Red Foot with Skin issues due to vitamin shots

christinaland128

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There is a woman in a tort group I'm in who has a red foot with a seemingly unrepairable leg wound.

The tort is beautifully taken care of as you can see her shell is very smooth. She resides in Hawaii and says there aren't many vets who can help her.

She said she keeps it clean and tries to keep a bandage on it as often as possible. She said it's been like this for months and no new scales are growing back but it's not getting worse at all.

Anyone know what cause this?

Here's her post:ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1436142282.307978.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1436142321.657627.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1436142328.807570.jpg

Aloha!

***I need advice just on the skin issue that has resulted. Please don't give advice on what should have been done by previous ownersIMG_0030.JPG IMG_0031.JPG IMG_0033.JPG .

This is Scooter. I have had her for about 2 years. When we got her, she didn't use her legs at all and had been through a couple owners. From what the last owner says, she was given multiple vitamin shots I am guessing in her front legs by the owner previous to the last owner. When we got her, she hardly extended her legs and then she started to. (Her legs still stay in a 'u' position and don't fully extend out.)

First the skin on her left leg partially came off when I put her in an outside enclosure with grass and then the right leg. (I attached pictures.) I keep her in a plastic large container with newspaper and/or clean cloths so her legs don't get infected or lose more skin. I also soak her 1-2 times a day in a warm bath with a drop of bentadine solution and put on silver gel lightly every other day. I did consult with a veterinarian that has worked on tortoises. Finding vets on the Big Island in Hawaii is extremely limited. I do not live on Oahu so please don't suggest any help on Oahu.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Any recommendations if you have had experience? I can't use the typical substrate because it gets into her exposed/muscle and layer of skin.


Her appetite is excellent and she poops daily.

Have a great day!
 
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Yvonne G

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It's the vitamin injections that did this. You are seeing the reason why we always tell people when taking your tortoise to the vet do not allow them to inject the vitamin a,d,e injection. For some reason it quite often results in an overdose of vitamin A, which causes the skin to slough off just like you're seeing in those pictures.

I don't know what she can do to encourage new skin to cover the flesh, but I think she needs to see a different vet and get some help.
 

Yvonne G

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Also, Betadine discourages the growth of white blood cells. Please tell your friend to stop adding it to the soaking water.
 

Yvonne G

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Seems to me you need to keep that flesh moist. Maybe keep Neosporin on it and even tucked under the skin that's still there.
 

naturalman91

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all i can say is keep it clean torts take a long time to heal

it's good that her appetite is excellent and that you keep her well hydrated

it almost looks like the muscle and tissue separated from the skin/scales
 

MichaelaW

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It's either hypovitaminosis or hypervitaminosis caused by either a lack of vitamin A or too much vitamin A. Unfortunately, this needs to be diagnosed by a vet because the symptoms are so similar. Could you give some background on his diet and housing? This would be helpful in diagnosing the issue. You are doing the right thing in keeping his leg clean and using paper for substrate. I'm leaning towards a vitamin A overdose (hypervitaminosis) since you said his previous owners give him vitamin shots.
 

Yvonne G

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@Yvonne G Please repeat what you suggested earlier, sorry. :)

The skin has sloughed off due to the vitamin injections. You need to keep the area moist. Keep it covered with an antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin. And push the ointment under the skin that's still there. Stop using the Betadine, as Betadine inhibits the growth of new white cells.
 

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