# Liquid leaking from leopards plastron



## Harpener (Jan 18, 2010)

I had this leopard tortoise for over 2 years now therefore he should be approximately 6-7 years old. I give my tortoise a bath about twice a week and I gave him one this afternoon. He had some crusted poop on his tail and on the plaston ( he has this habit of pooping and then sleeping on it) so I used a babies toothbrush to scrub it off. I've been doing this method ever since I first got him. After the bath I dried him off and placed him back in his habitat. When I come home after work I took him back out again to let him walk around. When I did that a noticed that the bottom of his shell was a little wet so I turned him over and had a look. There was some sort of liquid coming from it appears between two of the scutes closest to his tail. I thought it was just leftover water from the bath or he had just peed but when I dried it with a piece of tissue I noticed it had a faint pinkish tint (blood?) The area around the scutes where the liquid was coming from was very faint pink and I know it wasn't like that before the bath. After 20 or so min I looked again as the bottom and there was again some liquid. Could I have accidentally scrubbed too hard and injured him? I'm quite worried about this because I couldn't find any similar information online. 
I hope somebody here knows whats happening and if its a serious problem


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## Sudhira (Jan 18, 2010)

I am surprised no one had answered you yet. Hope your tort is ok.


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## dmmj (Jan 18, 2010)

it's hard to diagnose without pics. my suspect would be some type of infection, but I can not say 100%


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## Harpener (Jan 18, 2010)

Here's a photo


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## egyptiandan (Jan 18, 2010)

I'm afraid this is very serious  Your tortoise has septicemia which is an internal (blood) infection. You need to get your Leopard tortoise to a good reptile vet ASAP.

Danny


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## bettinge (Jan 18, 2010)

egyptiandan said:


> I'm afraid this is very serious  Your tortoise has septicemia which is an internal (blood) infection. You need to get your Leopard tortoise to a good reptile vet ASAP.
> 
> Danny



Danny, Is this rare? What is normal prevention?


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## egyptiandan (Jan 18, 2010)

Not as rare as people think  The only prevention would be to keep your animal as unstressed as possible. That and early detection of the symptoms so you can get to a vet and have a good chance of fighting off the infection with antibiotics.

Danny


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## Yvonne G (Jan 23, 2010)

Hi Harpener:

Even though your circumstance isn't the best with your tortoise, I still wanted to...





you to the forum!

Please let us know what the vet has to say. We all can learn from your experience. And I am hoping for the best for him.


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## sammi (Jan 23, 2010)

Got any updates on the little guy?


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## tortoisenerd (Jan 23, 2010)

Best of luck with fighting this off. Hope to have an update from you soon.


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## Harpener (Jan 26, 2010)

Hi everyone,
I got a bunch of help and advice from egyptiandan and my tortoise is currently on some oral antibiotics. Hopefully all goes well and my tortoise is fully cured as soon as possible. I'm hoping it's before he discovers all my trick to get him to eat his medicine. Loaded leaves and lettuce sandwiches he's discovered and will no longer eat them. He can smell the medicine in them and separates them from the rest of the food.


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## dmmj (Jan 26, 2010)

LOL, not laughing at your sick tort but how smart they can be.


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## -EJ (Jan 26, 2010)

Are you using a Vet?

A septic infection is usually the result of renal failure. If that is the case the tortoise also needs hydration and not just giving it water.



Harpener said:


> Hi everyone,
> I got a bunch of help and advice from egyptiandan and my tortoise is currently on some oral antibiotics. Hopefully all goes well and my tortoise is fully cured as soon as possible. I'm hoping it's before he discovers all my trick to get him to eat his medicine. Loaded leaves and lettuce sandwiches he's discovered and will no longer eat them. He can smell the medicine in them and separates them from the rest of the food.


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## Harpener (Jan 26, 2010)

Due to living in China. There are no vets here that were willing to help me. They will only treat mammals but they were willing to sell me the required medication. I got help from a number of vets around the world who helped me choose the best medicine and the dosage for my tortoise. What other method of hydration are you talking about? I thought the only way to hydrate a tortoise was to provide drinking water and bathe them.



-EJ said:


> Are you using a Vet?
> 
> A septic infection is usually the result of renal failure. If that is the case the tortoise also needs hydration and not just giving it water.


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## Stephanie Logan (Jan 26, 2010)

There is some kind of long, needleless syringe that someone on TFO was using to administer medicine to his torts when they wouldn't eat it wrapped in food.

I am sure Danny knows, and if that's helpful he's probably already guided you there. You can take any advice from Danny straight to the bank.

Good luck and I hope your tortoise gets better.


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## -EJ (Jan 26, 2010)

Just do what you're doing and hope for the best.

Let me ask you... is the tortoise eating, drinking and poo'ing?

From the photos you posted the tortoise is septic but in a strange kind of way. Can you see anything that might be caught under the scute at the growth line?



Harpener said:


> Due to living in China. There are no vets here that were willing to help me. They will only treat mammals but they were willing to sell me the required medication. I got help from a number of vets around the world who helped me choose the best medicine and the dosage for my tortoise. What other method of hydration are you talking about? I thought the only way to hydrate a tortoise was to provide drinking water and bathe them.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Harpener (Jan 26, 2010)

My tortoise actually had a small cut on his tail which I hadn't noticed when I first posted the photo. That appears where the liquid was actually coming from. It was from him holding his tail under his shell which made the liquid follow the growth line of the scute from the underside. The cut has healed up and 36hours after posting that photo last week there was no more liquid coming out. 
He appears to be doing well he still has a large appetite and he drinks and poops when he's in the bath. I've still got him in a sterile house but I'll change it back to his old house this Thursday.


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## -EJ (Jan 26, 2010)

I thought as much... it being a local infection rather than a septic infection. Normally when a tortoise gets a septic infection it will first seep from the centerline and eventually move outward. Also... when a septic infection outwardly appears the tortoise is not eating and is lethargic by that time.

I'd suggest keeping it sterile for a little bit longer than you need to.



Harpener said:


> My tortoise actually had a small cut on his tail which I hadn't noticed when I first posted the photo. That appears where the liquid was actually coming from. It was from him holding his tail under his shell which made the liquid follow the growth line of the scute from the underside. The cut has healed up and 36hours after posting that photo last week there was no more liquid coming out.
> He appears to be doing well he still has a large appetite and he drinks and poops when he's in the bath. I've still got him in a sterile house but I'll change it back to his old house this Thursday.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 26, 2010)

And...the next time you have to give medicine here's a tip: Try to find a pelleted food that the tortoise will eat. Just feed him the pellets occasionally to keep him interested in it. Then if you ever have to medicate, you just put the medicine in the moistened pellets. That's the only way I can get medicine into my Aldabran tortoise. I put it in his Mazuri!! Works every time.


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## -EJ (Jan 26, 2010)

I've kept probably 25 different species of tortoise. I condition all my tortoises to where I can open their mouths... the Aldabra is NOT one of them and I try this conditioning from very early on.



emysemys said:


> And...the next time you have to give medicine here's a tip: Try to find a pelleted food that the tortoise will eat. Just feed him the pellets occasionally to keep him interested in it. Then if you ever have to medicate, you just put the medicine in the moistened pellets. That's the only way I can get medicine into my Aldabran tortoise. I put it in his Mazuri!! Works every time.


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## Nay (Jan 26, 2010)

EJ, Just curious about 'training or conditioning' them to open their mouths. I have a little Ornate and when she sees my finger she will come running, due to feeding her worms by hand. Is that what you are kinda referring to? Hand feeding to prepare for meds time? Or do you have another route?
Na


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