Can turtles get ringworm?

[Loohan]

I have come down with a bad case of ringworm that is not responding well to topical stuff.
Which is strange because i have a great diet and normally don't get sick.

I am wondering if i can pass it on to my boxies. Or whether i may have caught it from one of them.

 

[Yvonne G]

I really doubt it, but I don't know for sure. Have you tried putting real iodine on the ringworm? It works.

 

[zovick]

I have come down with a bad case of ringworm that is not responding well to topical stuff.
Which is strange because i have a great diet and normally don't get sick.

I am wondering if i can pass it on to my boxies. Or whether i may have caught it from one of them.

Have you tried Gentian Violet? That is the old remedy for ringworm. You can put it on your own lesions and the turtles' lesions as well. It is available in drug stores OTC. Just be careful when applying it as it stains everything purple, including your skin.

 

[Markw84]

I have come down with a bad case of ringworm that is not responding well to topical stuff.
Which is strange because i have a great diet and normally don't get sick.

I am wondering if i can pass it on to my boxies. Or whether i may have caught it from one of them.

Reptiles do not get ringworms. Mammals can get ringworms.

 

[Loohan]

Reptiles do not get ringworms. Mammals can get ringworms.

Whew, that's a relief. The first part that is.

I have tried Gentian Violet (probably the least effective thing i tried), potassium permanganate, colloidal silver, aloe, essential oils, allicin, olive leaf extract. Dabbed apple cider vinegar on a few times. Haven't really done coconut oil but i might yet.
About 3 days ago i tried iodine for the first time. Not the red stuff from the store but colorless potassium iodide solution i made up which is a bit weaker than the official stuff but still stings. I put on lots several times.
So far nothing has provided lasting relief. It'll be better one day then the next it will be super itchy and inflamed again.

I suspect possibly i don't have enough iodine in my system, as i have neglected to supplement it much the last couple years. So i will continue the iodine because if nothing else, i will also absorb it so it might help systemically.

 

[MichaelaW]

An anti-fungal cream like Lotrimin should do the trick.

 

[Tom]

I've never seen or heard of ringworm on a reptile. I tried to look it up and found nothing conclusive.

I have seen lots of ringworm cases on kittens. I won't touch kittens in shelters or adoption pens because of this. A large percentage of them are infected. In school we had a young tiger that was infected and we had to give it baths with a special medicated shampoo daily. This is when I found out that I don't get ring worm. I'm immune. Everyone who had contact with that tiger got it and most of them even transferred it to their significant others. My gf at the time got it from me, even though I didn't ever show any sign of it. She was understandably kind of mad about that. But I did help her apply the medicine daily...

 

[Loohan]

It's slowly getting better. I suspect the iodine made a big difference, and probably more the systemic absorption of it than the topical effect. I suspect the topical agents were driving the fungus in deeper, and it could go deeper due to low iodine levels in my tissues. In any case, it's shrinking and the swelling, inflammation, and itching is diminished.

I probably got it from cats. I have a friend who takes in alley cats, feeds them, etc. He said they and he had SCABIES. I visited briefly but was careful not to step off the linoleum onto the carpet. I patted the head of 1 cat superficially but did not snuggle or roll around in the carpet.
Still, some time later i got a rough patch on my elbow.
My friend said scabies goes away by itself once the bugs hatch out like chiggers. Then the tissue damage takes a while to heal. So i did not treat it or take it seriously as the ringworm fungus was establishing its power base. It took me a while to realize it was relentlessly taking over my flesh.

My friend must be immune to ringworm. I know he supplements with iodine regularly so again i have to suspect this makes a difference.

 

[JoesMum]

Reptiles do not get ringworms. Mammals can get ringworms.

Ringworm isn't a worm. It's a fungal infection.

As far as I am aware it isn't transferrable to reptiles.

 

[Loohan]

So much for self-diagnosis from internet pix. I went to a dermatologist today and he said i have Coin Eczema, which also forms rings.

One interesting thing is the spots started on my elbows right where i had been spraying Biofreeze on them. I have had residual tendonitis for decades and was working on trying to overcome it.
Biofreeze contains a bit of arnica, a somewhat toxic herb that is effective for muscle pains.
I read recently that prolonged or excessive use of arnica can cause eczema.
I had not been going wild with it, but had been using it occasionally for many months when the eczema started in the same exact spots.