shell abrading knee

[herbertanchovy]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could offer me advice on something. My Sulcata's shell is scraping both his knees to the point where there is now some blood, but not a lot. It just hurts to look at the scrapes. Is there anything I can do to stop his shell from hurting him? My parents suggested filing the sharp edges of his carapace down where it is hurting his knees, but I'm not sure if that would be safe...

He's quite young, a bit over a year old, if this helps.

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[RTfanatic]

That sounds odd, as the torts tend to wear the surfaces near their limbs pretty smooth, though if the shell is cracked it might rub it for a while. Are you sure it's the shell scraping him?

 

[herbertanchovy]

Yeah, I can see where it's scraping him. It's usually when he tries to get out of enclosures when his knees get hurt because he tries to "stand up" and the sharp parts of his shell scrape down on his skin.

 

[Crazy1]

herbertanchovy, what type and size enclosure do you have your sully in? Pics would be great.

 

[herbertanchovy]

He's in a large wooden enclosure...it's kind of like a storage case on it's back. It's about 3 1/2 feet all around...I don't have a camera to upload photos, sorry.

I can see that each time he walks or moves his back legs, they rub against that part of his shell. I recall someone inquiring about this somewhere else a long while back, but I cannot find the site or any info on this happening to others' tortoises. I read on tortoisetrust.org to put honey on scrapes because of its antibacterial properties so I dabbed some on Poot's knees. I can't cover his knees with anything, though, he won't let me. I don't know if filing down is safe, so I hesitate to do so.

 

[desertsss]

When walking around even my torts have their legs rubbing against their shell but never caused a cut/rash or abrasion. Never heard of that. Back legs or front legs? That might make a difference. Are you sure there wasn't a cut prior to you noticing? Is it on both sides? Just curious. I want to know in case it happens to my torts. I am sorry I don't have any help, but others will I am sure.

 

[herbertanchovy]

It's his back legs. It started a couple of months ago, but it was very minimal. Now it's all abraded and stuff...it looks like it hurts.

 

[desertsss]

I am not a vet, but I would say take to a vet. If you can't then I would say try to bandage the areas that are rubbing until they heal. But as I said I AM NOT A VET. Sounds bad, and a vet would be able to tell you right away what you should do. Good luck!

 

[herbertanchovy]

Thanks. It shouldn't be too bad, I guess he's just gotten his knees chafed up. I want to bandage his knees, but I don't know if a band-aid would damage his skin. I will try to get some stuff at the drugstore tomorrow and see if that alleviates the abrasion.

 

[Laura]

be careful what you put on him.. some things are toxic to torts...

 

[Yvonne G]

In my opinion, if the edge of his shell is that sharp that it abrades the skin, you should take him to a vet and ask to have that portion of the shell rounded off with a Dremel tool. You can apply a triple-antibiotic ointment such as you would apply to a cut or scrape on your own body. Honey would be a mess. But all the ointment or compress in the world won't help until you soften that sharp edge of his shell.

Yvonne

 

[herbertanchovy]

Ok, I will look into that. Thanks so much.