What Shell Fungus (Shell Rot) Looks like

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Hi,
My adult red foot spentvkist of last sumner outside (May-September). However, when I brought him in, I had to keep him in a dry enclosure. Despite having heat and uvb (although uvb is not necessarily required) I couldn’t replicate the enclosure as being outside bc I could not keep the humidity up. Recently, I have been noticing peeling on his plastron, and will not eat his greens. He will only eat peppers and strawberries which are his sweets he gets every once in a while. Plz help me, I do not want to take him to the vet and I do not think I can if I have to due to the covid-19....
 

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Jeloz

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Hi everyone!
Just bought a baby redfoot about a month ago, and noticed these small brown patches of discoloration on his underside... could this be shell rot?Shell_Rot.png
They definitely weren't there a few weeks ago.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Hi everyone!
Just bought a baby redfoot about a month ago, and noticed these small brown patches of discoloration on his underside... could this be shell rot?View attachment 289884
They definitely weren't there a few weeks ago.
That looks like the start of a light fungal issue.
Use a dab of the ATHLETES FOOT CREAM for a week to 10 days and it won't keep growing.
No big deal
 

Toddrickfl1

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I know we are on a fungus forum, but how often does this happen? What else can go wrong with a redfoot?
Not often, just make sure your Tortoise isn't constantly sitting on a wet surface. Keep the top layer of substrate dry and you shouldn't have an issue. If you do though it's really easy to treat.
 

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REDFOOT WRANGLER
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I know we are on a fungus forum, but how often does this happen? What else can go wrong with a redfoot?
My Redfoot tortoises live outdoors.
I see some fungal issues about once a year. Always in the Summer rainy seasons after it has rained for 10 to 15 days. There's always one individual that loves sleeping in the mud.
Aside from fungus, which is usually not a big issue....I've seen heat stroke in Redfoot. They are very sensitive to high heat.
They MUST have a way to escape the sunlight.
Otherwise, they're a pretty robust species.
 

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REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Hi,
My adult red foot spentvkist of last sumner outside (May-September). However, when I brought him in, I had to keep him in a dry enclosure. Despite having heat and uvb (although uvb is not necessarily required) I couldn’t replicate the enclosure as being outside bc I could not keep the humidity up. Recently, I have been noticing peeling on his plastron, and will not eat his greens. He will only eat peppers and strawberries which are his sweets he gets every once in a while. Plz help me, I do not want to take him to the vet and I do not think I can if I have to due to the covid-19....
I see nothing physically wrong.
And it's also common for Redfoot to get spoiled and refuse to eat certain items until they get very hungry
 

Tortisedonk7

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Can shell fungus occur on the carapace? My guy has some white on his scutes. But it doesn’t seem powdery and doesn’t really come off. Will have pic soon.
 

Tortisedonk7

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Can shell fungus occur on the carapace? My guy has some white on his scutes. But it doesn’t seem powdery and doesn’t really come off. Will have pic soon.
 

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In closing (probably) I'd like to ad that the best thing about ATHLETES FOOT CREAM is that it always works. Easily and quickly....
BUT if you use this cream, and there was no actual fungus. Maybe you guessed wrong. There's no harm done.
It's only harmful to fungus. Not to the tortoise
 

SuzanneZ

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This is one of my RF females.
They live in an outdoors pen and are rarely handled. However, yesterday, it was necessary for me to bring them indoors because of cooler than normal temperatures.
I inspected each tortoise, and found that tortoise "C" had some shell fungus. Actually quite a lot.
Just her. None on the other 3.

View attachment 226595
🤔. Now that looks like fungus. What I'm dealing with is not white. She came here with one dime size darker area three scutes up from her tail . Not dark dark, just slightly different. I got them on the 13th (seems like months). Four days ago to he area blew up. The original area is now a depression and two more are dips. Treating from advice off the forum. She stopped eating last night. She aims her back toward the heat, but she's not right under it. I changed from foot cream to triple antibiotic this morning after her 30 minute soak. Did I do wrong?
 

Alex and the Redfoot

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🤔. Now that looks like fungus. What I'm dealing with is not white. She came here with one dime size darker area three scutes up from her tail . Not dark dark, just slightly different. I got them on the 13th (seems like months). Four days ago to he area blew up. The original area is now a depression and two more are dips. Treating from advice off the forum. She stopped eating last night. She aims her back toward the heat, but she's not right under it. I changed from foot cream to triple antibiotic this morning after her 30 minute soak. Did I do wrong?
Suzanne, could you make a separate post in Tortoise Health subforum with the photos of problem area and details on your tortoise, her problem and enclosure (you have two Russian tortoises, if I remember).
 

SuzanneZ

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Hard to see here, too.
 

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Cathie G

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🤔. Now that looks like fungus. What I'm dealing with is not white. She came here with one dime size darker area three scutes up from her tail . Not dark dark, just slightly different. I got them on the 13th (seems like months). Four days ago to he area blew up. The original area is now a depression and two more are dips. Treating from advice off the forum. She stopped eating last night. She aims her back toward the heat, but she's not right under it. I changed from foot cream to triple antibiotic this morning after her 30 minute soak. Did I do wrong?
Found you 🤗
 

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