Red Foots With Shell Fungus [update]

nootnootbu

Active Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
132
Location (City and/or State)
USA
So, since Day 1 we have made a lot of progress and we all have names now as individuality becomes more obvious. I have been treating with an athlete's foot cream, Butenafine based. (I hope this one is relatively safe for torts?) It seemed to be the most common medication Walmart had to treat athlete's foot.

The babies are all still bright eyed and alert, and they really pack away the food. They seem active and seem to be doing well. My question is, should I continue for a full 14 days, or maybe stop at 7? Is there any risk to them getting the cream on their food as they seem to all love to climb directly on top of their salad!

Pictures below to show progress!!

Noggin Day 1:
Nogginday1.jpg

Noggin Day 6:

Nogginday6.jpg


Squirt Day 1:

Squirtday1.jpg

Squirt Day 6:

Squirtday6.jpg

Porcini Day 1:
porciniday1.jpg

Porcini Day 6:

porciniday6.jpg

Pygmoi Day 1:

pygmoiday1.jpg

Pygmoi Day 6:

pygmoiday6.jpg


As you can see from the pictures, they seem to be improving rapidly and I think most of the fungus is gone, and now it's just scarring?
They have gained a good bit of weight since I got them, ( I'm not sure of exact amount, as I haven't got a scale yet, but plan to.) They just feel much heavier.
Their shells feel a lot sturdier too. When I first got them, they felt so very thin and fragile, like hollow? almost.
Now they feel dense and hardy. They went from feeling like egg shells, to feeling more like sturdy little rocks. <3
 

Krista S

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
1,364
Location (City and/or State)
Saskatchewan
Wow! What an incredible difference after just 6 days! I have no experience with this, so I can’t say if you should continue with the cream or not, but just wanted to say thank you for posting the pictures. This is going to be very helpful for others to see. Great job!!
 

nootnootbu

Active Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
132
Location (City and/or State)
USA
Wow! What an incredible difference after just 6 days! I have no experience with this, so I can’t say if you should continue with the cream or not, but just wanted to say thank you for posting the pictures. This is going to be very helpful for others to see. Great job!!

Thank you, when I took the new pics today, I was floored by how dramatic the difference was from their first pics, just 6 days ago, so I had to share the contrast. :)

I'm very proud of them so far! I feel like I must be doing something right.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
At this point, the fungus is probably dead.
I always advocate 14 days out of caution. But I've never needed more than 7 or 10.
The color shows me it's inactive.
Keep the cream handy. Fungal issues are not unusual for Redfoot.
 

nootnootbu

Active Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
132
Location (City and/or State)
USA
At this point, the fungus is probably dead.
I always advocate 14 days out of caution. But I've never needed more than 7 or 10.
The color shows me it's inactive.
Keep the cream handy. Fungal issues are not unusual for Redfoot.

Alright, thank you. I think I might go to 10 days just to be safe, then put them back on a good substrate. I think the issue was, previous owner was keeping them absolutely soggy, rather than moist, and maybe let the substrate get really dirty.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Alright, thank you. I think I might go to 10 days just to be safe, then put them back on a good substrate. I think the issue was, previous owner was keeping them absolutely soggy, rather than moist, and maybe let the substrate get really dirty.
Like I always say about that ATHLETES FOOT CREAM: Even if it's not neccessary, using it still does no harm. So if there's any question at all, continue to use it. It can only help.
Redfoot need high humidity. Which in an indoors enclosure often means wet. But even in an almost perfect outdoors enclosure, they still seek out water and mud and love the rain.
Anyone with a Redfoot should probably have a tube of that cream on hand. And I get mine from the dollar store. It works just as well.
 

Vixtory75

New Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2021
Messages
5
Location (City and/or State)
Selby North Yorkshire UK
Alright, thank you. I think I might go to 10 days just to be safe, then put them back on a good substrate. I think the issue was, previous owner was keeping them absolutely soggy, rather than moist, and maybe let the substrate get really dirty.
That’s the problem with a lot of the Facebook groups, they literally advice to keep substrate wet! The difference in 6 days is remarkable ?
 

nootnootbu

Active Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
132
Location (City and/or State)
USA
That’s the problem with a lot of the Facebook groups, they literally advice to keep substrate wet! The difference in 6 days is remarkable ?
We are all eating well and gaining weight too. I recently bought a kitchen scale just to keep up with their weight. One is a good bit smaller than the others, but he seems healthy otherwise and is also gaining weight. I think it's possible he was from a younger clutch.
 

New Posts

Top