Pink spot on Plastron

[MythrilDelight]

Hello, so my little guy has had this spot on his plastron that I’ve been watching. It’s always been there along with a few scratches or grooves on his plastron. I have a feeling previous owner allowed him to walk on pavement or paving stones and with his shell deformity, he couldn’t completely lift himself off the ground.

Anyways, there’s always been this spot on his plastron and it’s never been a concern with the vet. I just checked him out and it appears to have gotten a bit worse. It looks like an open sore but it’s not. Is this just potential irritation or does this warrant a vet visit? Could this be causing his irritability? It definitely looks more angry.

I will provide 2 pics. The first photo with the arrow was taken a while ago when I wasn’t sure what it was. The second photo is what it looks like today.

 

[COmtnLady]

Does the other side (or anywhere else on his plastron) look as though it could also scrape like this? How about pictures of the whole plastron, a side view/profile of whole tort, and even an upper shell pic?

Also pics of his enclosure.

Thanks.

 

[MythrilDelight]

Does the other side (or anywhere else on his plastron) look as though it could also scrape like this? How about pictures of the whole plastron, a side view/profile of whole tort, and even an upper shell pic?

Also pics of his enclosure.

Thanks.

Sorry the lighting in my livingroom isn’t great

 

[MythrilDelight]

He came to us with the shell deformity, the plastron scratches/wear, dry flakey skin, overgrown chipped beak, split nails.

We have done everything to keep it stable and built up his leg strength quite significantly. We got his skin condition and nail condition much better than it was. His beak isn’t as bad as it was either.

Apparently he was strictly kept outside during the summer and I have a feeling he was a free range tortoise when inside as I didn’t see any sort of enclosure for him at all.

 

[COmtnLady]

Let's have some of the more well-versed-than-I-am members say something. Until then -

To me it looks like a repeated scrape.
What I was wondering, since it seems to be only affecting that one area of the plastron, is there something in the chamber that scrapes that particular place on his shell. Does he need to walk across an edge that's a little sharp/abrasive? If so, lower the item into the substrate a bit so that he can clear that.

But seeing the dent in his shell (even though its on the other side) it could be that the foot/leg on that "corner" is a bit weaker than the other three. The way the muscles attach it could cause one to be weaker.

Have you tried putting Neosporin on it for a few days to discourage bacterial infection? I'd opt for Neosporin ointment rather than cream, but if cream is all you have, use it.
Have you tried putting a little (of the cheapest from a dollar store) athlete's foot cream on it for three to five days? That may help also, but I wouldn't do both at the same time.

Soak him for twenty minutes to an hour (warm water the whole time, change it if he poops, and keep it lukewarm all the time he's in the water), then try the cream or ointment. Tortoises heal very slowly, so don't expect it to clear up in a couple weeks.


@Yvonne G @zovick @wellington

 

[MythrilDelight]

Let's have some of the more well-versed-than-I-am members say something. Until then -

To me it looks like a repeated scrape.
What I was wondering, since it seems to be only affecting that one area of the plastron, is there something in the chamber that scrapes that particular place on his shell. Does he need to walk across an edge that's a little sharp/abrasive? If so, lower the item into the substrate a bit so that he can clear that.

But seeing the dent in his shell (even though its on the other side) it could be that the foot/leg on that "corner" is a bit weaker than the other three. The way the muscles attach it could cause one to be weaker.

Have you tried putting Neosporin on it for a few days to discourage bacterial infection? I'd opt for Neosporin ointment rather than cream, but if cream is all you have, use it.
Have you tried putting a little (of the cheapest from a dollar store) athlete's foot cream on it for three to five days? That may help also, but I wouldn't do both at the same time.

Soak him for twenty minutes to an hour (warm water the whole time, change it if he poops, and keep it lukewarm all the time he's in the water), then try the cream or ointment. Tortoises heal very slowly, so don't expect it to clear up in a couple weeks.


@Yvonne G @zovick @wellington

I was wondering if it was the tile that is under his food dish but he doesn’t consistently climb over it unless he’s actively eating. Regardless, I will just remove it.

I haven’t tried anything because I was immediately told that it was shell rot. That it could either be bacterial, fungal or parasitic and that trying home remedies could make it worse. That I should take him to the vet to have it cultured first. They said that the pink was the flesh of his plastron and that’s a pretty bad abrasion to look like that. Also, it only looks that red in natural sunlight.

I do have antibiotic ointment and I will try it. I do have anti-fungal cream as well. I wasn’t sure the urgency on the matter but if I could spare him the pain and discomfort of it being biopsied or cultured. Should I cleanse it with dilute betadine prior to ointment/cream? Should I leave it uncovered?

As for his gait, he does favour one side due to his shell. He also tends to climb favouring one side too. We have offered him different types of terrain to build strength in his legs but the way the back of his shell saucers out may be hindering his range of motion.

 

[COmtnLady]

I like having a "tile" where mine eats. It helps keep the substrate out of the tortoise's food. Mine loves to plow things off the dish, then come back in a while and browse through those, and I don't want her to eat bark or coir in the process.

I use a paving stone that has a rough-ish surface (somewhere between the terracotta dishes and sandstone's surface), so it has the added advantage of wearing down her nails. Win-win!

Yes, the dents are from how he was kept before. The underlying bone lacked calcium and is deformed. They don't have ribs and spinal bones like we do so everything attaches to the dome of his shell - which amounts to a bowl-shaped bone. Sometimes the MBD is bad enough that they can't even move their legs, so you are lucky this guy isn't that bad. If you'd like to try water therapy, you make the comfy warm water just deep enough that he can't touch bottom, and either you can hold him up with your hands on the side of the shell, or you can place him on a "post" (like an upside-down bowl that would hold them up but not interfere with their leg movement), and encourage him to "swim" while not actually going anywhere. It helps strengthen muscles without too much stress.

 

[MythrilDelight]

I like having a "tile" where mine eats. It helps keep the substrate out of the tortoise's food. Mine loves to plow things off the dish, then come back in a while and browse through those, and I don't want her to eat bark or coir in the process.

I use a paving stone that has a rough-ish surface (somewhere between the terracotta dishes and sandstone's surface), so it has the added advantage of wearing down her nails. Win-win!

Yes, the dents are from how he was kept before. The underlying bone lacked calcium and is deformed. They don't have ribs and spinal bones like we do so everything attaches to the dome of his shell - which amounts to a bowl-shaped bone. Sometimes the MBD is bad enough that they can't even move their legs, so you are luck this guy isn't that bad. If you'd like to try water therapy, you make the comfy warm water just deep enough that they can't touch bottom, and either you can hold them up with your hands on the side of the shell, or you can place them on a "post" (like an upside-down bowl that would hold them up but not interfere with their leg movement), and encourage them to "swim" while not actually going anywhere. It helps strengthen wear muscles without too much stress.

I liked the tile for that very reason. Because he drags more he used to get substrate in his food all the time. He also had a slightly textured tile set in the substrate for his basking area as well but I removed that too. It did wonders for his nails. The terra cotta dish has done wonders for his beak!

I don’t know how shell rot presents but it’s definitely not an open sore and I used a qtip to check softness and the spot isn’t soft at all. It’s also, as you said, only on one side of the plastron. I’ve been very careful with what terrain he’s on. I don’t put him on anything that is too rough or abrasive because he drags. But with the basking tile, he did surf the wall quite a bit so I wonder if him dropping himself down could’ve caused a bruise?

I LOVE the idea of getting him to do water aerobics! We will definitely try it

 

[COmtnLady]

These guys are pretty tough and resilient, so minor falls probably don't make much of an impact. It looks more like a repeated scrape that's made it through the upper/outer layers. Its fairly important to keep it from getting infected, which can be tricky since its on the bottom and these guys are "low riders".

 

[zovick]

I liked the tile for that very reason. Because he drags more he used to get substrate in his food all the time. He also had a slightly textured tile set in the substrate for his basking area as well but I removed that too. It did wonders for his nails. The terra cotta dish has done wonders for his beak!

I don’t know how shell rot presents but it’s definitely not an open sore and I used a qtip to check softness and the spot isn’t soft at all. It’s also, as you said, only on one side of the plastron. I’ve been very careful with what terrain he’s on. I don’t put him on anything that is too rough or abrasive because he drags. But with the basking tile, he did surf the wall quite a bit so I wonder if him dropping himself down could’ve caused a bruise?

I LOVE the idea of getting him to do water aerobics! We will definitely try it

It is not shell rot. Those areas look like abrasions from rubbing/dragging the shell on/over something repeatedly. Does that side drag on the ground when the tortoise is walking/moving around?

You could treat the spots with Neosporin to see if that helps get rid of the redness/irritation. You could try putting a band-aid over the areas after putting Neosporin on them, or taping some gauze over the Neosporin with duct tape. That way, the area is protected from further abrasion while being treated for the existing condition at the same time.

 

[MythrilDelight]

It is not shell rot. Those areas look like abrasions from rubbing/dragging the shell on/over something repeatedly. Does that side drag on the ground when the tortoise is walking/moving around?

You could treat the spots with Neosporin to see if that helps get rid of the redness/irritation. You could try putting a band-aid over the areas after putting Neosporin on them, or taping some gauze over the Neosporin with duct tape. That way, the area is protected from further abrasion while being treated for the existing condition at the same time.

Thank you! His shell does tend to drag more on that side. I will use Neosporin and put some gauze over it.

I’m glad it’s not shell rot