Strange white material on box turtles back stump

[McGinley]

I have an Eastern Box Turtle who has lost both hind legs to a predator. She's done very well with our care. However, just today we found this white tissue material on her back stump. I can't fully tell if this tissue is skin or an outer growth that has developed on her leg. I'm attaching a photo of the leg.

We've never seen this coloration before. Could it be a fungus? It's almost like her stump is in a sheet of tissue, rubbery tissue.

We give her a short bath everyday and supply her with plenty of water.

Any insight would be very appreciated.

 

[wellington]

@Yvonne G

 

[McGinley]

I have an Eastern Box Turtle who has lost both hind legs to a predator. She's done very well with our care. However, just today we found this white tissue material on her back stump. I can't fully tell if this tissue is skin or an outer growth that has developed on her leg. I'm attaching a photo of the leg.

We've never seen this coloration before. Could it be a fungus? It's almost like her stump is in a sheet of tissue, rubbery tissue.

We give her a short bath everyday and supply her with plenty of water.

Any insight would be very appreciated.

I meant to an explain what's going on with her cloaca. It was damaged in the same attack that took her legs. We've been seeing a vet regularly to monitor the damage and determine whether or not she'll need surgery.

 

[Yvonne G]

It sort of looks like the bone is poking out

 

[McGinley]

Is this fungus? This is an Eastern Box Turtle who has had its leg chewed off by a predator. This white sponginess developed this week. She is going to the vet on Monday, but I want to do everything I can to diagnose before then.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

Looks like it's healing. The best thing you can do is keep in clean with something such as povidine iodine, chlorhexidine, or even diluted peroxide

 

[McGinley]

Looks like it's healing. The best thing you can do is keep in clean with something such as povidine iodine, chlorhexidine, or even diluted peroxide

Are you referring to the leg stump? The part of the leg closest to the body? Someone thought I was referring to the end of the leg where there is healed bone.

How do you see the skin is healing? I truly want to know so I'm better equipped to treat in the future.

 

[Ink]

Keep us posted. @DoubleD1996! If the vet tells them to us an antibiotic injection, what would you recommend or not recommend.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

Are you referring to the leg stump? The part of the leg closest to the body? Someone thought I was referring to the end of the leg where there is healed bone.

How do you see the skin is healing? I truly want to know so I'm better equipped to treat in the future.

I'd recommend the same thing. Keep it clean with a topical solution, and keep the turtle in a sterilite environment with paper towel as substrate.Looks like it's healing.

I'm not one to go against vets; you should always work with the vet and use good judgment, but usually the injections are unnecessary if the injury isn't getting progressively worst.

If your vet recommends an injection, ask about it. What does it do? Do they have experience with the species? etc

 

[zovick]

Is this fungus? This is an Eastern Box Turtle who has had its leg chewed off by a predator. This white sponginess developed this week. She is going to the vet on Monday, but I want to do everything I can to diagnose before then.

To me, it looks as though the leg skin may have been abraded against the marginal scutes, possibly when the predator was biting the foot off, or perhaps afterwards since with the foot missing, the leg may rub on the shell more than it did when the whole leg was intact.

I don't really see anything that looks like fungus to me, but I am not able to see the area clearly when I zoom in on it. Swabbing the area with some 3% peroxide on a cotton swab would probably not hurt anything if you wanted to do that, though.