Is this shell rot??

[CharSparda]

Hello again! This is not for me, but for a friend who found this tortoise in a near by zoo



He saw this little red foot with a big area of discoloration in the shell. What could it be? The zoo told him that they don’t have a reptiles vet so there’s not a lot they can do about it (apparently they adopted the tortoise from horrible conditions).

Any ideas?

 

[Yvonne G]

Not shell rot. The top layer of keratin has come off, for whatever reason (burned, chewed, whatever) leaving the bone exposed.

 

[CharSparda]

Not shell rot. The top layer of keratin has come off, for whatever reason (burned, chewed, whatever) leaving the bone exposed.

So what could they do?

 

[Markw84]

Hard to tell from that picture, but it looks like a very old injury - probably burned. Can't tell if the back 2/3 has new keratin on top of the bone yet or not. A new layer of keratin will form and new bone beneath. It takes a long time - a few years at least. With a better picture perhaps we can see if that is exposed bone or if it is new keratin and already healing well.

Nothing you can do but keep things clean and give best diet/conditions you can.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Aside from whatever caused that old damage, that Redfoot is actually in spectacular condition. And almost certainly collected from the wild as an adult already.
Carapace that smooth are seldom seen in captivity

 

[CharSparda]

Hard to tell from that picture, but it looks like a very old injury - probably burned. Can't tell if the back 2/3 has new keratin on top of the bone yet or not. A new layer of keratin will form and new bone beneath. It takes a long time - a few years at least. With a better picture perhaps we can see if that is exposed bone or if it is new keratin and already healing well.

Nothing you can do but keep things clean and give best diet/conditions you can.

Thanks! My friends happy he’s alright, he was a bit worried about the tort

Aside from whatever caused that old damage, that Redfoot is actually in spectacular condition. And almost certainly collected from the wild as an adult already.
Carapace that smooth are seldom seen in captivity

Probably, but the people from the zoo rescued him from a bad condition (not sure what it was). He’s looking great isn’t he

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thanks! My friends happy he’s alright, he was a bit worried about the tort



Probably, but the people from the zoo rescued him from a bad condition (not sure what it was). He’s looking great isn’t he

He is.
A zoo without a vet may not be much of an improvement

 

[CharSparda]

He is.
A zoo without a vet may not be much of an improvement

From what I know it’s a farm kind of zoo, they have a vet (or technician) but doesn’t know much about reptiles

Could be better but looked like the people there actually cared about the tort