Box turtle hatchling Dry Rot Help

[NotTheOnlyOne]

Sorry for the long post, but I want to provide as much detail as possible. I can provide pictures as well later. I have read threads here that have influenced my care so far, but I have not seen enough improvement, so I thought I would ask here before I take my turtle to a vet. It is a small hatchling, supposedly born in October of last year, about 3" long.

At first I had trouble getting my three toed box turtle to eat. The thing that has worked best for me has been placing the turtle into a shallow tupperware of water in the enclosure with a nightcrawler and he loves that. I've tried mealworms, waxworms, sweet potato, buffalo beetles, dubia with the legs pulled off, pellet food, and berries, both in water or just in a feeding dish, but so far the nightcrawlers have been the only big hit. I know soon I'll have to dust them with calcium.

But now I realize the turtle has shell rot/dry rot. I began keeping the enclosure bone dry, soaking him every day, then treating him with betadine, allowing it to dry, and then rinsing, then applying curad silver, dry docking for 1-2 hours and then rinsing him off and placing him back in the enclosure.

The condition sometimes appears better, but there are new areas arising as well and that's troubling. I recently read that betadine can prevent the regrowth of healthy tissue, so I've been scrubbing him with a gentle unscented soap using a toothbrush and then drying him off and then applying the curad silver. I have heard that chlorhexadine solution might be better than betadine, so I intend to try that, but I have only found chlorhexidine gluconate available but it was advised to me to use chlorhexidine diacetate (Nolvasan). I've also been considering switching from curad silver to a triple antibiotic ointment.

Would keeping the enclosure too dry worsen the condition? My initial understanding was that it would prevent further microbial growth, but I have read conflicting information. If I don't see improvement soon I'll take him an exotics vet, but I thought I would ask first.

I keep him in a 5gal glass enclosure with a 5.0 uvb bulb on one side and a 50 watt red heat bulb that brings the enclosure on that side to around 80 degrees. I use a mixture of cypress and coconut fiber as substrate, with a plastic hide and a piece of cork bark on the other side as a hide and some plastic plants. I am going to move him to an opaque plastic tub today though.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm gonna' have to see pictures of what you call shell rot. I keep my hatchling box turtles in a "swamp" and none of them have ever, for over 30 years, suffered from shell rot or shell fungus.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Need photos on that one, as the general care for them is a wet one....

 

[NotTheOnlyOne]

 

[NotTheOnlyOne]

This picture is the day I got him, it was present then but I didn’t realize it

 

[Yvonne G]

This picture is the day I got him, it was present then but I didn’t realize it

That's where another animal, maybe a litter mate, maybe a mouse, has nibbled on him. Their shell is quite easy to take bites out of at that age.

 

[NotTheOnlyOne]

That's where another animal, maybe a litter mate, maybe a mouse, has nibbled on him. Their shell is quite easy to take bites out of at that age.

In both the posterior and anterior side? What do you suggest as treatment?

 

[Yvonne G]

No treatment required. It will be less noticeable as he grows.

I've always kept whole clutches of baby box turtles in the same enclosure and I learned the hard way that if I didn't keep them well fed they tried to eat each other. I've seen tiny V shaped notches out of the edges of shells, bitten off tails, you wouldn't think those tiny mouths would have the strength to bite off a shell. But they do.

 

[NotTheOnlyOne]

Interesting…so you’re all of this circled is from other turtles biting him?

 

[jeff kushner]

Welcome to the club..............!

Yes, that's what she's say'in.....and although you might not "see it", if she said it, you can take it to the bank......

Miss Information, isn't allowed to hang out around here....LOL

You are new so you might not realize it but there's a huge amount of real talent here.....this is where those people who are breeding the last-of-their-kind-turtles hang out....more or less but you get the idea hun.

For those that don't know; "Hun" is a Baltimore word............it's always said in friendship. Are they still trying to erase "Hun" from the sign on 295 going into the city or have they given up? The police had camera's out there at one point 10 years ago or so...and it STILL got painted! LOL



jeff

 

[NotTheOnlyOne]

Lol thanks for the welcome. I actually live in Baltimore.

I’m inclined to trust @Yvonne G advice seeing that she is a well known member and admin. I’m just triple checking for my own peace of mind, as a professor of mine that does turtle rehab brought this up at the MATTS meeting and I was told by two professionals that it looks like dry rot. This is interesting to consider though, thank you all for the advice

 

[Tom]

Lol thanks for the welcome. I actually live in Baltimore.

I’m inclined to trust @Yvonne G advice seeing that she is a well known member and admin. I’m just triple checking for my own peace of mind, as a professor of mine that does turtle rehab brought this up at the MATTS meeting and I was told by two professionals that it looks like dry rot. This is interesting to consider though, thank you all for the advice

Turtles and tortoises don't get "dry rot". Shell rot would be on the plastron and caused by constantly soppy wet and sometimes dirty conditions, and its usually only seen in red foot or yellow foot tortoises, with rare exception. Other tortoise species, and box turtles species too, almost never get shell rot, and box turtle babies need almost bog like conditions.

I'm privileged to visit Yvonne in person from time to time and she always has box turtle babies. She knows her stuff.

 

[NotTheOnlyOne]

Fwiw I’ve been reaching out to people with experience because I just really wanna make sure my little guy is ok, and I’m in the reptile and tarantula hobby, as well as being a full time Biology student so I had a few ppl to ask. Well I spent some time talking to someone with a really substantial amount of experience today as well, and he agreed that it does look like an injury more than fungal infection. One thing he pointed out which is interesting is that based off the areas of the discoloration, it might have been in a cat or dogs mouth at some point. Again I thank you all

 

[NotTheOnlyOne]

Just to post an update, I went to a specialist vet yesterday as the recommendation of MATTS. My turtle was diagnosed with superficial keratitis, so there was an initial injury but now it has an infection. The plan is to treat with chlorhexidine 3 times a week and curad silver, with the expectation that it will take months to improve. Thanks

 

[augie1975]

No treatment required. It will be less noticeable as he grows.

I've always kept whole clutches of baby box turtles in the same enclosure and I learned the hard way that if I didn't keep them well fed they tried to eat each other. I've seen tiny V shaped notches out of the edges of shells, bitten off tails, you wouldn't think those tiny mouths would have the strength to bite off a shell. But they do.

This is the ornate box turtle I owned, as a baby. A biting sibling caused the missing marginals. The picture of the baby illustrates what Yvonne is saying. The other shows regeneration over time .