Slit next to jaw?

[zovick]

Looking at the new pictures, I am able to see the problem better. This looks very similar to a problem which humans get called "angular cheilitis". It can be caused by both bacterial and fungal infections. I would recommend applying Neosporin Ointment to it with a cotton swab once daily for 7-10 days as well as applying athlete's foot cream to it for the same amount of time. Do one of the ointment applications in the morning and one in the evening, roughly 12 hours apart. This way you are attacking both bacteria and fungus daily.

 

[Mllx_yy]

Looking at the new pictures, I am able to see the problem better. This looks very similar to a problem which humans get called "angular cheilitis". It can be caused by both bacterial and fungal infections. I would recommend applying Neosporin Ointment to it with a cotton swab once daily for 7-10 days as well as applying athlete's foot cream to it for the same amount of time. Do one of the ointment applications in the morning and one in the evening, roughly 12 hours apart. This way you are attacking both bacteria and fungus daily.

Thank you I will buy them both tomorrow and start, I really appreciate this saved me from the vet bill!!!

 

[zovick]

Thank you I will buy them both tomorrow and start, I really appreciate this saved me from the vet bill!!!

Hopefully this will take care of the problem. Good luck!

 

[COmtnLady]

What causes pyramiding?

Being too dry causes pyramiding. It is usually exacerbated by other conditions, too.

Pyramiding

Just like to know what causes pyramiding and how you prevent it from happening my tort doesn't have pyramiding and I would like to keep it that way.

tortoiseforum.org

Here is a thread where some members who are well versed in this got into a discussion on pyramiding. (It gets a little "deep" in spots though.)

Smooth to pyramiding.

Something I’ve often thought about and never understood why. You can get a pyramided tortoise and improve it’s husbandry so the new growth grows on in its correct plane (flatter). But I have never ever seen a smooth tortoise once established(hardened off, ossification is complete) start to...

tortoiseforum.org

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I usually soak him for 10–20mins

There is no such thing as too much soaking (hyperbole, but a lot is better than not enough). its good for them, keeps them hydrated, and usually they get a bit of exercise in the process.

You want to KEEP the water warm and not allow it to cool down too much. It will usually need replaced every five-or-so minutes to keep it warm enough. And you should end on a warm note rather than put your tortoise away cooled down.

We (mammals) can warm ourselves up when we get chilled, but tortoises (reptiles in general) are dependent upon the environment to warm them up. They need to be warm for all sorts of metabolic actions to happen (can't digest food right if cold, slow down in many other ways, get sick if its too much too long).

 

[Mllx_yy]

Looking at the new pictures, I am able to see the problem better. This looks very similar to a problem which humans get called "angular cheilitis". It can be caused by both bacterial and fungal infections. I would recommend applying Neosporin Ointment to it with a cotton swab once daily for 7-10 days as well as applying athlete's foot cream to it for the same amount of time. Do one of the ointment applications in the morning and one in the evening, roughly 12 hours apart. This way you are attacking both bacteria and fungus daily.

So in the uk we can’t get neosporin without a prescription but I got the athletes foot cream, is there any alternative or will the athletes cream do the job? Thank you

 

[Mllx_yy]

Being too dry causes pyramiding. It is usually exacerbated by other conditions, too.

Pyramiding

Just like to know what causes pyramiding and how you prevent it from happening my tort doesn't have pyramiding and I would like to keep it that way.

tortoiseforum.org

Here is a thread where some members who are well versed in this got into a discussion on pyramiding. (It gets a little "deep" in spots though.)

Smooth to pyramiding.

Something I’ve often thought about and never understood why. You can get a pyramided tortoise and improve it’s husbandry so the new growth grows on in its correct plane (flatter). But I have never ever seen a smooth tortoise once established(hardened off, ossification is complete) start to...

tortoiseforum.org

___________________________________________________________________________________________





There is no such thing as too much soaking (hyperbole, but a lot is better than not enough). its good for them, keeps them hydrated, and usually they get a bit of exercise in the process.

You want to KEEP the water warm and not allow it to cool down too much. It will usually need replaced every five-or-so minutes to keep it warm enough. And you should end on a warm note rather than put your tortoise away cooled down.

We (mammals) can warm ourselves up when we get chilled, but tortoises (reptiles in general) are dependent upon the environment to warm them up. They need to be warm for all sorts of metabolic actions to happen (can't digest food right if cold, slow down in many other ways, get sick if its too much too long).

Perfect thanks for that! I didn’t even realise he had pyramiding, thank you

 

[COmtnLady]

All the yellow is new growth, while the dark parts are the older/original parts of the shell. The shell is kind of bumpy with the dark being up from the yellow, and in the new growth those really noticeable seams/cracks/lines, all of that is pyramiding. Its not severe, but its kind of important to stop it in its tracks, because it does actually go away. As new growth happens, with really good conditions correcting what had started to cause it, as long as he's still growing it will smooth out somewhat. He looked a bit dry in the first two/two dark pics but it was a little hard to tell. The nicer pics (thank you, they're much easier to see the details) its easier to notice.


With the sore being right in that flexible area of his mouth/cheek, its going to rip it open every time he flexes it. I think it might be good to put a tiny dab of Neosporin ointment onto it. Since ointment is oil-based, it should keep it soft and flexible so that it doesn't break the scab open all the time. (It seems like a similar kind of injury as what people get when they have their hands in water a lot, or they're using cleaning solvents all day, and the corner skin of their thumbs dry out and crack... then keeps being sore and cracked open unless ointment or at east hand lotions are used on it.) It seems like keeping it soft would help it heal sooner. But only a tiny dab on a Q-Tip a couple times per day, you don't want him to end up swallowing much of it.

I just wish we could figure out what caused the problem in the first place. Torts heal slowly, so its gonna be a while before it grows back to normal. Does it seem more like a cut, an abrasion, or more like a cold sore?


.

 

[zovick]

So in the uk we can’t get neosporin without a prescription but I got the athletes foot cream, is there any alternative or will the athletes cream do the job? Thank you

Without the Neosporin you are only treating for fungus. To treat for bacteria you need another medication. Can you get Bacitracin, Hibiclens, Dermoplast, or Bactine? None are quite as good as Neosporin but these do kill bacteria which athlete's foot cream does not.

You could try using just the athlete's foot medication 2X daily for a few days and if that works, fine. If not, then try to get one of the others I mentioned and use 2X daily that instead.

 

[zolasmum]

Without the Neosporin you are only treating for fungus. To treat for bacteria you need another medication. Can you get Bacitracin, Hibiclens, Dermoplast, or Bactine? None are quite as good as Neosporin but these do kill bacteria which athlete's foot cream does not.

You could try using just the athlete's foot medication 2X daily for a few days and if that works, fine. If not, then try to get one of the others I mentioned and use 2X daily that instead.

You can get Hibiclens in the UK, in various forms, though it is fairly expensive ( I just googled it - and the other suggestions might be available too)
Angie

 

[COmtnLady]

edit:
I was trying to say it DOESN'T actually go away, just gets less noticeable with the better growth patterns when I typo-ed, "it does actually go away" in post #27. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Mllx_yy]

All the yellow is new growth, while the dark parts are the older/original parts of the shell. The shell is kind of bumpy with the dark being up from the yellow, and in the new growth those really noticeable seams/cracks/lines, all of that is pyramiding. Its not severe, but its kind of important to stop it in its tracks, because it does actually go away. As new growth happens, with really good conditions correcting what had started to cause it, as long as he's still growing it will smooth out somewhat. He looked a bit dry in the first two/two dark pics but it was a little hard to tell. The nicer pics (thank you, they're much easier to see the details) its easier to notice.


With the sore being right in that flexible area of his mouth/cheek, its going to rip it open every time he flexes it. I think it might be good to put a tiny dab of Neosporin ointment onto it. Since ointment is oil-based, it should keep it soft and flexible so that it doesn't break the scab open all the time. (It seems like a similar kind of injury as what people get when they have their hands in water a lot, or they're using cleaning solvents all day, and the corner skin of their thumbs dry out and crack... then keeps being sore and cracked open unless ointment or at east hand lotions are used on it.) It seems like keeping it soft would help it heal sooner. But only a tiny dab on a Q-Tip a couple times per day, you don't want him to end up swallowing much of it.

I just wish we could figure out what caused the problem in the first place. Torts heal slowly, so its gonna be a while before it grows back to normal. Does it seem more like a cut, an abrasion, or more like a cold sore?


.

Okay perfect I do feel like it could be the humidity causing it well most of it as I need a humidity monitor and I never know how to keep the humidity up! At first it was a small cut but it got to that in a few days to me it looks like a cold sore now, I’ve used the athletes food cream twice now and I can see a little difference.

 

[Mllx_yy]

Without the Neosporin you are only treating for fungus. To treat for bacteria you need another medication. Can you get Bacitracin, Hibiclens, Dermoplast, or Bactine? None are quite as good as Neosporin but these do kill bacteria which athlete's foot cream does not.

You could try using just the athlete's foot medication 2X daily for a few days and if that works, fine. If not, then try to get one of the others I mentioned and use 2X daily that instead.

Okay someone post another one in the uk that I’ll get thank you!

 

[COmtnLady]

What medicated stuff can you get without a prescription for like when kids skin their knees? Something that doesn't sting or burn when you put it on?

 

[Mllx_yy]

You can get Hibiclens in the UK, in various forms, though it is fairly expensive ( I just googled it - and the other suggestions might be available too)
Angie

Perfect I’ll get that today!

 

[Mllx_yy]

What medicated stuff can you get without a prescription for like when kids skin their knees? Something that doesn't sting or burn when you put it on?

I decided to go to the vet and got cream for bacterial and pain killers, they weren’t too sure what was wrong but they said keep going with the athletes food cream, it does seem a lot better hopefully it heals!

 

[zovick]

I decided to go to the vet and got cream for bacterial and pain killers, they weren’t too sure what was wrong but they said keep going with the athletes food cream, it does seem a lot better hopefully it heals!

Glad the athlete's foot cream seems to be helping. Now that you have an ointment for bacteria as well, you could start doing one in the AM and the other one in the PM to fight both fungi and bacteria.

Good luck.

 

[Mllx_yy]

Glad the athlete's foot cream seems to be helping. Now that you have an ointment for bacteria as well, you could start doing one in the AM and the other one in the PM to fight both fungi and bacteria.

Good luck.

It’s heading very nicely, I also got a humidity thermometer with temperature as well. I’ve kept his humidity at 80% as it seems to be helping his cut really well is that a good humidity? Thank you

 

[zovick]

It’s heading very nicely, I also got a humidity thermometer with temperature as well. I’ve kept his humidity at 80% as it seems to be helping his cut really well is that a good humidity? Thank you

Yes, 80% humidity should be good for the tortoise. Glad the healing is progressing well.

 

[COmtnLady]

Thanks for the update! Glad its going well.