Skin tag/bump on tortoise's neck?

tinothetort

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Hi, I have a four-month-old eastern Hermann's tortoise named Valentino and he/she has this small bump/piece of skin that hangs off the side of his neck (I attached pictures). I purchased Tino from a reliable breeder in my area at 45 days was told Tino was perfectly healthy. The bump hasn't grown or moved since I got him/her (I noticed it the next day), is this just a skin tag or is it something to be worried about?
 

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KarenSoCal

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When you look at it, does it look like something that would pop?

How is it attached? Does it just grow straight out of the neck, or is it on a stalk?

I'll tag members who will know better than me.

And welcome to the forum! Valentino(a?) is a cutie!

@Yvonne G
@zovick
@ZenHerper
@Yossarian
 

tinothetort

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Thank you! It doesn't look like it would pop or is filled with fluids (like it's solid throughout but a little squishy) and it doesn't seem to cause any discomfort when my finger's brushed over it in the past. And it looks like it's attached to the surface of the skin and doesn't seem to be coming from inside/out of the neck, like it could be removed simply by cutting it (which I would only let a vet do, of course!).
 
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Yossarian

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The best place to take a photo is indirect natural light, a bright window out of direct sunlight for example. Dont hold the camera too close, phone cameras do not focus well at short ranges.

It looks a little like it could be a tick.
 

Yvonne G

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I would ask a vet to take a look at it to be sure it's not a tick-like insect. If it's some sort of skin tag and he should accidently scrape it off, it might bleed an awful lot. Best to let the vet decide.
 

zovick

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Not totally impossible, I suppose, but that would be a really strange place for a microchip to have been placed.
I should have added in the post above that in my experience, microchips usually "back out" through the same opening through which they were inserted, which makes it seem rather unlikely that this projection from the side of the tortoise's neck would be a microchip coming out.

It does have the appearance of a tick body, even though the legs aren't visible. On the other hand, one would think that a tick would have eaten its fill and dropped off the host in the two and one half months since the OP noticed this anomaly on the tortoise.
 

ZenHerper

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...

It does have the appearance of a tick body, even though the legs aren't visible. On the other hand, one would think that a tick would have eaten its fill and dropped off the host in the two and one half months since the OP noticed this anomaly on the tortoise.
Unless the head burrowed so far the tick died...and it's a matter of (long) time for a tortoise immune system to decide what to do with it. lol

I'm one to get three pairs of glasses and pull stuff off my pets. But mileage varies greatly on that subject.

A tough one to identify through the ether.
 

Tom

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I initially thought it might be a tick too, but if you zoom in on the second pic in post number 4, you can clearly see scalation and it looks like its part of the tortoises skin. Skin tag. Its the first time I've seen something like that. Interesting.
 
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tinothetort

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I've had Valentino since December 22 of last year, and I don't believe the breeder microchips his animals or that it's a tick because I've never seen legs or anything on it before, is it possible they could have fallen off by the time I got him? And I took a couple more photos in natural sunlight of it.
 

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ZenHerper

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You know...warts can also look like this. Bulb at the top of a thin stalk...

Have never see one on a reptile, so not sure of any significance aside from cosmetic.

When I find one on an old dog, I pinch it off at the skin. lol
 

TeamZissou

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It would be very odd for a US based Hermanns to be micro chipped since there is no requirement for that here.

Also, the first post shows the tortoise on a banana slice and with some watermelon. This species does not need or benefit from fruit, so avoid feeding fruit in the future.
 

tinothetort

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It would be very odd for a US based Hermanns to be micro chipped since there is no requirement for that here.

Also, the first post shows the tortoise on a banana slice and with some watermelon. This species does not need or benefit from fruit, so avoid feeding fruit in the future.
Thank you for the tip! I only give him fruit once a month as a treat for about ten minutes. :)
 

Yossarian

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I would try and remove it personally. It might bleed some but from a site that small it should clot pretty quickly. I wont advise you do it, thats your call but I think the risk of complications would be pretty small. If you do, be sanitary about it, and use a strong disinfectant around the tag before using anything to clip, cut, or pull it off. Might be a good idea to have a styptic pencil on hand just in case you need help to stop bleeding.
 

tinothetort

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Thank you everyone for all the insight! It doesn't seem like anything life-threatening, but I will definitely look into it if I take Valentino to the vet in the future and keep an eye on it in the meantime to make sure Tino doesn't scrape it off or anything!
 

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