My teenage daughter brought her tortoise upstairs and I noticed a shell issue and a large lump by his left front leg by the damage. He has never been dropped or anything so we are not sure where this came from. Please help! We do have an appointment scheduled in 3 days to have him checked out. Has anyone seen something like this before?
NEED HELP! Russian tortoise
- Thread starter chrstnfrc
- Start date
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Oh poor thing, definitely some sort of injury on his plastron(can see a crack) which has likely caused that swelling, could we get some more information on his overall care? Mainly a photo of the housing would be most helpful, not all are related to the problem at hand, but it’s good to get the most information possible from new members, helps us get a better overall picture
What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have?(measuring temp&humidity)
What’s his diet been like with you?
What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have?(measuring temp&humidity)
What’s his diet been like with you?
Update: just found out she dropped him almost a month ago. I'm assuming the lump is from the shell damage as a small pieceis liftingunder his leg. Is there anything to make him comfortable while we wait for the visit ? I'm super worried about the lump being an infection. I know his cage and everything is up to par and his diet is good. He gets his calcium with d3 supplements his lights and temps are good. She was just scared to tell me she dropped him and hadn't noticed the shell damage until now. It being easter I can't get him in today but will try to get him in tomorrow if they can squeeze him in otherwise Wednesday will have to work
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
That’ll be it, I understand her being scared to tell you, but please reassure her she’s done the right thing in coming clean now, it’s important we know what’s happened. It could be infection or just swelling, there won’t be any way to know for certain until he’s visited the vet, there’s not a whole lot you can do other than keeping that crack area clean until you can get him in, you can rinse saline over it, you can get packets from pharmacy’s or boil water and let it cool. I’m going to tag these guys too to see if they have any more care advice @Yvonne G @zovick
I understand you thinking things are up to par with housing, but more often than not, people don’t realise they’ve been given very outdated care information from the get go until coming here, it’ll still be good to get information on all his lighting etc so we can see if we’re on the same page.
I will give you a heads up that a 4x2 is too small for any adult tortoise, and can’t be substituted for indoor free roaming, indoor roams comes with a lot of health risks and stress.
Obviously housing can be on the back burner for now, it’s most important he gets treated for this injury, but I’m going to leave these links below for you to look through when it’s more convenient
This one covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, best to double check these because stores are often selling the wrong ones to people), sizing(you can get away with smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!
Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors
Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...
tortoiseforum.org
This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, perhaps add onto his current one for now
Enclosure inspiration
Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...
tortoiseforum.org
Lastly, this one here is probably most important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying
Common keeping errors
Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...
tortoiseforum.org
Like I say, don’t worry about taking all that in for now, let’s get him over this hurdle and you can go from there once he’s doing better(though temps are most important so if you’re able to check those and get back to us that’ll be great)
It looks very dehydrated. Ensure it has 3 warm shallow soaks for around 30 mins per week in a high sided container. It will drink and soak in the water. Re damage that needs checking. Ensure correct diet, heat and light and calcium is available for strong bone, beak, claw and shell growth.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
For some reassurance, with falls like this the initial main concern is internal bleeding/injuries, I can’t see any discolouration on his plastron which is good, the fact it’s been a month since it happened and there’s not a sudden decline is promising! Would you say he’s been active and eating as usual? Hopefully this is just a leg injury that needs treating.
Another thing I’ll say, vets are often repeating the same outdated housing information, so try not to let them sway you on that, I know it’s hard cause they should be the experts, but tortoises are their own kettle of fish, that many vets still don’t understand how to treat properly, don’t let them offer vitamin injections willy nilly(most do and they do more harm than good), before they administer any kind of medicines they should be doing tests first and checking his weight. I’m hoping their first port of call will be some bloods to rule out infection and perhaps an xray to check if there is a leg break, after that hopefully they’ll offer pain meds/antibiotics if needed.
Keep us updated on everything, I hope you’re little guy gets better soon and hopefully some of the more experienced folks will come along with further insight
Another thing I’ll say, vets are often repeating the same outdated housing information, so try not to let them sway you on that, I know it’s hard cause they should be the experts, but tortoises are their own kettle of fish, that many vets still don’t understand how to treat properly, don’t let them offer vitamin injections willy nilly(most do and they do more harm than good), before they administer any kind of medicines they should be doing tests first and checking his weight. I’m hoping their first port of call will be some bloods to rule out infection and perhaps an xray to check if there is a leg break, after that hopefully they’ll offer pain meds/antibiotics if needed.
Keep us updated on everything, I hope you’re little guy gets better soon and hopefully some of the more experienced folks will come along with further insight
The Hotspot is a 12 in x12 inch tile that sits in the mid 90's the other side side in the mid 70's. Humidity is in the low 40s this time of year. We use t5 Arcadia uvb. I have a radiant heat panel running as well 24/7 since it's still cold out in Montana. I use a 90 watt flood light (I stocked up big time when they stopped selling them so have have about 30 left) I use a govee humidity/temp sensor with an alarm to tell me if anything gets off. The substrate is coco with some mulch mixed in. We feed mixed salad type greens and dandelion when we can get it safely with a d3 infused calcium sprinkled on top. Never iceberg and rarely Romain but the occasional carrot shredded in there. He is indoors for the winter months and outside in a 4x6 enclosure during the day in summer months. We are moving in June/July and he will get an upgrade in enclosure size once we actually own instead of rent.(so soon!) If I missed anything important or I need to make changes let me know. I did extensive research before we got him from the rescue and am pretty confident I have everything right but I am far from perfect. He is active and has a great appetite
Maybe wait for the vet check up. But once infection risks over get the soaks organised as a routine as it will benefit enormously.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
That all checks out great and is always so wonderful to see new folks with the correct lighting, temps, substrate etc! And sounds like you have a nice upgrade planned
thanks for all that information, we’re definitely on the same pageI’d agree with the advice above, rinse the area but no soaks till you get to see the vet and they can asses the shell damage properly
Similar threads
New Posts
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sulcata Night Box And Great Way To Monitor Temp & Humidity- Latest: Alex and the Redfoot
-
-
