# Tortoise leg scales



## NikkiM826

My family has been raising desert tortoises for years (since before I was born 24 years ago!) We recently took back a desert tortoise whom we had given to a family member to be a part of their family. This tortoise had dug a hole in their yard and was caught in the chainlink fence. While he was caught in the chainlink fence the neighbors small dog had attacked his front legs. We took him back since he has been attacked by a dog before and his legs were fine just a little beat up and now his scales are falling off of his front legs. We are going to take him to the vet to have him checked out, but I was wondering if anyone knows if his scales will ever grow back or will his legs stay the way they are?

I've included a picture of his legs...I'm just curious to hear what everyone has to say about them.


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## Yvonne G

OMG! The poor guy! I have some female Russian tortoises who have several spots of scales missing from their front legs because males bit them off during the mating ritual...but its just one or two individual scales. Nothing like your poor tortoise. And the legs have been like that for years. So my guess would be that, no, the scales don't grow back. However the raw look to the flesh will go away as new granulated tissue (proud flesh) grows back over the area.

and:







to the forum!! Desert tortoises are one of my favorite kinds of tortoise.

Yvonne


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## NikkiM826

He has had a rough 15 years! We're hoping he will get better! On top of his scales coming off, we just realized that he wasnt eating! He has been an only tortoise for his whole life and now he is in a yard with 8 others and he apparently has been intimidated by them. We are keeping him seperated for now, but hope that he will become more comfortable around the other tortoises.


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## Maggie Cummings

You had better get on top of this right now or you will lose him. I see that you say you have separated him, does he have an area to himself where he can graze? Do you know if he is eating since you have separated him? It hurts me to look at his legs, and I think they look open to infection. Do you have access to Nolvasan cream that you can put on those legs? How long has it been since that happened? Is it as raw as it looks? I am in Oregon otherwise I would be offering my help. But my advice to you would be that you smear those legs with an antibiotic salve/ointment. And of course if it has been some time since that happened infection probably isn't going to happen. You know that pictures don't always look like what it actually is. 
I am sorry I cannot be of more help...but if you wanted to fly him up here I sure would take him... Desert tortoises are my favorite species. 
Welcome to the forum, I wish that it was better circumstances that brought you here...


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## NikkiM826

maggie3fan said:


> You had better get on top of this right now or you will lose him. I see that you say you have separated him, does he have an area to himself where he can graze? Do you know if he is eating since you have separated him? It hurts me to look at his legs, and I think they look open to infection. Do you have access to Nolvasan cream that you can put on those legs? How long has it been since that happened? Is it as raw as it looks? I am in Oregon otherwise I would be offering my help. But my advice to you would be that you smear those legs with an antibiotic salve/ointment. And of course if it has been some time since that happened infection probably isn't going to happen. You know that pictures don't always look like what it actually is.
> I am sorry I cannot be of more help...but if you wanted to fly him up here I sure would take him... Desert tortoises are my favorite species.
> Welcome to the forum, I wish that it was better circumstances that brought you here...



His leg has only started to look like that within the past few days...they were fine when he arrived at our house about a month ago..just a little scabbed up. We cleaned him up today as soon as we saw what it looked like. He is going to the vet on monday who specializes in desert tortoises. We put antibiotic ointment on them and have placed him on the other side of the yard away from the other turtles. He is eating on his own...He has been an "only child" for 15 years and then he came back to us and is surrounded by 8 others and isnt very social with the other tortoises. He generally would eat a little and then walk away and gaze on the grass instead. We thought he just wasnt a big eater. We gave him food and he ate it down with no problems and was hungry for more so we think that he was intimidated by the others. We aren't happy with the family that had taken care of him because they didnt take him to the vet after he was attacked by a dog years ago. People figure that since they dont cry out in pain that they arent hurt, but it is like if your dog was to get attacked you would take it to the vet right? He walks with a limp due to that attack years ago, but seemed fine until this little skin issue came up. Trust me we are taking him to the vet first thing!


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## Yvonne G

I wonder what would cause the skin to flare up after all this time. Could it be that one of the other tortoises has been biting his front legs? This is something they do when fighting or breeding. I'm glad you're taking him to the vet.

Yvonne


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## NikkiM826

emysemys said:


> I wonder what would cause the skin to flare up after all this time. Could it be that one of the other tortoises has been biting his front legs? This is something they do when fighting or breeding. I'm glad you're taking him to the vet.
> 
> Yvonne



The strange thing is that the other tortoises avoid him. They fight with each other but they tend to let him be a loner. He is always off by himself while the other duke it out and fight!


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