I'm about to adopt a RF from a friend of mine who is adopting it from her job at Petsmart for us, its got shell rot on the bottom of its shell, they are giving it injections of some sort every 72 hours, also doing a dip of some sort i believe 3 times a day.
The shellrot has stopped spreading ,they had him on bed-a-beast which i've heard hold too much moisture and humidity for RF's and now is on cypress shavings. Is there any certian precautions i should be following when i get him to ensure a full recovery? Any foods or suplements i can put in for him to help with this recovery and maybe a boost to encourage his body to heal to the best of its ability.
And another thing, he has a deformity not allowing him to fully hold himself up off the ground (thinking this might of caused the start of the shell rot) is there anything someone would recommend to make it a little easier for this little tort to get around?

Here are couple links on RF care: http://www.redfoots.com http://www.turtletary.com If you can could you post some pictures.

This post was last modified: 05-07-2008 04:28 AM by Itort.

When I go and see how he is doing i will try to take a couple of pictures of his underside to allow everyone to kinda see a little more of what im explaining.

Well here are some pictures of the redfoot im looking into adopting, it has shell rot and also a deformity.

Wow that is an awesome looking redfoot. Its a female. Amazing pattern on the head. And that deformity isnt bad.

That type of shell rot isnt bad. Its fungus that is easly treated. Heres a link!

http://redfoots.com/smf/index.php?topic=544.0

Just click that link. It will take you right to pictures and videos of a redfoot being treated.

Awesome to hear about your adoption. I love adopting.

Are you all set to take care of him?

I'm in the process of setting up an out door enclosure, for the time being im going to take my tiny leopard out of his huge table and place him back into the small area we had for him before.

For some reason this RF isnt able to hold herself up on her front two legs, she scoots almost like an aquatic turtle would while trying to swim, we think this was the cause of the shell rot but not entirely sure about it. the rehabilitatior they took it to says this because it couldnt hold itself off of the bed a beast which i've read is way to moist for rf's.

and suggestions on what i can do to make things better for this RF are greatly appriceated, im new at this. it all started out as me boarding the leopard for my girlfriend because her mother hates animals and has become i guess the easiest way to explain it is an obsession i love these little guys, super facinating.

Sounds like she might have suffered a long time with an incorrect diet. Scooting around like that most of the time its the dragging of the back legs. That is a symptom of metabolic bone dieses( I wouldn't worrie about this unless the limbs are limp.) Most of the time it can be corrected with diet. Follow the care sheets at redfoots.com. Get her on a correct diet ASAP. But from the pictures she looks alert and healthy.

I really want to recommend that you build a totally new enclosure. Just because you don't want to put your leopard tortoise back in the enclosure. Pet store animals are real risky and can be carrying a number of bacteria and parasites. I would also recommend that you get some germ-x gel and wash your hands before and after handling each of your tortoises to lower the risk of cross contamination.

What part of the country are you in? Good luck with your new tortoise.

PS , my name is Vince.

well i will just have to fast forward my plans on the outside enclosure because i live in like an efficiancy so i have a limited room and need something for her.
and the hand sanitizer thing is way covered, my girlfriend is a total germafobe.
I live in austin texas (centra) so we stay pretty warm here and when it does get cold its only for a week or so.
and im Mikey.

this is true.
i AM a germaphobe.

Congrats on your new adoption. She is lovely and her deformities only make her special. I hope she will quickly heal and become a much healthier, happier Tort.
Tortoise.tot. When caring for torts being a germaphobe isn't necessarily a bad thing.