CA desert tortouise hatchling has black around mouth

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buppie_1

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My 9 month old California Desert tortoise has almost black skin around his whole mouth. His diet is mainly fresh dandelion leaves & flowers, fresh grass, carrots, rose petals, hibiscus flowers and alpha alpha. I have never caught him eating his poop, however I am at work for most of the day.. When he is eating the inside of his mouth looks nice and pink. What could this be?
 

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wellington

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Hello and Welcome.:) Are you sure it's black and not dark wet green, like the weeds he is eating? Also, do you find poop in his enclosure? If not, he is probably eating it.
 

buppie_1

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wellington said:
Hello and Welcome.:) Are you sure it's black and not dark wet green, like the weeds he is eating? Also, do you find poop in his enclosure? If not, he is probably eating it.


I do clean his enclosure every time I see a pooh. He usually has 1-2 a day..
It could possibly be dark, dark green almost black. When I first rescued him in Feb. the little boy who owned him feed him iceberg lettuce only. I did notice after about a month of changing his diet, he did start to get green around his mouth.. I guess over time it might have turned super dark.

I was freaked out about is being a fungus or mouth rot.
 

Tom

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Uh oh. The dreaded "black mouth disease". :D

Not to worry. Its just poop or greens staining the area around the mouth. It will fade with time and size.
 
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