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Hi! So I’ve had Pearl for about a month, and this is my first tortoise. I kept red ear sliders years ago, but I’ve never had a land shell friend before her and she is my BFF. So, I’m not sure if this is normal looking on her bottom shell or if she has shell rot? It was never an issue in my sliders so I’ve never seen it before. Please help! image.jpg
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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It looks like it's either active fungus or already healing scars.
I can't tell.
Smear a little ATHLETES FOOT CREAM on those areas once a day for 10 days.
If it's active, it'll die quickly.
If it's already inactive, the cream will do no harm.
This issue is not uncommon with Redfoot and Cherryhead Redfoot.
And it's easy to cure.
The cause is your substrate is too wet.
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2020
Messages
40
Location (City and/or State)
Cleveland Tennessee
It looks like it's either active fungus or already healing scars.
I can't tell.
Smear a little ATHLETES FOOT CREAM on those areas once a day for 10 days.
If it's active, it'll die quickly.
If it's already inactive, the cream will do no harm.
This issue is not uncommon with Redfoot and Cherryhead Redfoot.
And it's easy to cure.
The cause is your substrate is too wet.

Thank you! I’ll pick some up in the morning. I was told to spray down the substrate once a day to make sure there was sufficient humidity in her enclosure. I suppose that’s wrong? And how do I make sure it’s humid enough in there for her?
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Thank you! I’ll pick some up in the morning. I was told to spray down the substrate once a day to make sure there was sufficient humidity in her enclosure. I suppose that’s wrong? And how do I make sure it’s humid enough in there for her?
You likely don't have the correct type of enclosure.
Anything with an open top is very hard to keep humidity in.
Search CLOSED CHAMBER posts.
If you can post photos of your setup maybe we can suggest ways it can be tweaked to work better for you.
Certain types of lights and substrate also fight this issue and might need to be changed.
With such an enclosure you can obtain high humidity with relatively dry surfaces.
I don't have this issue as mine all live outdoors 24/7. But I do sometimes see shell fungus during the rainy season.
It's simple to treat.
And there's no need to buy the high dollar stuff...
I buy mine at the DOLLAR STORE.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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View attachment 307575
I’m using coconut fiber as substrate
I haven't had much experience with coco fiber. Just Orchid bark.
You want the humidity. Not a soaking wet substrate.
I'd do 2 things:
1) Cover that coconut with a few inches of Orchid bark.
2) cover that top except where the lights are. With foil or something similar.
 

zovick

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View attachment 307575
I’m using coconut fiber as substrate
Your enclosure and its substrate don't look anywhere close to wet enough to have caused that shell rot in a month. It looks as though the tortoise had it when you got it. Maybe it is even healing up now because your enclosure is drier than its previous one. I would still use the athlete's foot cream to help finish off the fungus, then keep an eye out for any new areas that may become involved (but if you leave your nclosure as dry as it is in this photo, you shouldn't get any more of the shell rot).

You should try to up the humidity by closing the top off and continuing to mist daily. I am just making the observation that you don't need soaking wet coco coir to do that.
 

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