Yellow Spots on Neck

Kandisa612

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Wow! So it sounds like this little one has been all over. I feel so terrible! ?
These are the spots that are coming off her.
What is her likelihood of making it through this?
 

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mastershake

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i have 2 who are still alive 11 months old in quarantine still but they do not grow AT ALL one is 83 grams the other is 79 still. we did heavy anti biotic injections on them and they are alive and look fine but will not grow at all.
 

mark1

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i have 2 who are still alive 11 months old in quarantine still but they do not grow AT ALL one is 83 grams the other is 79 still. we did heavy anti biotic injections on them and they are alive and look fine but will not grow at all.

what type and dosage of antibiotics were used ?
 

mark1

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Wow! So it sounds like this little one has been all over. I feel so terrible! ?
These are the spots that are coming off her.
What is her likelihood of making it through this?

does the tortoise eat ? are you doing anything to resolve this ?
 

mastershake

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We just took a shot at using fortaz but we know now that it most likely just slowed it and did NOT actually cure anything as the granulomas are still present inside. Can't give out dose as u must get fortaz from a vet and it's based on weight. But fortaz may be totally WRONG that's why we are testing against all injectable antibiotics at the lab to see if anything is actually fully effective which none may be. The ones alive again have gained ZERO grams in over 9 months. They eat like crazy also. We first thought fungus and or crypto but now that samples are going in we know it's different. Oral meds do nothing from our experience so far.
 

Kandisa612

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does the tortoise eat ? are you doing anything to resolve this ?
I took her to the vet, who said she showed signs of a respiratory infection. She was prescribed antibiotics to be injected every other day for two weeks. It’s been about a week and she has been getting worse not better. Her spots are gone but she is not active like she used to be, and she hardly eats. I’m hoping that after her antibiotic regime she will be better. She has another week. I have a follow up appointment in a couple days. She has lost 2grams since being on antibiotics.
 

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shawnateerow

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I took her to the vet, who said she showed signs of a respiratory infection. She was prescribed antibiotics to be injected every other day for two weeks. It’s been about a week and she has been getting worse not better. Her spots are gone but she is not active like she used to be, and she hardly eats. I’m hoping that after her antibiotic regime she will be better. She has another week. I have a follow up appointment in a couple days. She has lost 2grams since being on antibiotics.

If she still isn't eating try green baby good or carrot baby food mixed with a little warm water in a dropper. I have to do this for Bonnie everyday
 

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zovick

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I took her to the vet, who said she showed signs of a respiratory infection. She was prescribed antibiotics to be injected every other day for two weeks. It’s been about a week and she has been getting worse not better. Her spots are gone but she is not active like she used to be, and she hardly eats. I’m hoping that after her antibiotic regime she will be better. She has another week. I have a follow up appointment in a couple days. She has lost 2grams since being on antibiotics.
That is not a good antibiotic for tortoises. It is the generic form of Baytril, which causes pain and also possible tissue necrosis at the injection sites. Mastershake said Fortaz (ceftazidime) was somewhat effective on his torts, and it would be better for your tortoise to gat that than what you are giving it, in my opinion. Maybe your vet will switch the antibiotic over to Fortaz for you.
 

mastershake

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now that we know what this is there may not really be anything super effective. im told this will take multiple ab's at the same time to even have a chance at clearing it up and that is going to be long term and still possibly not be that effective. while on fortaz the bumps did fall off within a week or so and have not returned but the bacteria is most likely still there i will know this also soon.
 

zovick

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now that we know what this is there may not really be anything super effective. im told this will take multiple ab's at the same time to even have a chance at clearing it up and that is going to be long term and still possibly not be that effective. while on fortaz the bumps did fall off within a week or so and have not returned but the bacteria is most likely still there i will know this also soon.
Did I miss a post naming the culprit? You said "Now that we know what this is" which prompts the question. What is it?
 

mastershake

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yes we know this is Austwickia chelonae now for sure and if you know riann you may want to tell him as this IS transferable to other reptiles, snakes, lizards, torts, turtles. everything he has may be infected now. i got the bacterial pcr results back yesterday and waiting for 2 others to be finished. one to see if any fungi is present at all.
 

zovick

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yes we know this is Austwickia chelonae now for sure and if you know riann you may want to tell him as this IS transferable to other reptiles, snakes, lizards, torts, turtles. everything he has may be infected now. i got the bacterial pcr results back yesterday and waiting for 2 others to be finished. one to see if any fungi is present at all.
Thank you for the information. I do NOT know Rian Gitman at all so cannot warn him of any potential problems in his animals. Perhaps the people who bought from him should all tell him about this.
 

mastershake

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someone here said they knew him and for some reason i thought it was you sorry. i just remembered who it was sorry lol
 

zovick

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yes we know this is Austwickia chelonae now for sure and if you know riann you may want to tell him as this IS transferable to other reptiles, snakes, lizards, torts, turtles. everything he has may be infected now. i got the bacterial pcr results back yesterday and waiting for 2 others to be finished. one to see if any fungi is present at all.
I am sure your contacts are aware of this info, but just in case, here is what I know about this organism: A. chelonae was shown to be sensitive to cephalothin, minocycline and ampicillin, but not to kanamycin, gentamicin, streptomycin and clarithromycin.

Here is an article about this pathogen in Crocodile Lizards. The photo of the petri dish culture looks very similar to the one from the private vet's office which was culturing the contents of one of the bumps.

 

mastershake

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so far they know all that but it was not THAT sensitive to it. and they still do not have any animals they know of long term alive after this. the study you posted tested this on skinks and ALL died within 44 days of time after inoculation. as well as there was a study done in japan and they found nothing to be permanently effective. also the reptile clinical medicine person from UF told us " multiple drugs will need to be used to even try and clear the infection " and im told no guarantees at all. i dont want to not have hope for any of these animals but as contagious as this is and as hard to treat this may be a huge problem for a lot of people especially if they did not quarantine these animals and handled other ones along with them
 
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zovick

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so far they know all that but it was not THAT sensitive to it. and they still do not have any animals they know of long term alive after this. the study you posted tested this on skinks and ALL died within 44 days of time after inoculation. as well as there was a study done in japan and they found nothing to be permanently effective. also the reptile clinical medicine person from UF told us " multiple drugs will need to be used to even try and clear the infection " and im told no guarantees at all. i dont want to not have hope for any of these animals but as contagious as this is and as hard to treat this may be a huge problem for a lot of people especially if they did not quarantine these animals and handled other ones along with them
Hard though it may be to say this, if there is no effective treatment at the present time, it seems the best solution to this problem for the moment is to euthanize all those tortoises (and other animals) which show symptoms until something can be found which will cure it and stop the spread of infection.
 

mastershake

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problem is there are HUNDREDS or more of these animals in almost every state now and all the animals that may now be effected at all the places reselling them. and a normal "pet" owner does not want to euthanize. we are doing that here tomm to the one we have left here sadly but many people will not do that,
 

Kandisa612

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Is Rian Gitman the "reseller from Miami, Florida"?

I have a follow-up appointment on Tuesday next week, and I will give the vet all this information.
 

Kandisa612

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Interesting! I just looked it up. There are a ton of animals for sale on that site!

So I just want to clarify with you guys that all yellow spots are the same bacteria, and it is not treatable. There is no possible way that the yellow spots could be just a sign of infections of any kind?

So basically...... my tortoise is going to die no matter what I do, so I should stop paying for vet visits and different medications and just euthanize her?
 

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