Crack or Split in Plastron - what to do?!

[ben awes]

Hi all, last fall I posted a photo of my young Aldabra tortoise Uncle Bri who had a small split or crack on his plastron. I am reposting that photo with a new photo taken today at the vet. I have been watching it over the months and it while it is not a through crack it is getting larger and clearly is not healing itself. My vet, who i love, is a little baffled and in her quick research found no information on cracks like this that are not "injuries". She is posting this photo that she took to a vet website to gather feedback. The split is not oozing anything or discolored.

I want to cast the net wider still and see you all think. Uncle Bri is otherwise healthy, growing and eating like crazy, active and alert. He is 2 years 10 months old and about 18 pounds.

Assuming i will not heal on its own, what can we do? some sort of epoxy bandage? Are there issues with the age of the tort and the tremendous growth rate?

Note that the photo with the ruler was taken today, June 30th, 2015, the other photo Oct 2014.

Thanks all in advance!

 

[Yvonne G]

I really think it's nothing to worry about, but I understand coconut oil has antibacterial properties. Dab a little coconut oil in there and see if it helps any. But I really don't think you're going to see any "healing" of that crack. Once it's separated it never goes back together.

 

[ben awes]

Hi Yvonne, thanks for the comment - I am not expecting it to go back together but I it should not be growing - right? It's twice or three times as long as it was last fall and the left end of it is changing direction. Why the suggestion to use coconut oil? Is there reason to believe that this is a bacterial problem? like bacteria causing weakness in the shell, or some type of delamination?

 

[wellington]

Maybe @tortadise or @ALDABRAMAN can help or have some ideas. It doesn't look that much bigger to me, but then pictures can be hard to tell sizes. Did you measure it back in 2014? I see where it is changing direction a little, but the main crack looks the same.
To maybe help a little with figuring it out, do you know anything about its hatching and raising before you got him? Maybe refresh everyones memory on the care then and since you have gotten him. Good luck, would be nice if a reason could be found.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you look closely at the crack where it intersects with the new growth, you'll see that it is cracked all the way to the new growth. This means the shell on either side of the crack is growing but right at the crack is not. So it appears to be growing, but really the shell is just growing in two pieces instead of one piece. If you could figure out a way to make the new growth grow keratin right there at the crack, it would stop, but as is, it will keep getting longer as long as the shell is growing. Until you see new shell at the intersection of the crack, the crack will continue to get longer.

 

[ben awes]

Yvonne! I think you're brilliant! that is an extremely keen observation. I starred for an hour at the two cracks and could not find where they "lined-up" with each other. Of course you must be right! It seems an epoxy type patch to hold the keratin together at the starting point would help - right? It remains a concerns then that the oldest part of the crack is not just "growing" apart but seems to be fracturing at the end. So how does shell growth actually work? I know the scutes get wider as new shell is added at the growth lines, but shells also get thicker over time. New shell must be added on the inside surface as well? how else would they get thicker? my guys plastron still moves when you press on it, but he's not even three yet. I would imagine that as an adult it's pretty thick and stiff (it's got to support hundreds of pounds!). My point is that if the crack can be kept from spreading open further then over time thickness would be added from below which would take up the stresses that are causing this to open in the first place?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[tortadise]

The resting. The same thing I was going to say Yvonne covered. Won't hurt to keep and eye on it and dab some stuff here and there. I'd speculate it will get bigger as the animal grows.

 

[ben awes]

Here is the latest from a vet in Berkeley regarding the crack on Uncle Bri:

From Dr. Harkewicz:

"As long as no weeping is seen, nor malodorous smell smelled, this IMO should be OK. I find cleaning the site with a chlorhexadene scrub,rinsing and drying afterwards weekly should keep it clean. I'll sometimes apply bone-wax over the site to keep dirt/debris out. This should be scrubbed off with each cleaning. Flies should not be a problem if no body fluids seeping."

Still not sure that to think. I am glad he is not concerned, but I don't see how this will stop the crack from getting worse unless he believes that something in the crack is causing the crack? I also wonder if there is some foreign matter right at the start of the crack in the growth line? that would be forcing/causing the new rings to grow split? I think we are going to try what he suggests for a couple months and if no improvement or any worsening, then we'll look at other options I guess.

Further thoughts?