the applications with Neosporin (for bacteria) one day and and athlete's foot cream such as Lotrimin (for fungus) the next day. You would most likely need to treat the area for at least 10 days. The scute may still come off, but this should help keep the spot from spreading to other scutes.

As for your other question, the beak and front nails are a tad long. It looks as though you could safely take about 1/8" off the front nails and almost the same off the beak. Can't see the back feet quite well enough to make a definitive comment on those nails. From what I can see, I would take some off of those nails as well, maybe 1/16 to 1/8 inch.

I appreciate the information! I’ve always thought his front nails seemed long but was told when I got him that they were fine. I will trim them up! Would the nail grinder I use for my dogs’ nails work? Also, his shell always seems very dry despite almost daily soaks. Ideas?

 

[lbailey4487]

Thank you for the information! I will start treating it today. I had wondered if you could mix the anti fungal cream and antibiotic cream. I have chlorohexidine i keep on hand for my dogs, too. I have had to trim his beak several times even though he eats off of a river rock or from his terra cotta dishes and up until the past couple weeks ate all food picked from nature. What else could help? He’s for sure a sweet guy but I’m a relative reptile newbie. I worry over my care of him, though I go over the guides here often! I’ve had him right at a year. Could the injury be that old?

 

[zovick]

Yes, that spot could be a year old. Personally, I would not classify it as an injury but as an infection of the seam between two scutes.

As far as trimming the nails, I would use nail clippers rather than a grinder. One clip and it's done, whereas grinding them will take a lot more time and effort trying to get the tortoise to hold still, etc. However, if you are really good with the grinder, I guess it would work all right.

I have seen other posts here which recommended rubbing cold pressed coconut oil into the shell to moisturize it. I have used glycerin for that purpose myself.

 

[biochemnerd808]

Clipping or grinding can both work for the nails - be carefulnof the quick. Russian tortoises do have fairly long nails in comparison to other species because they dig in the wild. They don't look terribly concerning to me. A few (supervised) walks on a cement driveway would probably take care of any overgrowth, too, weather permitting.

As far as the dry shell goes, it doesn't look terrible. Any indoor setup will be more drying than outdoors... the lights dry out, the substrate is often dry, the HVAC dries the air. You can mist the shell with water once or twice a day. Ideally, build an escape-proof outdoor enclosure with partialnsun, partial shade, and let him spend any days with temps over 60°F out there. Eating weeds off upright (alive) plants will help wear down his beak, too.

 

[lbailey4487]

Clipping or grinding can both work for the nails - be carefulnof the quick. Russian tortoises do have fairly long nails in comparison to other species because they dig in the wild. They don't look terribly concerning to me. A few (supervised) walks on a cement driveway would probably take care of any overgrowth, too, weather permitting.

As far as the dry shell goes, it doesn't look terrible. Any indoor setup will be more drying than outdoors... the lights dry out, the substrate is often dry, the HVAC dries the air. You can mist the shell with water once or twice a day. Ideally, build an escape-proof outdoor enclosure with partialnsun, partial shade, and let him spend any days with temps over 60°F out there. Eating weeds off upright (alive) plants will help wear down his beak, too.

Unfortunately, our weather has gone full winter. Highs today were in the 30s F with a wind chill of 21. I’ll have to work on trimming them until spring!