A growth on the tortoise's chin

Mary in Crete

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2018
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Crete. Greece
One of my tortoises has a large growth on its chin and what looks to me like a bit of dried blood on the left side. The growth is soft to the touch, and to me it looks like a tumor, but I have no idea, honestly. Do you have advice on what I should do? Do you think it is operable? As you can see, he also has damage to his shell. I've attached three photos.tortoise w tumor 1.jpg tortoise w tumor 2.jpg tortoise w tumor 1.jpg tortoise w tumor 2.jpg
 

Mary in Crete

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2018
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Crete. Greece
Oh, Yvonne, thank you so very much for the information. A goiter condition makes lots of sense, and the link you gave me to more info at reptilesmagazine.com looks very useful. I will do additional research and get back to the forum with what I learn and how I will best address the situation. (I am much keener on a goiter condition than on a tumor.) We have good veterinarians here in western Crete, but to the best of my knowledge, none of them has expertise (yet!) in treating tortoises.
 

Mary in Crete

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2018
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Crete. Greece
Thanks to Yvonne, I've learned that my tortoise most likely has a goiter, not a tumor. Whew. Yvonne also gave me a link to a Q & A from www.reptilesmagazine.com that answers two more questions. One, the treatment is iodine, and two, the amount of iodine to administer is based on the tortoise's weight. (I will weigh him later, but you can probably gauge his weight by the photos I posted yesterday.) My next question: what is the preferred strategy for giving iodine to a tortoise? Thanks for any advice.
 
Top