A possible case of Austwickia?

Maryalice

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Thank you all for weighing in. This has been very informative and enlightening. I could see the value of every information shared in these exchanges, especially those seemingly contradicting views, as each is based on one's own experiences and/or base knowledge. As you all agree, austwickia is not yet fully studied as of this time, so I would understand if there are still no fixed protocols on how to identify, manage, and treat it.

I tend to agree (and hope) that perhaps what Frankie has is not Austwickia, as today (2 days after the bump appeared near his right eyebrow) the bump disappeared. I took a close up photo this morning and couldn't find it. I also noticed something on his butt, but they seem like his "spurs". Please confirm.

So am not sure how to proceed at this point. I still tend to be cautious and keep my other hatchling, Harriet, totally separated from Frankie, maybe until Christmas. But if the chances that what Frankie has is not Austwickia, I would prefer not to withold his daily yard exercise. He seems so happy walking around and grazing.

On the recommendation to further optimize his living conditions, I am attaching photos of their enclosures: Frankie lives on the top enclosure - 50 gallon aquarium, while Harriet lives on the bottom part - a 36"(L) x 18" (W) x 13" (H) glass enclosure. Both enclosures are covered with metal screen. Their substrate is Reptibark fir bark. Each corner of their enclosures has a different kind of hide - made of wood, clay, coconut shell, palm tree bark, and commercial resin hides. There is one hide in each enclosure with moist moss inside, another hide with a paper towel over the substrate, and the 2 other hides only have the same fir bark substrate -so they have choices on whether they want it moist dry, or whatever. In my observation, they use all the hides at different times. Each enclosure also has 3 lamps -1 for UV, 1 for UVB, and 1 for heat emitting without light. Temps range from 28C to 33C, day and night. A water dish is present 24/7. I keep them in a spare room which we ise as exercise room, or a guest room, or my daughter's video room- which is now Frankie's and Harriet's room. Room temp is about 26C -30C depending on whether the windows are opened or not. Given the above, I would very much appreciate suggestions on how to further optimize their living set-ups. Again thanks so much for your time in sharing your knowledge with a newbie tort mom.
 

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mastershake

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there is not to much left to study honestly. we know what it is, how it develops and what it affects internally etc. lot of time and money has gone into all that. we will keep it ongoing of course. we can only hope maybe something comes along that will treat it better but its unlikely imo

but i personally, after seeing MANY in hand and being involved for over 1.5 years studying it, i dont think that looked like aw. i can possibly give you a better idea if i knew where they came from since we have been keeping very good logs of all the cases and where / who they came from. you can pm me if you dont want to share that here. if they came from someone we know did not have it yet at all i will let you know that also.

ill add the bumps have never once went away after only 2 days another reason i do not think it is aw.

yes those are normal on his back end. no issues there i see.
 
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Maryalice

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Location (City and/or State)
Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippinex
there is not to much left to study honestly. we know what it is, how it develops and what it affects internally etc. lot os time and money has gone into all that. we will keep it ongoing of course.

but i personally, after seeing MANY in hand and being involved for over 1.5 years studying it, i dont think that looked like aw. i can possibly give you a better idea if i knew where they came from since we have been keeping very good logs of all the cases and where / who they came from. you can pm me if you dont want to share that here. if they came from someone we know did not have it yet at all i will let you know that also.
I don't think info on where I got Frankie, will help confirm/disprove whether it's austwickia. I live in Manila, and I got Frankie from a pet store that specializes in reptiles, called Reptilab. From what I know, they source their reptiles from different breeders, and even the store staff is not sure which animal came from which breeder. They also habe not heard of austwickia. So I am hoping that aw has not reached the Philippines, and what Frankie has is not austwickia.
 

Maryalice

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2021
Messages
64
Location (City and/or State)
Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippinex
there is not to much left to study honestly. we know what it is, how it develops and what it affects internally etc. lot of time and money has gone into all that. we will keep it ongoing of course. we can only hope maybe something comes along that will treat it better but its unlikely imo

but i personally, after seeing MANY in hand and being involved for over 1.5 years studying it, i dont think that looked like aw. i can possibly give you a better idea if i knew where they came from since we have been keeping very good logs of all the cases and where / who they came from. you can pm me if you dont want to share that here. if they came from someone we know did not have it yet at all i will let you know that also.

ill add the bumps have never once went away after only 2 days another reason i do not think it is aw.

yes those are normal on his back end. no issues there i see.
This is such a relief. Thanks so much.
 

mastershake

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gotcha. yeah if they knew who they got them from and if they came from here in the us it would have helped us more. give it a month and watch them close. i think its prob ok though imo.
 

zovick

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@Yvonne G @zovick @Tom can you, please, take a look?
It doesn't have the classical appearance of Austwickia chelonae to me, but that doesn't mean it is not that problem. Usually the Austwickia lesions seem to look more "weepy" and a bit crusted, somewhat like cold sores or fever blisters on ones lip.

Is the tortoise acting OK? Also does it have any missing toenails or leg scales? Any other yellow spots anywhere on the skin?

It is possible that spot is granulomatous tissue which has been caused by the neck skin rubbing on the sharp edges of the two marginal scutes right above the head area.
 

zovick

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What do you think this is?
The resolution is not great enough for me to tell for certain, but another possibility is that it could be a tick as it appears that there may be a pattern on the top of the bump which tics sometimes have. Are you able to lift the body up a bit with a toothpick or a sewing needle to see if there are any tiny legs underneath of the swelling?
 

zovick

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If you click on the picture it will open with better resolution I believe
Yes, I am aware of that, and when I click on it and then zoom in to see it more closely, the image becomes to blurry to properly see any detail . When I click on it before zooming in, that is when a pattern appears to be present on the upper portion of the spot in question which suggests that it may be a tick.

Have you tried to see if the "bump" has legs as I suggested?
 
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