redfoot shell rot or fungus?

betweenshells

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can anyone let me know if they think this is shell rot or shell fungus? she's a rescue redfoot tortoise, anywhere between 3-5 years old. upgrading her indoor enclosure this week to a 4x2x2 from dubia. her poop has also been rather stinky and loose. not sure what i could be doing wrong. her current enclosure ranges from 75-85 degrees, with a 60-90 percent humidity.
 

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wellington

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First a 4x2x2 is way too small. She needs at least a 4x8 and will need much bigger then that in a year or two.
I think it looks like a fungus. Use athletes foot cream on it daily. Wash off the days before first then reapply. In a week or two if it's not looking better then switch to antibiotic cream
Keep the top layer of substrate dry. They need high humidity but must not have top layer of substrate wet.
 

betweenshells

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First a 4x2x2 is way too small. She needs at least a 4x8 and will need much bigger then that in a year or two.
I think it looks like a fungus. Use athletes foot cream on it daily. Wash off the days before first then reapply. In a week or two if it's not looking better then switch to antibiotic cream
Keep the top layer of substrate dry. They need high humidity but must not have top layer of substrate wet.
awesome thanks! unfortunately, i can't accomodate a bigger space indoors at the moment. hoping in the next year or so, i can afford to make a move. she most definitely has a way bigger outside enclosure! she just isn't in it for the next couple months bc winter.
 

wellington

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Glad she does have a summer home outside.
You can always try building a second level on the indoor enclosure. A 4x2 is just really too small. If they can roam enough to build and maintain muscle, you will have bigger problems.
 

betweenshells

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Glad she does have a summer home outside.
You can always try building a second level on the indoor enclosure. A 4x2 is just really too small. If they can roam enough to build and maintain muscle, you will have bigger problems.
ah yeah... ideally my next place has either an extra bedroom or a garage for her. can i ask what time of bigger problems could come of a small enclosure? i ask because I've really only had her for about a month at this point. before this, she was living in a very small chicken coop with other chickens. she already had this plastron issue when I got her.
 

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It's either an active, mild fungal infection or one that is already healing. But I'd smear a bit of Athletes foot cream on it anyway.
The cream will kill the fungus very fast. The areas will look the same for months. But it will firm up. And eventually fade away.
Do you have other questions?
It looks like the care up until this point has been pretty bad.
 
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Maggie3fan

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ah yeah... ideally my next place has either an extra bedroom or a garage for her. can i ask what time of bigger problems could come of a small enclosure? i ask because I've really only had her for about a month at this point. before this, she was living in a very small chicken coop with other chickens. she already had this plastron issue when I got her.
Oh holy chicken crap! That is so freakin bad. 2 questions...what are you feeding? What was her diet like before you? Does this tort have free access to water?
 

wellington

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ah yeah... ideally my next place has either an extra bedroom or a garage for her. can i ask what time of bigger problems could come of a small enclosure? i ask because I've really only had her for about a month at this point. before this, she was living in a very small chicken coop with other chickens. she already had this plastron issue when I got her.
I rescued a leopard that was kept in too small enclosure. He couldn't lift himself to walk properly and was stunted in size. Just imagine if you only had your small bathroom to live in. With proper care, room and therapy, he walks great now, and caught up to the size he should be. That's visual signs. Who knows what goes on inside.
 

betweenshells

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Oh holy chicken crap! That is so freakin bad. 2 questions...what are you feeding? What was her diet like before you? Does this tort have free access to water?
yeah so bad.. she wasn't eating on her own for a very long time. we had to hand feed her... i feed her a variety of different things. but this sums up her diet:

greens: red leaf and green leaf lettuce, dandelion, collard, arugula, hibiscus and marigold leaves as well as some weeds she likes from my yard.

fruits: strawberries, lucuma, mamey, melon, watermelon and mango (2x per week)

flowers: hibiscus and dandelion flowers.

veggies: an array of squashes and cactus pads.
she also eats mazuri pellets for redfoots a couple times a week as well - sometimes i just smash some up and put them in her food bc she doesn't eat them on her own a lot of the time. she also has drinking and soaking water available in both her indoor and outdoor enclosures. i don't know what her diet was like before me, in all honesty. but given that she wouldn't eat a lot and lived with chickens (who eat anything and everything), i highly doubt she got first dips on her food most of the time.
 

betweenshells

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I rescued a leopard that was kept in too small enclosure. He couldn't lift himself to walk properly and was stunted in size. Just imagine if you only had your small bathroom to live in. With proper care, room and therapy, he walks great now, and caught up to the size he should be. That's visual signs. Who knows what goes on inside.
ya luckily, my tort, Rojita, doesn't issues like those. she's fairly active and walks on all four. she is maybe like 5 to 6 inches long and has a big shell. some pyramiding is present but her shell has made improvement. the only thing that seems consistent is her shell fungus on the plastron. aiming to get that under control these next couple weeks.

i live in texas, so winters aren't very long. ideally she's only in her indoor enclosure for another couple months and then she can be outside with more space and better climate!


super into making a second floor though in her indoor space just to get her muscles still going. any recs on how to do that or good youtube vids to check out?
 

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yeah so bad.. she wasn't eating on her own for a very long time. we had to hand feed her... i feed her a variety of different things. but this sums up her diet:

greens: red leaf and green leaf lettuce, dandelion, collard, arugula, hibiscus and marigold leaves as well as some weeds she likes from my yard.

fruits: strawberries, lucuma, mamey, melon, watermelon and mango (2x per week)

flowers: hibiscus and dandelion flowers.

veggies: an array of squashes and cactus pads.
she also eats mazuri pellets for redfoots a couple times a week as well - sometimes i just smash some up and put them in her food bc she doesn't eat them on her own a lot of the time. she also has drinking and soaking water available in both her indoor and outdoor enclosures. i don't know what her diet was like before me, in all honesty. but given that she wouldn't eat a lot and lived with chickens (who eat anything and everything), i highly doubt she got first dips on her food most of the time.
The diet you are feeding sounds perfectly adequate. Your Redfoot can eat a HUGE variety of foods. (Chicken scratch isn't one of those foods)
 

betweenshells

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It's either an active, mild fungal infection or one that is already healing. But I'd smear a bit of Athletes foot cream on it anyway.
The cream will kill the fungus very fast. The areas will look the same for months. But it will firm up. And eventually fade away.
Do you have other questions?
It looks like the care up until this point has been pretty bad.
yeah! i wanna show folks her carapace to get feedback on pyramiding and just her overall shell health. these are some fotos of her today in her morning soak. she also finally had a firm poop after fairly consistent loose stools. that last one is just her looking cute in her enclosure.
 

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ZEROPILOT

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That's what I would call very mild pyramiding. It's within the "normal" range in my opinion. Redfoot are extremely hard to grow with zero pyramiding.
I had imagined it being much worse.
He or she actually looks pretty good.
When he walks, does he raise his body up and walk on strong legs or does he stay low like that and drag his body?
 

betweenshells

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That's what I would call very mild pyramiding. It's within the "normal" range in my opinion. Redfoot are extremely hard to grow with zero pyramiding.
I had imagined it being much worse.
He or she actually looks pretty good.
When he walks, does he raise his body up and walk on strong legs or does he stay low like that and drag his body?
she walks strongly and on all fours! she's made lots of improvement. i think she didn't pyramid so much in the chicken coop because she was outside and got her uvb and such. i believe she was in those conditions for about a year and some. she usually slumps over in the lukewarm water because shes comfy and warm in there.
 

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she walks strongly and on all fours! she's made lots of improvement. i think she didn't pyramid so much in the chicken coop because she was outside and got her uvb and such. i believe she was in those conditions for about a year and some. she usually slumps over in the lukewarm water because shes comfy and warm in there.
She seems to be in much better condition than I first thought.
You're doing a good job.
 

betweenshells

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She seems to be in much better condition than I first thought.
You're doing a good job.
thanks a bunch! this means a lot. i know i can still do better and wanna aim to get a bigger indoor enclosure for her forsure. that will just take some time and planning on my part. if i ever feel like i just can't provide her what she needs, i feel commited to finding someone or a rescue center that can provide her with better care than i could.
 

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