Damage from humidity

[krh11b23]

A lady on a Facebook group who has a rescue is claiming that this tortoises shell was damaged from high humidity and being kept in damp conditions. Sure looks like burns to me. What do y'all think

 

[krh11b23]

She said she rescued it. She claims no burns that it was shell rot. She says it was worse and it's gotten better

 

[krh11b23]

Upon further investigation. She says the plastron was not damaged. Only the carapace. This leads me to believe this is from a burn, but I'm no expert

 

[Vladsfriend]

If the plastron wasn't damaged, humidity is an odd claim to make. Sure looks like some type of burn to me, as well.

 

[Yvonne G]

Because of the punctures, I'm going with large dog. The dog scraped off the top layer of keratin, and made a couple punctures with his canine teeth.

But, you're right, a burned shell looks like that too.

 

[Speedy-1]

I saw on face book where a lady said she was abducted by aliens , I didn't believe her either !

 

[krh11b23]

Yeah I am no expert but it seems very strange that she claims this is from damp conditions when the plastron was not effected. Also there are two very clear puncture wounds

 

[Vladsfriend]

Because of the punctures, I'm going with large dog. The dog scraped off the top layer of keratin, and made a couple punctures with his canine teeth.

But, you're right, a burned shell looks like that too.

I had noticed the puncture wounds too. That must have been a big dog, right? I had assumed the risk of puncture was really only if the dog could get his mouth around the shell.

 

[Yvonne G]

The punctures may have been done at different times. I think they're a bit far apart to fit a dog's mouth. Like maybe the dog had the tortoise in the side of his mouth and trying to chew with his back teeth and got the puncture too.

 

[Vladsfriend]

The punctures may have been done at different times. I think they're a bit far apart to fit a dog's mouth. Like maybe the dog had the tortoise in the side of his mouth and trying to chew with his back teeth and got the puncture too.

Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense.

 

[Tom]

Yeah I am no expert but it seems very strange that she claims this is from damp conditions when the plastron was not effected. Also there are two very clear puncture wounds

I am in agreement with you and everyone else that commented here.

There is one question that people like this lady, who make such blatantly false claims in order to push an agenda, cannot seem to answer: If humidity did that sort of damage, then why are none of the hundreds of tortoises of several species that I have raised with very high, constant humidity, showing similar symptoms? Why don't we ever see this with any of the hundreds or thousands of tortoises here on this forum that have been raised in high humidity? Why, in fact, do we see nothing but the exact opposite of what this lady is showing?

Well… that was three questions, but they are all related. Closely related.

Its sad that something awful happened to that tortoise, but blaming it on the wrong thing won't help anyone, and it won't help other tortoises avoid the same fate. I would not be surprised if someone backroom-textbook-reading-vet told the lady this was from humidity. Did she elaborate on where this tortoise was raised and how it was exposed to humidity at its size? Did she elaborate on how this tortoise was heated?

 

[krh11b23]

All she really said is that the tortoise lived in a shed, and lived outside when it was warm. She said it was kept in damp conditions for years, without the proper temperatures(whatever that means). I asked her if the plastron had damage as well. She said no only the carapace. I mentioned to her that seems odd that the plastron(that would have been in contact with the wetness) had no damage at all. Her response was that every shell rot she's ever seen was on the carapace.
It could be that the people who she rescued it from failed to mention that it was burned or attacked by a dog. Maybe she really thinks it's shell rot, I dunno.
She also said it was much worse when she first got it. She said the scutes where falling off and flies where inside.

 

[lisa127]

I am in agreement with you and everyone else that commented here.

There is one question that people like this lady, who make such blatantly false claims in order to push an agenda, cannot seem to answer: If humidity did that sort of damage, then why are none of the hundreds of tortoises of several species that I have raised with very high, constant humidity, showing similar symptoms? Why don't we ever see this with any of the hundreds or thousands of tortoises here on this forum that have been raised in high humidity? Why, in fact, do we see nothing but the exact opposite of what this lady is showing?

Well… that was three questions, but they are all related. Closely related.

Its sad that something awful happened to that tortoise, but blaming it on the wrong thing won't help anyone, and it won't help other tortoises avoid the same fate. I would not be surprised if someone backroom-textbook-reading-vet told the lady this was from humidity. Did she elaborate on where this tortoise was raised and how it was exposed to humidity at its size? Did she elaborate on how this tortoise was heated?

Maybe she means dampness, not humidity?

 

[Tom]

All she really said is that the tortoise lived in a shed, and lived outside when it was warm. She said it was kept in damp conditions for years, without the proper temperatures(whatever that means). I asked her if the plastron had damage as well. She said no only the carapace. I mentioned to her that seems odd that the plastron(that would have been in contact with the wetness) had no damage at all. Her response was that every shell rot she's ever seen was on the carapace.
It could be that the people who she rescued it from failed to mention that it was burned or attacked by a dog. Maybe she really thinks it's shell rot, I dunno.
She also said it was much worse when she first got it. She said the scutes where falling off and flies where inside.

"Shell rot" can literally mean any sort of infection of any part of the shell. So technically, if the tortoise in the pic had an infection along with whatever did the mechanical damage, be it heat or a dog or whatever, she would be correct in calling it shell rot. But to say that it was caused by dampness wetness or humidity is obviously not correct.

99.9% of the time when we refer to shell rot, it is a fungal infection on the plastron of a RF brought on by continual contact with wet substrate. When I initially started in with all this humidity business I asked several highly experienced tortoise vets if they had ever seen a case of "shell rot" in a sulcata or leopard. Most of them thought about it a minute and said no. Not one. Two of them could each remember a single case. One vet said he treated a leopard tortoise for some "shell rot" on the carapace after a dog mauling. Apparently, the injured areas of the carapace became infected and the tortoise needed antibiotic treatment. The other vet who had seen a single case said it was a sulcata. This sulcata had been left outside in the AZ winter with no heat. It had an above ground box, and the owners were just used to not seeing their tortoise in winter much due to the cold, so they didn't check on it. Apparently there was a leaky pipe under the tortoise's house and water had seeped up into the tortoise's resting area inside the box. So this tortoise had been laying in a pool of cold water that was contaminated with feces, urine and hay for weeks or months. This sulcata had some minor fungal or bacterial infection on the plastron and the vet was able to clear it up with treatment and the addition of some heat to the shelter, as well as fixing the leaky pipe.