New Rescue with Shell Rot

inkling13

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
62
Location (City and/or State)
central NY
So I spotted an ad on craigslist yesterday for someone needing to get rid of their Red Foot and all it's equipment. I'd been toying with the idea of getting a second Red Foot for a while now- ok more like since I first got my girl Tortellini two years ago, and it seemed like the opportunity had finally arrived. I drove out and ended up coming home with the new little girl (hopefully) who I've named A'Tuin after the great world turtle from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. She's 4.5 inches long, weighs 12.7 oz (361 grams), has started to pyramid a bit, her beak is a bit overgrown, and most importantly she's got a nasty case of fungal shell rot on her plastron. I didn't dig into the guy over her condition since he'd only been given her three months earlier by a friend, so it's likely he inherited the issues from the previous owner. Apparently he went out and spent about $350 on equipment (40 gallon fish tank, lots of decorations, a waterfall, and an exo terra monsoon mister) but after three months learned he was in over his head and wanted out. He wanted $100 for the equipment (minus the mister) and the "turtle" came free with it. He had her on Zoo Med Forest Floor cypress mulch and while it didn't seem overly moist or soiled, both the cage and tortoise had quite a strong funky fungus smell to them. So I stopped at a drugstore on the way and when we got home the little one got a short soak, an iodine scrub (the store didn't have betadine), and slathered up with athletes foot cream. I've got her in a fresh enclosure with paper towels and a water dish too small for her to climb into (I don't want her to wash the cream off and then drink the water) until we start to see some serious improvement. After her treatment she happily devoured some spring mix and a little zucchini and she's already had a bowel movement which looked pretty normal. The pictures I attached are 1) The condition I got her in 2) Having a little soak 3) Her plastron before treatment 4) Her plastron after the scrub and before the cream (as you can see she was loosing patience with me). I intend to post updates here as her hopeful recovery progresses. I know 4.5 inches is a too small to be 100% sure but anyone with a better eye for Red Foot sexing have a guess if little A'Tuin is a girl or boy?2014:05:28 A'Tuin.jpg2014:05:28 1st soak.jpg 2014:5:28 Before treatment.jpg 2014:05:28 After Treatment.jpg
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Nice! Sounds like you have everything under control.

Sorry - I'm terrible at sexing RF tortoises. They all look the same to me.
 

Telid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
358
Location (City and/or State)
TX
Looks female to me, but it's very hard to tell until they're bigger.
 

inkling13

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
62
Location (City and/or State)
central NY
Alright, here's a picture of her carapace after day two of a soak and iodine scrub. We'll do one more iodine scrub tonight and then continue with just the cream, since most of the care instructions say to only use iodine/betadine for the first 2-3 days. Looking at her shell in person, it still looks rough and flaky but I can't get over how much better it looks when comparing this photo side by side to the day before's! I'm also impressed with how normal her activity level is. Whenever I check on her she wakes right up and takes an interest in what I'm doing, she's already re-arranged her quarantine tank to her liking, and she ravenously eats whatever I put in front of her. She's even started to munch on the chunk of cuttlebone I gave her. I'm hoping that and feeding on a slate tile will help wear down her little beak, it's not terribly overgrown but still a little longer then I'd like.2014:05:29 After 2nd Treatment.jpg
 

inkling13

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
62
Location (City and/or State)
central NY
So it's been two weeks now since I received little A'tuin and began treating her shell rot. Attached are some recent pictures. In the first one she's straight from the cage (please excuse the poop smears), her shell is dry and you can see that there is still quite a bit of flakiness to her plastron but no trace of the white fungus. The second picture is after her soak and toothbrush scrub (to help loosen some of the flakiness) to be compared with some of the earlier wet shelled pictures. Her plastron hasn't really changed much in the time since the last post and I think now that the white crumbly gunk is gone we've eradicated the fungus and the flaky shell just needs time to heal and replace itself. My question is, should I still continue applying the anti-fungal cream? The tube says to apply for 1-2 weeks but that is for human feet not tortoise shells. I know some of the forum members here have dealt with shell rot before, how long did you apply anti-fungal cream? Also, I'm still keeping her on newspaper at he moment but if we've nixed the fungus can I give her real substrate or is it too soon? My plan is to put mulch down when it's okay. One final question, if you look at the scales on her legs you can see they have a 'normal' colored dark spot in the center but the edges are this odd orangy color. Is this a build up of dead skin or is she just that color? She's been getting daily soaks before each cream application but her legs don't seem to be losing this funny color. Thanks everybody!2014:06:11 presoak1.jpg2014:06:11 after soak.jpg
 

Turtlepete

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
972
Location (City and/or State)
South Florida
Redfoots are incredibly hard to accurately sex until they are older. I have a breeder that I had pegged as a male since a hatchling until "he" started laying eggs. I can guess, but the answer (and any other answer) is going to be just that, a guess. No better then 50/50. I recommend a unisex name :)
 

inkling13

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
62
Location (City and/or State)
central NY
Redfoots are incredibly hard to accurately sex until they are older. I have a breeder that I had pegged as a male since a hatchling until "he" started laying eggs. I can guess, but the answer (and any other answer) is going to be just that, a guess. No better then 50/50. I recommend a unisex name :)

Yes that's part of the reason I went with A'tuin :). It's from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel series where the world is a flat disc carried on the back of four elephants who in turn stand on the back of A'tuin the Great Star Turtle who swims through space. Here is a fan drawing for reference: http://atlanticjaxx.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/paul-kidby-disque-monde-the-great-a-tuin-2.jpg One of the unanswered mysteries of the Discworld universe is where the Great A'tuin is swimming to and if it's a migration to mate then is A'tuin male or female (and thus will the planet get knocked off her back or flattened if she is in fact female). The sex of A'tuin is never revealed but highly debated. If you couldn't tell, Pratchett writes highly satirical fantasy novels and I would absolutely recommend them to anyone for a good laugh.
 
Top