Shell Rot

[wolfkat]

When I purchased Viva her pervious owner did not take care of her and she had a horrible case of shell rot. It was completely healed but now it seems to be coming back. We just purchased a humidifier which has caused the shell rot to come back. We left the humidifier on night an day for 30 min on 30 off and this caused a thin layer of standing water in her tank. We have now changed things and everything is dry and back to how it should be with the humidifier on only during the day 30 on 30 off for about 12 hours. I scrubbed the shell rot off (not much came off) and I have been putting anti fungal cream on her shell to clear it up. Her shell has a slight smell as well (much worse when she first got it but it has lessened). The problem I have with the cream is as soon as I put it on her and put her back in her tank she walks into her water bowl to soak and all the cream comes off and I have to clean out her water bowl. I am wondering if anyone has found anything else to help clear shell rot or if this is the only way.

Below is a picture of her shell (All scarring is from the previous case of shell rot)

 

[wellington]

@Yvonne G might have another idea. Only thing I can think of, is to soak her first, dry her off the put the cream on. If she still goes into the water, take the water out until a time has gone by that the cream would have some time to soak in

 

[tortdad]

Take the water dish out so she can't self soak. Give her a good 30 min soak prior to cream and only out the water dish back in once the rot is gone. Do you have an open top table or closed chamber?

 

[Dbennett561]

My baby cherry started to get some when I first got em....I would put the cream on then let him sit in a large Tupperware until the cream soaked in, about 30 min. Then put him back in his covered enclosure. Worked well

 

[wolfkat]

This is what her tank looks like. She has two levels currently, underneath the top layer is all soaked moss to create a humid hide for her. In about a month and a half I will be buying her a bigger tank because she is getting a little cramped in this one.

Is the cream the best/ only option?

 

[kathyth]

Turtletary.com has very good advice on treating shell rot. I agree with taking the water out. I used paper towel on the bottom of a plastic isolation container and used betadine, applied with a tooth brush , then rinsed, dried, cream.

 

[Dbennett561]

I can only speak to my experience, the cream worked well for me. consider covering the entire enclosure, a closed enclosure. It will keep relative humidity up with out trapping moisture/soaking the substrate. It put me at ease and made it more enjoyable raising my cherry once I had the environment dialed in. I'm not expert but I can relate to you, and I no longer have the symptoms described.

 

[wolfkat]

Just an update on how her shell is looking. I have been putting the cream on and rubbing it in with a toothbrush gently since her shell has the scaring already it wouldn't work with just applying with a finger. I let her walk around in my room after then put her in her tank. I also remove the water from her soak spot so she can't go in there to wash the cream off. So far so good!