Tortoise Umbilicus Wound

[Cutiepatootiegee]

Hi! My 4 month old sulcata tortoise seem to have a wound on where his yolk sac used to be. Please see photos. Any remedy for this? Or may I know what caused it? Is it contagious? I have 2 torts right now sharing the same enclosure.

I have contacted a vet, and was given first aid to apply betadine, and mupirocin cream on the wound while waiting for the next available schedule for visit. Unfortunately we do not have exotic vets here, just regular vets.


Additional info regarding my set up
Closed chamber enclosure
Reptibark substrate (currently changed to paper substrate as recommended by vet)
Humidity 70-80
Temp 90’s


Please help me out. I do not want to panic, but I am.

 

[Yvonne G]

Betadine tends to inhibit the growth of new white blood cells, so I would discontinue its use. You can just dab on a tiny bit of something like Neosporin. The substrate will tend to stick to it, so you have to do it often. Maybe put a bandaid on it to keep it clean. I really don't think its anything to worry about.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Yvonne. Betadine is good for one time disinfection, but after that is hampers healing. This tortoise was not started correctly and was sold prematurely, but nothing you can do about that now. It will likely heal on its own over time. If you can get Vetrycin over there, it works better than Neosporin, but either will work.

Tortoises should never live in pairs. Groups of juveniles can work, but not pairs.

Much more helpful info for you here, and look for the sulcata care sheet at the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Cutiepatootiegee]

I agree with Yvonne. Betadine is good for one time disinfection, but after that is hampers healing. This tortoise was not started correctly and was sold prematurely, but nothing you can do about that now. It will likely heal on its own over time. If you can get Vetrycin over there, it works better than Neosporin, but either will work.

Tortoises should never live in pairs. Groups of juveniles can work, but not pairs.

Much more helpful info for you here, and look for the sulcata care sheet at the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you so much for the information. I got them when they were 3 months old. They did not have the yolk sac, or the umbilicus wound. The plastron was already smooth.

After a month of having them, one seem to have had that wound again. So I was wondering what could have happened. Its not fungus or shell rot right? But does it happen that the umbilicus sort of reopened?

I got a hold of neosporin for now. Will try to look for the vetrycin as well.