soft plastron

[John]

so i'm trying too extend my knowledge base and have been wondering about soft lplastrons i see alot of posts here saying my torts shell is soft.so i am wondering what the different causes of this may be and how do you determin what the cause may be.for instancs if it was worm infestation that caused d3 deficency how would you know it was not just a lack of uv.short of a vet visit. thanks john

 

[Yvonne G]

Babies' plastrons usually have a bit of a give to them that usually hardens up sometime during the first year. If you've noticed it was hard and is now softening, its probably a calcium def. It can be turned around without a vet visit by making sure the baby gets his calcium and vitamin d3 (either from the sun or a good UVB light).

The only way to know if there were parasites is to take a fresh fecal sample to the vet for examination. You usually don't need to take the tortoise, just the sample. And ANY vet can look through a microscope and detect parasite eggs...doesn't have to be a reptile vet.