# HELP! TORTOISE FOOT FALLING OFF!



## TortoiseNoHare (Jan 28, 2013)

So the past couple days I noticed my torts skin peeling on his leg, I browsed around and found it was normal due to his age. After his soak tonight I had him on my bed and he was eating some spinach, it wasn't till he started walking away did I notice that the skin on his foot was falling off along with 2 nails. There is no blood and the skin underneath almost looks healed already. I'm a loss what to do since there is no sore or anything. please help me, I feel absolutely terrible for him  and don't know what to do! I have attached a couple pictures and hope someone can help me.

-Leonard and Ally


I read that nails falling off could be a lack of humidity, but I have a repti-fogger and when it is on, I leave his enclosure covered and it is between 70% and 80% at all times.


----------



## luvpetz27 (Jan 28, 2013)

Hi there. I am sure you are not hearing from anyone bcuz they are still asleep. You will probably be getting replies soon. I feel so bad for you. I know you are very upset but I do not have an answer for u! I have no idea why this would happen to him!! Please hang in there until u hear something!!
Good luck!


----------



## pepsiandjac (Jan 28, 2013)

TortoiseNoHare said:


> So the past couple days I noticed my torts skin peeling on his leg, I browsed around and found it was normal due to his age. After his soak tonight I had him on my bed and he was eating some spinach, it wasn't till he started walking away did I notice that the skin on his foot was falling off along with 2 nails. There is no blood and the skin underneath almost looks healed already. I'm a loss what to do since there is no sore or anything. please help me, I feel absolutely terrible for him  and don't know what to do! I have attached a couple pictures and hope someone can help me.
> 
> -Leonard and Ally
> 
> ...





hiya,i'm not very good at giving advice about tortoises but i would get to a vet as soon as possible,is there anyway he could have jammed it in something,probably a stupid question but does he seem to be in a lot of pain,poor little thing,i hope he's ok


----------



## Tortus (Jan 28, 2013)

*RE: HELP! TORTOISE FOOT FALLING OFF! (repost)*

Holy crap! I'm sorry this is happening. I have no idea what could cause it, but I would get it to any vet asap. Even if you can't find one that specializes in reptiles. That looks serious.


----------



## Shannon and Jason (Jan 28, 2013)

Idk what to tell you to do but I'm sure an experienced member will be along to help you. I would suggest a vet tho.


----------



## Pokeymeg (Jan 28, 2013)

I would get to a vet ASAP.


----------



## luvpetz27 (Jan 28, 2013)

Just wondering how he is this am. Please let us all know what u find out!!


----------



## tickle (Jan 28, 2013)

*RE: HELP! TORTOISE FOOT FALLING OFF! (repost)*

Ouch!looks healed allready.let it fall off on its own youcantear more skin off pulling on it.must have cut it on something wile he was digging.look around to c if there is any sharp edges ir burrieed glass sharp rocks or sharp wood chips.hope his nails grow back it will be hard for him to dig.I suggest getting soft smooth substrate for awile like 75% sand and 25% sifted soil.


----------



## Jacqui (Jan 28, 2013)

*RE: HELP! TORTOISE FOOT FALLING OFF! (repost)*

Looks to me like it was sliced by something and the part removed from the rest of the foot has died. My fear is he will do more damage by catching the partially off flap of skin, pull on it and tear more of his foot open. I would recommend getting it trim off. A think a Vet visit might be a good thing, unless you could do it cleanly and quickly yourself (going to be a two person job).


----------



## mctlong (Jan 28, 2013)

Thats an infection waiting to happen. Get him to vet ASAP. Get some good antibiotics.


----------



## Jacqui (Jan 28, 2013)

In the pictures it looks like it is healed over? Is that not true or is it just very clean when you took the picture? I would also, if it's an open wound still be keeping him on paper towels to help avoid substrate and things from getting into the area.


----------



## Laura (Jan 28, 2013)

are you feeding things besides spinich? 
dont tug on it,, let it happen.. then see whats left and needs to be done.
could anything have gotten wrapped or tangled around his foot? hair?


----------



## Momof4 (Jan 28, 2013)

Poor guy! Did you put a call into a vet?


----------



## Cowboy_Ken (Jan 28, 2013)

Laura said:


> could anything have gotten wrapped or tangled around his foot? hair?



This was my first thought. I would think a slice would have been fairly obvious with the daily care you're providing. I have seen the, â€œtourniquet" method used on many things from castrations to tail docking. Get a magnify glass to look real close. Keep us in the loop please and of course, I hope all ends well.


----------



## TortoiseNoHare (Jan 28, 2013)

His foot is the same this morning, and yes underneath the flap it is already healed it looks like, but I don't think he's in pain. He lets me touch it without receding in his shell.

Yes, i'm feeding him other thing besides spinach, that was just what he was preferring to eat at the moment. 

I cleaned out his whole cage and replaced it with softer moss inside of his hide (where he likes to dig the most). I have been using cypress mulch and some coco coir. It almost like the end of his foot is dead and now it's just falling off. IDK!


I didnt clean up his foot for those photos, that he how his foot was when I found him btw.


----------



## sibi (Jan 28, 2013)

It's possible that it will grow back when it finishes falling off. The question is how did be get that way? There must have been some injury a while back. Perhaps digging into something that took his nails off. What is his hide made of? Is it one of those half logs? Have you heard him digging lately? Something in his enclosure was hard enough to have his nails and foot cut off. Seek it out; you'll find it.


----------



## DaisyDuke (Jan 28, 2013)

I have a rabbit who had an infection from a cut on one side of her upper lip. It ended up falling off like that as new lip was growing back and I was putting vitamin E on it.

You should really get to a vet as soon as possible to be on the safe side. It sounds like you've done what you can with switching substrate and what not. Please keep us updated.


----------



## biochemnerd808 (Jan 28, 2013)

First, take a deep breath - more than likely, your tortoise is going to be ok! It looks to already be healing underneath. Tortoise bodies are pretty incredible at healing themselves. If an infection is perceived, their bodies will often isolate that area, which may result in e.g. toes falling off. In some cases, they grow back, in other cases, the tort ends up with a handsome little stump. Usually, they will be able to live a very normal, happy life, if all other circumstances are as they should be.

I would recommend soaking the foot in some isotonic saline solution - mix about 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt into 1 cup of water, briefly nuke it in the microwave, let it cool to room temp, then soak that leg in the water for at least 5 minutes. You'll have to hold the tort. After soaking, let it air dry, and then you can put some triple antibiotic ointment on it. If the wound turns out to be open at all you probably want to switch to newspaper for substrate for a while, but if the wound has already been covered with new skin, the coconut coir should be perfect. 

This kind of loss of digits can be caused by infection, by malnutrition, impact injury (got pinched) or by a foreign object being embedded. You may never know the cause... 

Norbert/Stumpy was one of the little torts I rescued, and in the course of healing from malnutrition and bite injury from rodents, he lost most of one foot, and a toe from the other. His body healed it from the inside, and then part of the foot fell off. He gets around just fine on his little stump, and is the happiest, most spoiled little tort, living with my friend's sister. You can read his rescue story on my blog if you want... link is in my signature. 



TortoiseNoHare said:


> His foot is the same this morning, and yes underneath the flap it is already healed it looks like, but I don't think he's in pain. He lets me touch it without receding in his shell.
> 
> Yes, i'm feeding him other thing besides spinach, that was just what he was preferring to eat at the moment.
> 
> ...


----------



## California Mieke (Jan 28, 2013)

Why are you waiting for somebodys help via internet?!
Go to the vet - THEN your tortoise gets the help it needs!
There are no symptomes like with illnesses...it's an injury...! So please go to the vet - let us know what happened ...
Wish you all the best with the little one!!

Kind regards christine


----------



## luvpetz27 (Jan 28, 2013)

I emailed her so hopefully we will hear something from her soon.


----------



## TortoiseNoHare (Jan 28, 2013)

Thanks for the replies everyone! He seems to be doing fine, but I couldnt get him to the vet today because I couldnt find a reptile vet that was in the office, I called one vet who was supposed to call me back and help me over the phone but i never got a reply. He is still very active and eating normally so we have calmed down a little bit but as soon as I can get him somewhere I will. The 24 hour vet I have around here, doesnt see reptiles or I wouldve taken him last night and the same with the vet my dog goes too. Thank you so much for your advice and comfort. I'll keep you updated with what I find when he can finally make it in to one of the only two reptile vets in the area 


update- I did the saline soak and put some ointment on his foot. His behavior is still the same and he is eating right now. Still wants to walk around everywhere and get into things!


Here are some pictures I took just before I soaked his foot in the saline solution.


----------

