Red Foot Soft Belly

[shidiwen]

hi guys,

i'd like to ask your expertise on this:
i have two red foot torts - not sure how old, but when i measure their belly shell these are 6 cm and 6,5 cm.

i just noticed today, that for both of them the belly shell is soft. the smaller one more than the larger one. this is the first time i noticed this so i am not sure about any change at this point, but i wanted to ask if this is normal at their size / age.

both are eating and seem fine (no change in behavior) and they both eat their calcium / vit along with their food, they don'T really make use of the UV lamp / basking spot though (apart from their daily bath for which i put them right under that lamp).

thanks for your advice on this!


Steve

 

[mattgrizzlybear]

They might have shell rot.

 

[shidiwen]

wouldn't shell rot be visible on the shell surface?
they don't look any different.

 

[Redstrike]

Do they get any outdoor time in the sun?

 

[mattgrizzlybear]

There may be black sploches

 

[shidiwen]

they are kept indoors - we are in beijing and it's minus degrees here outside.
they have sunlight lamps (powersun) and another UVB lamp, but they barely use the basking spot, they prefer to stay in their hides, which we try to keep damp, but it's generally rather dry here - i really wonder how they could get shell rot in this setup.

i give them a bath daily and put the tank under the powersun lamp.

what else can i try? should we keep their hides more on the dry side for a while?

thanks for any suggestions!

 

[RedfootsRule]

At that size, its completely normal. Hatchlings always have soft plastrons for the first few months. As long as they're eating, they're fine.

 

[Redstrike]

At that size, its completely normal. Hatchlings always have soft plastrons for the first few months. As long as they're eating, they're fine.

Agreed!
6.5cm is still a young hatchling, there plastron should be a bit springy still.

 

[shidiwen]

that sounds very good to me! i never noticed it before so i really can't tell, but that's simply because i never thought of squeezing their belly.

last night one of them fell asleep on the food bowl and had some nasty dried in food on the belly, washing that off after the bath is how i noticed.

i'll keep an eye on it. on this note another question:

can anyone give me a rough idea on how old these fellas should be based on their size? we have had them for 6 and 3 months now but don't know how old they were at purchase.

thanks all

 

[RedfootsRule]

Where did you get them from? If they were given optimal care, I would say less then a month old when you got them. If it was from a breeder, this is likely. If it was from a pet store, possibly older. Atleast thats how it is in the U.S; never been to a pet store in china, they might take really good care of their animals. Being that they're a pet store however, I doubt it...

 

[shidiwen]

thanks guys!
these two fellas are from two different sources - hard to judge how they were kept before.

i will monitor and keep you posted on this

thanks again!