Trimming the shell on a red footed

Frost772

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my poor baby has something protruding from his right back leg, you can see it when he walks. I noticed the other day his shell is starting to rub a red spot on his leg and when he walks, he kind of drags it. It has to be hurting him. Is it possible to trim his shell to stop the rubbing? Not sure if it’s possible to fix the spot. I’m awaiting a call from a reptile vet to see what my options are. He has free roam of the backyard and is very active.
 

Yvonne G

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Until we can see a picture, take a small strip of masking tape and cover over the offending edge.
 
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Yvonne G

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The shell is normal, however, the leg is swollen. I would just wrap a little strip of masking tape around that edge until the swelling in the leg goes down. What do the other legs look like?
 

Frost772

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The other legs are fine. He does squeak when he walks.
 

ZEROPILOT

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I’m in Stuart.
Stuart is about an hour and a half or more from here.
My vet is in Deerfield beach.
Closer to you, but still quite a drive.
Is just the one leg swollen?
Hopefully it's an insect bite or sting and it will remedy itself.
I like the advice of placing some cushioning tape to the shell in that area.
 

Frost772

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I am waiting on a call from a vet’s Office. She’s in Loxahatchee but comes to Stuart once a month. He’s had this for at least a month but I just noticed his leg is getting irritated from rubbing the shell. I’m going to try the tape until I can see the vet.
 

William Lee Kohler

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Any chance there's a hole with a parisitic fly larva in it? I got a Box turtle from Florida once that had several in his skin areas and I removed them with tweezers and put on first aid ointment. This was in the 60s. They don't like it but you can hold and pull his leg out to look at it. Help from other hands or holding shell between your legs helps a lot. If no parasite try piercing carefully with a large sharp clean needle(not straight in but almost parallel to the skin)and see if pus comes out. If so squeeze it out as best you can, first aid ointment and see if the problem and swelling goes away. Could save you a lot on vet bills.
 

Frost772

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I don’t see anything that looks like parasites. I’ll try pulling his leg a bit, he definitely doesn’t like that. Lol.
 

TammyJ

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It seems like the problem is not the shell, but the leg. It is swollen and has "something protruding" from it. A vet visit is definitely in order here. Otherwise it will get worse and maybe a serious infection is happening. Keep us posted and good luck! Zero Pilot is very knowledgeable so follow that advice. I also agree with Yvonne about taping over the edge of the shell.
 

Frost772

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I think taping has helped. I have a vet appt on Friday so hopefully we can determine what it is. I will update once I know.
 

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