blood on shell baby

[ChevyK]

I have neverasked a question here but I have used it since before I owned my little tort and all the info has helped immensely. i'll appreciate anyone who can help inform me of what may be happening.

For the past few days my baby hermanns(TB) has been somewhat tired. she's barely eaten except for today and she has slept more than usual. this morning i found a very small spot of blood on her shell and gave her a warm soak to see what it could have been from. the spot didn't look cracked or injured but more like it just bleed in between her scutes. she doesn't look to have any other problems with her on the outside.

im freaking out over what it could possibly be, septicemia, new growth, some sort of shell problem, but i do not know if i should make an appointment unless i am sure she needs it. her are some pictures of this morning before and after one after i cleaned her up and she started to eat

 

[Krista S]

I’m more inclined to think that may be a marking from the breeder you got her from. Do you have any earlier pictures or videos on her that you can look at to see if it was maybe there before and you just didn’t notice? Breeders usually put certain coloured marks on their babies to keep track of a variety of things.

 

[ChevyK]

I’m more inclined to think that may be a marking from the breeder you got her from. Do you have any earlier pictures or videos on her that you can look at to see if it was maybe there before and you just didn’t notice? Breeders usually put certain coloured marks on their babies to keep track of a variety of things.

yes i do. it was definitely new because it came off right away when i put her in her warm water. these two are from the day i got her, in January.
thank you for the quick reply!

 

[Krista S]

My goodness is she a cute little bugger! It’s good she’s not actively bleeding. I don’t have the background to give you advice though. I will call a few who maybe able to though.

@Yvonne G @zovick @Tom

 

[ChevyK]

My goodness is she a cute little bugger! It’s good she’s not actively bleeding. I don’t have the background to give you advice though. I will call a few who maybe able to though.

@Yvonne G @zovick @Tom

she is adorable i love this little derp. and yes it was the first time over ever seen anything like it thank the heavens it was the smallest amount. I will be waiting for any new comments. Thanks again for your time and help

 

[wellington]

It's hard to tell in the pick. The area the blood was, does the grow space in-between those two scutes look red/pinkish/different from the rest of the growth line spaces between the scutes?
Does there seem to be a nic or chip in that area of the blood?
Babies do sleep a lot. She is also so tiny, she won't eat a lot until she grows some.

 

[ChevyK]

It's hard to tell in the pick. The area the blood was, does the grow space in-between those two scutes look red/pinkish/different from the rest of the growth line spaces between the scutes?
Does there seem to be a nic or chip in that area of the blood?
Babies do sleep a lot. She is also so tiny, she won't eat a lot until she grows some.

It does still have some red color. there are two slightly pink spots on the "top" half of his shell by his neck but they were never bloody just slightly pink.And there might be a tiny chip although it'd be almost unnoticeable if not for the color.
And I do hope she's just being normal baby tortoise. She doesn't do anything crazy that could injure her, she usually just walks around.

Could it possibly have been because I just grabbed her with too much pressure. I try to be as gentle as possible with her but i'm sure my dumb fingers could forget how soft she is. Whether or not it could be the cause she will be handled way softer from now on

 

[wellington]

It's possible if you did scrub too hard.
I would put some otc antibiotic cream like Neosporin on the spots daily after the daily soak. See how she does, keeping a close eye on her for any changes for the worse.
Be sure to have the temps correct
95-100 basking with incandescent flood bulb.
Day heat range from 75-80
Night heat I would stay at 70.
Try to get 80% humidity.

 

[TammyJ]

My possibly unwanted and certainly inexpert opinion or just a tentative thought: if the red or pinkish spots are in fact blood, then maybe she is a particularly soft baby, and especially sensitive to any pressure from handling.

 

[zovick]

I have neverasked a question here but I have used it since before I owned my little tort and all the info has helped immensely. i'll appreciate anyone who can help inform me of what may be happening.

For the past few days my baby hermanns(TB) has been somewhat tired. she's barely eaten except for today and she has slept more than usual. this morning i found a very small spot of blood on her shell and gave her a warm soak to see what it could have been from. the spot didn't look cracked or injured but more like it just bleed in between her scutes. she doesn't look to have any other problems with her on the outside.

im freaking out over what it could possibly be, septicemia, new growth, some sort of shell problem, but i do not know if i should make an appointment unless i am sure she needs it. her are some pictures of this morning before and after one after i cleaned her up and she started to eat View attachment 356515

It is NOT septicemia which usually makes the entire plastron look quite reddish. Your tortoise does not have that classic sign.

It is possible that the seam area between those two scutes is oozing blood due to heavily vascularized new growth in the area, though it is unusual to see that rapid a growth spurt occurring in just one area of the shell.

The tortoise wasn't dropped or squashed somehow was it?

I would just keep the area clean and watch it to see that it does not continue to bleed for days and days. It should gradually heal on its own as it doesn't appear to be a very serious problem from what I can see.

How does it look today?

 

[ChevyK]

It's possible if you did scrub too hard.
I would put some otc antibiotic cream like Neosporin on the spots daily after the daily soak. See how she does, keeping a close eye on her for any changes for the worse.
Be sure to have the temps correct
95-100 basking with incandescent flood bulb.
Day heat range from 75-80
Night heat I would stay at 70.
Try to get 80% humidity.

Thank you for all your comments. she is looking better the past two days. Not gonna lie although the blood scared me half to death the fact that she hasn't been moving as much was a bit more of a worry. i left for work this morning and if she continued to not move I would have made an appointment. But, luckily she not only moved to her basking spot she also went for a little dip in her water bowl, before going into her cave to sleep until i got home. I am leaning towards the idea that may have been just a little rough with my baby as well as maybe kept her home too moist. I'll keep an eye out for anything new if that was not the cause.

Thanks again everyone!!

 

[ChevyK]

It is NOT septicemia which usually makes the entire plastron look quite reddish. Your tortoise does not have that classic sign.

It is possible that the seam area between those two scutes is oozing blood due to heavily vascularized new growth in the area, though it is unusual to see that rapid a growth spurt occurring in just one area of the shell.

The tortoise wasn't dropped or squashed somehow was it?

I would just keep the area clean and watch it to see that it does not continue to bleed for days and days. It should gradually heal on its own as it doesn't appear to be a very serious problem from what I can see.

How does it look today?

She looks better! I wonder if her red/pink spots as well as her low energy and slightly almost puffed eyes could have been caused by overly wetting her substrate. i realized two days ago that although the top layer may be dry, the layers underneath are still pretty moist. I have been putting water in the soil without mixing it causing the layers underneath to gather more and more water without me noticing. I realized my mistake and corrected it, only adding water if the substrate is dry AFTER mixing. she miraculously also started to look better after her substrate condition improved.