New tortoise owner, help please, red swollen sores

[irohthetortoise]

Also, do you soak the tort in clean warm water soaks? If no, perhaps you do a couple times per week to start....you can also flush the irritated areas with clean water with a squeeze bottle....the trick is to keep the irritated areas clean and clear form any bacterial issue while healing....

I do warm water soaks daily for 30 minutes in a large Tupperware container

 

[ascott]

Thank you so much this has actually been extremely helpful and very comforting! It’s nearly 4am here and honestly I’ve been up all night worrying about him. It’s been truly upsetting to think about :/ hopefully these changes will make things better for him!

You know, just remember...this is a species that is nomadic by nature...not snobby, just cool with being with itself and will happily accept us big creatures if we come with treats and no threats....they have a few minimum requirements needed to access to assure that they are well....warmth, coolness, a bit of warm humidity, food, water and ROUTINE...they are the biggest creatures of habit that you will ever encounter....they are a no fuss no muss group...I have found that if we over think, over fuss and try to reconfigure their perfection that is when they run into problems....figure where your species comes from...try your best to replicate (understanding that you can never perfectly replicate) and offer the micro climates and minimums that they need and you will be surprised and how truly effortless they ultimately are....

 

[ascott]

I do warm water soaks daily for 30 minutes in a large Tupperware container

Good...I would also do some warm water flushes during the day to assure the areas are cool, clean and free of bacteria loving situations....

 

[irohthetortoise]

Good...I would also do some warm water flushes during the day to assure the areas are cool, clean and free of bacteria loving situations....

Awesome! Again thank you so much!

 

[ascott]

Awesome! Again thank you so much!

4 am....okay, so the next advise I can offer is, go to bed get some rest already...

 

[Yvonne G]

On first glance I thought 'cyst.' This looks like something you need to take him to a vet for. It could just be an encapsulated, infected sliver, but I think he needs to see the vet.

 

[irohthetortoise]

On first glance I thought 'cyst.' This looks like something you need to take him to a vet for. It could just be an encapsulated, infected sliver, but I think he needs to see the vet.

I think that’s what I’m going to have to do. My vet for my dog doesn’t do reptiles so I’ve been researching diff herp vets in my area with good reputations

 

[Ann Stonely]

Don’t worry even if it is criticism that’s okay I’m here to learn after all I am new to this! but actually he was the only little guy in the store and his tank was the same width maybe a little longer but definitely not by much. I’m moving into my new apartment within the next two weeks and I plan to build a 4x4 tort table as soon as I move in. And you’re sure they’re just rub marks?? They look like little cysts and I’m just worried it’s an infection.

I stuck my tort in a kiddie pool and made sure he had a place to hide. 4x4 is kinda small but will do. A lot of the people on this site have a lot of space and dedicate their lives to tortoises, so, while they have awesome advice there are some things you can do in a pinch. I have posted some pics of my Hiccup, he is an African Sulcata, he is happy and has his own little assitude! Please pay special attention to the recommended temperature, bulbs for light, and substrate. [emoji172]

 

[Via Infinito]

You need to take him to the vet
I say that looks like a cyst or infection imo

 

[irohthetortoise]

You need to take him to the vet
I say that looks like a cyst or infection imo

Taking him to the vet tomorrow morning! I do believe it’s some sort of infection or burn rays from the UVB bulb I have now because I found two new sores on the top of his head during this mornings soak :/ hopefully we can get him started on some antibiotics or some sort of cream right away

 

[irohthetortoise]

You can offer up a Mercury Vapor Bulb (they are costly but in the end worth it, unless you can bring the tort to the natural sun at least a few times a week for 15 to 30 minutes, must have shade though to keep form overheating) which run about 45.00 to 100.00 dollars...but they are all inclusive....pretty important if the tort is going to be inside 100% of the time....they are a sensitive bulb, so lets say you turn it on and the off again straight away, it will need about 10 minutes before it will come back on....they are sensitive to abrupt hits...so there is that also...

The problem with the U bulbs or the coil bulbs is that they are designed to be in a horizontal fixture that radiates, well sideways and not in pointing position that occurs when in a dome hood...they can put off random levels of uv rays and can be harmful..so would suggest either get a new fixture to allow the bulb to be used properly (and no closer than 12 inches from the bulb to the top of the tort) or get a new bulb and return the u one????

I suspect that when you are not looking at the tort and you are away from view the tort is trying to scale that glass to try to venture off into a more natural setting....perhaps put some dark paper around then entire perimeter of the glass (outside) to block the tort view of the rest of the world and see if that helps to deter the desire to go...I do not know if the tort has ever been seen trying to climb the glass walls or not, but I suspect at some point that is possible....I also would run your finger around the edge of the tortoise shell surrounding the head area to see if there are any rough/less than smooth edges and if yes, then gently take a ladies emery board and gently smooth out the roughness.....really get in the tortoise life and see what is going on...

Also I guess I didn’t understand all that well, but with the mercury vapor bulb will I still need a heating bulb or does the MVB do both jobs?

 

[katieandiggy]

The MVB does heat and UVB so depending on the size of your enclosure you may not need any other heat.

 

[ascott]

Also I guess I didn’t understand all that well, but with the mercury vapor bulb will I still need a heating bulb or does the MVB do both jobs?

Yes, it is an all in one deal. You will want to measure the distance between where the bulb will be in relation to the top of the tort....you can then decide what strength of bulb will work for your set up...some torts will still require night warmth once you turn that power bulb off for the night...you can achieve night warmth with a ceramic heat emitter or a black night bulb...some folks use red night heat bulbs but it casts a weird color and so depending on the tort you can decide what works best...they are not expensive so you can play a bit to see which works best for your set up.

 

[TriciaStringer]

Checking to see how the vet went. I know it is still early though.

 

[irohthetortoise]

Checking to see how the vet went. I know it is still early though.

I took him earlier this morning actually. He’s in bad shape. Overnight his condition changed abruptly and started having realities problems, so my concerns were right about the sores being an infection. She said that judging by his weight and the stage of the infection she thinks he was already starving himself before we bought him and had the infection and when we moved him the stress brought down his immune system and it progressively got worse within the last 6 days. We started him in antibiotics administered once a day via needle. I’m hoping for the best. It’s been very hard honestly. I wish I had scheduled an appointment with the vet the day we got him.

 

[ascott]

I took him earlier this morning actually. He’s in bad shape. Overnight his condition changed abruptly and started having realities problems, so my concerns were right about the sores being an infection. She said that judging by his weight and the stage of the infection she thinks he was already starving himself before we bought him and had the infection and when we moved him the stress brought down his immune system and it progressively got worse within the last 6 days. We started him in antibiotics administered once a day via needle. I’m hoping for the best. It’s been very hard honestly. I wish I had scheduled an appointment with the vet the day we got him.

Is this a reptile vet?

 

[irohthetortoise]

Is this a reptile vet?

Yes she’s a herp vet

 

[Big Charlie]

I took him earlier this morning actually. He’s in bad shape. Overnight his condition changed abruptly and started having realities problems, so my concerns were right about the sores being an infection. She said that judging by his weight and the stage of the infection she thinks he was already starving himself before we bought him and had the infection and when we moved him the stress brought down his immune system and it progressively got worse within the last 6 days. We started him in antibiotics administered once a day via needle. I’m hoping for the best. It’s been very hard honestly. I wish I had scheduled an appointment with the vet the day we got him.

I'm so sorry and have my fingers crossed you can pull him through.

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh gosh. . . I'm hoping for a good result.

 

[irohthetortoise]

Oh gosh. . . I'm hoping for a good result.

Thank you I really appreciate it and I will keep you guys updated as things progress.