Red footed tortoise white bloth

[KSA05]

My red foot tortoise who I have had for 4 years and believe to be a girl as developed a white blotch on her face a couple days after having been soaked and her enclosure cleaned with a substrate change, she also I have noticed has been chomping at the air almost like a struggle yawn , really would appreciate help as I am worried.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
@Yvonne G @zovick could you take a look please? Ear looks swollen (it's better seen on the second photo).

 

[wellington]

Hello!
@Yvonne G @zovick could you take a look please? Ear looks swollen (it's better seen on the second photo).

I agree, ear looks swollen, not sure what marks they are talking about, but enclosure looks too small for the torts size and looks dry.

 

[wellington]

Please give more enclosure details, humidity, size, size of tort, etc.

 

[wellington]

More pics of torts ear and spots you are concerned about.

 

[Yvonne G]

It might be an ear abscess.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Ive circled what they’re referring to @wellington definitely looks suspiciouscould possibly be what Yvonne’s saying.

@KSA05 I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing more information on how you’re keeping them?

What are your temps like night and day?
What kind of lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging pics are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity reading?
What are you using for substrate?

A photo of the full set up would be good if you don’t mind sharing

 

[wellington]

Ive circled what they’re referring to @wellington definitely looks suspiciouscould possibly be what Yvonne’s saying.

@KSA05 I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing more information on how you’re keeping them?

What are your temps like night and day?
What kind of lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging pics are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity reading?
What are you using for substrate?

A photo of the full set up would be good if you don’t mind sharing

I already seen the ear and agreed it looks swollen. I thought they were talking about something else seeing they didn't call it it's ear.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I already seen the ear and agreed it looks swollen. I thought they were talking about something else seeing they didn't call it it's ear.

Ah ok no worries, I think that’s the white spot they were referring to though, the swollen ear

 

[wellington]

Ah ok no worries, I think that’s the white spot they were referring to though, the swollen ear

I was looking at the top of its head. Not exactly white but kinda off looking to me. But not a good angle either to tell if it's color or something else lol

 

[zovick]

My red foot tortoise who I have had for 4 years and believe to be a girl as developed a white blotch on her face a couple days after having been soaked and her enclosure cleaned with a substrate change, she also I have noticed has been chomping at the air almost like a struggle yawn , really would appreciate help as I am worried.View attachment 378655

I agree with Yvonne. The tortoise has an ear infection/abscess. You need to take it to a vet to have it drained/removed.

 

[KSA05]

More pics of torts ear and spots you are concerned about.

Ive circled what they’re referring to @wellington definitely looks suspiciouscould possibly be what Yvonne’s saying.

@KSA05 I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing more information on how you’re keeping them?

What are your temps like night and day?
What kind of lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging pics are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity reading?
What are you using for substrate?

A photo of the full set up would be good if you don’t mind sharing

32 degrees night and day for the last 4 years
Repti bark
I do use UV 12 Hours a day
Humidity 60-70-80 throughout the day

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Does the ear look swollen in person too? Has he been scratching it?

 

[KSA05]

Does the ear look swollen in person too? Has he been scratching it?

Yeah it’s swollen, looks like it’s filled with pus looks like it’s annoying her

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Then I would do like the others suggest and get a vet appointment to drain it.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

32 degrees night and day for the last 4 years
Repti bark
I do use UV 12 Hours a day
Humidity 60-70-80 throughout the day

Temp is slightly on the higher side, but it’s good it consistent night and day. May I ask what kind of heat bulbs you’re using?

What kind of uv bulb do you have? The 12hour rule is actually an old one that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the belief that one a basking bulb is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist at the same time, fact is uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, people who have uv meters can confirm this, no tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, especially red foots being from the forest floor, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity. Before I can recommend putting uv on a 4 hour timer though, it’d be good to know what kind you have.

Red foots thrive in humidity being 80+ 24/7, all over, yours does look a bit dry which could be causing some of the pyramiding. If yours is in a closed chamber? I suggest trying to seal the vents and maintain the humidity how it’s mentioned in the thread I’ll link below.

I think you’ll hopefully find this link below helpful to look through, it goes over how to appropriately maintain the humidity where it needs to be, appropriate equipment, levels, and there’s even a diet list at the end along with lots of visual examples on set ups

Young red foot/ cherryhead set up

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information on an effective example of a starter enclosure for a red foot/cherry head😊 Care advice for these guys is painfully behind, fb pages, YouTube, pet stores, they’re all repeating the same outdated advice, this forum is made of...

tortoiseforum.org

Hopefully the other responses have helped in letting you know what’s going on with your little one’s ear, bless them, I hope the vet can get them sorted and they feeling better soon!

Give that link a read and let us know if you have anymore questions! All the best

 

[KSA05]

Temp is slightly on the higher side, but it’s good it consistent night and day. May I ask what kind of heat bulbs you’re using?

What kind of uv bulb do you have? The 12hour rule is actually an old one that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the belief that one a basking bulb is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist at the same time, fact is uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, people who have uv meters can confirm this, no tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, especially red foots being from the forest floor, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity. Before I can recommend putting uv on a 4 hour timer though, it’d be good to know what kind you have.

Red foots thrive in humidity being 80+ 24/7, all over, yours does look a bit dry which could be causing some of the pyramiding. If yours is in a closed chamber? I suggest trying to seal the vents and maintain the humidity how it’s mentioned in the thread I’ll link below.

I think you’ll hopefully find this link below helpful to look through, it goes over how to appropriately maintain the humidity where it needs to be, appropriate equipment, levels, and there’s even a diet list at the end along with lots of visual examples on set ups

Young red foot/ cherryhead set up

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information on an effective example of a starter enclosure for a red foot/cherry head😊 Care advice for these guys is painfully behind, fb pages, YouTube, pet stores, they’re all repeating the same outdated advice, this forum is made of...

tortoiseforum.org

Hopefully the other responses have helped in letting you know what’s going on with your little one’s ear, bless them, I hope the vet can get them sorted and they feeling better soon!

Give that link a read and let us know if you have anymore questions! All the best

Hi thought I’d give an update, took her to the vets and turns out it’s due to a respiratory infection, I’ve suspicions it’s due to use of humidifier which I’ve now stopped, she had the abscesses removed and is now on antibiotics but is in pain from the surgical insertions and obviously having an infection

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello! Thank you for the update. I hope the infection was caught early enough and your tortoise will quickly recover.

Did the vet recommend some husbandry changes? Did you do any tests to determine what bacteria/virus caused the abscesses?

 

[KSA05]

Hello! Thank you for the update. I hope the infection was caught early enough and your tortoise will quickly recover.

Did the vet recommend some husbandry changes? Did you do any tests to determine what bacteria/virus caused the abscesses?

Hope so too, she’s still been eating and all so good signs I hope he suggested it was due to lack of vitamin A (more food like carrots papaya etc) and potentially the humidifier.

 

[zovick]

Hope so too, she’s still been eating and all so good signs I hope he suggested it was due to lack of vitamin A (more food like carrots papaya etc) and potentially the humidifier.

Did your vet want to give your tortoise a Vitamin A injection? Hopefully not. Just remember that vitamin injections for tortoises are NOT recommended.