shell Issues

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Kerryann

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Betty's shell had become dry on top and is cracking where her shell should be growing. When I got her the shell was severely deformed but has grown out nicely. I have never seen the top of the shell grow. Now her shell is getting dry and cracking but it's not soft. Is this shell rot? It's not soft and she seems healthy otherwise. Her annual vet visit is due soon. Do you think I should rush her in?
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Yvonne G

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That's just new growth. It might benefit from a little bit of lubricant rubbed in between the scutes...either some mineral oil, or shell cream. Whatever you use, don't just pile it on. A little bit goes a long way.
 

Kerryann

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emysemys said:
That's just new growth. It might benefit from a little bit of lubricant rubbed in between the scutes...either some mineral oil, or shell cream. Whatever you use, don't just pile it on. A little bit goes a long way.

I was doing the mineral oil and i dabbed it in the lines with a qtip. Maybe I should go back to doing that. I wondered if it was new growth but was weirded by how quickly it all began so I thought I'd ask. I am happy she is growing there. I wondered if they would always be stuck together.
 

biochemnerd808

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Hmmm, I do see the normal growth, but I also see whiter/lighter areas where it looks like the shell is chipping off. I'd be a little concerned about that, because it looks like fungal shell rot to me.

No need to rush her to the vet, but I would recommend rubbing antifungal cream (like what you would use for foot fungus) on the shell twice a day for a week... or treating with diluted iodine tincture 2x about a week apart. Both would kill whatever is causing the shell to chip off.
 

Kerryann

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I will start applying it. Do i put it all over the shell or only where it's chipping?
 

tortadise

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Where it is chipping is best. Then just start applying vita shell or mineral oils weekly. Nothing serious.
 

biochemnerd808

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I would apply the antifungal cream all over... and would wait to apply anything else (vitashell etc) until at least a week after the treatment is done.
Tortoise shells are amazing, in a few years this will all be scarred over and you'll barely see that anything was ever amiss. :)


Do you have any idea what the cause could be? Is the hide cool and moist? While it is important that RTs have access to moist substrate, the hide on the cool end should be dry... then there can be a second hide that is humid closer to the warm side. :)
 

tortadise

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Yes. Thanks for elaborating the sequence biochem. I suppose it did seem i said do both. My mistake. Anti fungal first until healing takes place then you can "maintain" and use vita after treatment. Thanks for being more clear biochem. Sometimes im too vague.
 

Kerryann

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biochemnerd808 said:
I would apply the antifungal cream all over... and would wait to apply anything else (vitashell etc) until at least a week after the treatment is done.
Tortoise shells are amazing, in a few years this will all be scarred over and you'll barely see that anything was ever amiss. :)


Do you have any idea what the cause could be? Is the hide cool and moist? While it is important that RTs have access to moist substrate, the hide on the cool end should be dry... then there can be a second hide that is humid closer to the warm side. :)




I have been keeping their enclosures more moist. I was worried that they were too dry because their humidity was only 40% and I read somewhere that that was too low. I had been spraying down their enclosures more thoroughly than before. My marginated Henry has no issues on his shell but he basks a lot. Betty only basks in the morning and after she eats. I rubbed my husbands athletes feet cream on the part of the shell effected and man she is one hateful tortoise. I had to dig her out and clean her off. She also burrows down into the coir where as my marginated also does not burrow ever.
I feel horrible, I just got her shell smoothed out from the deformity she had when I got her.


Do I just apply it once or is this a sequence over some days?

Have you ever been thankful you have a itchy footed husband. :D:p
 

Kerryann

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She is so hateful about the stuff on her shell. I got the stink eye this morning like I am doing her wrong.
My hubby wasn't home when I put it on her shell last night so when he got home he was like ummm babe.. I think theres something wrong with betty.. her shell is all white and pasty.. :p

Can I give her a bath while it's on or wash it off and reapply? I usually bath them every couple days at least.
 

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When I do the antifungal treatment I dont leave more than a very thin layer on.. other than it looking a bit shiny and moist you really dont see anything white or pasty looking. I leave it, wipe it all off with a clean dry rag the next day. Soak then reapply the thin layer. I have a rescue that has "stuck scute syndrome" just like yours. You are doing something right if your getting so much growth! But think of it this way. You start having the proper growth, which is good. But the surface keratin layer id dry and brittle from being "stuck". So it cracks as the healthy growth pushes against it. Cracking keratin layer gets fungus trapped in it, and you wind up where you are now. Nothing unexpected really, and very easy to treat. Keep up whatever you are doing to get such healthy growth! Clear up the fungal rot and then go back to the mineral oil/vita shell treatment. I use my fingers and really work it in, again leaving only a thin layer.
 

biochemnerd808

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Good advice, kanalomele. :) Applying a thin layer, massaging it in, wiping the shell before a soak... I'd rinse the tortoise under the faucet briefly before placing it in the soaking container, so the meds don't get ingested.

I'd continue to apply 1-2x daily for 2 weeks. In humans it can take up to 6 weeks to clear up.
 

Kerryann

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biochemnerd808 said:
Good advice, kanalomele. :) Applying a thin layer, massaging it in, wiping the shell before a soak... I'd rinse the tortoise under the faucet briefly before placing it in the soaking container, so the meds don't get ingested.

I'd continue to apply 1-2x daily for 2 weeks. In humans it can take up to 6 weeks to clear up.

I just saw this after I washed her off at the one week mark to put on her mineral oil. I will go rinse her and reapply the fungus cream. I have been washing her softly with the scrub brush in her baths and the chipping seems to have stopped. She actually doesn't look bad so far. Here is is all oiled up. I didn't put very much on but man did she get slick fast.
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Oh I forgot to say that after the chipping worry and in that picture I see her growth lines up there really clearly. Yay.

When I first got her a year ago her shell looked like:
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And I just realized that all came on in less than a month because here's her shell on 2-6
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Kerryann

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I am not sure her shell is healed. I did the fungus stuff and then I have been doing the mineral oil. Is this chipping normal?



 
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