Shell problems on wild gopher tortoise

[KathyH]

While walking, I encountered this wild tortoise with a discolored shell. At first glance, I thought someone had painted its shell, but as I grew closer, it appears the shell is diseased. I didn't touch or disturb it, of course, but he hunkered down long enough for me to snap a few photos. I tried to zoom in for closeups. Any idea what's wrong with it? It lives nearby, so I've seen it more than once.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Its shell fungus.

While walking, I encountered this wild tortoise with a discolored shell. At first glance, I thought someone had painted its shell, but as I grew closer, it appears the shell is diseased. I didn't touch or disturb it, of course, but he hunkered down long enough for me to snap a few photos. I tried to zoom in for closeups. Any idea what's wrong with it? It lives nearby, so I've seen it more than once.

 

[jsheffield - In Memoriam]

It's possible, probably even, that the correct answer is to leave it alone and let nature sort things out...

Instead of that, I'd make a point of going for walks with a tube of dollar store athlete's foot cream in my pocket, and when/if I saw this tort again, I'd grab it just long enough to smear the entire shell with the antifungal cream.

Jamie

 

[KathyH]

While walking, I encountered this wild tortoise with a discolored shell. At first glance, I thought someone had painted its shell, but as I grew closer, it appears the shell is diseased. I didn't touch or disturb it, of course, but he hunkered down long enough for me to snap a few photos. I tried to zoom in for closeups. Any idea what's wrong with it? It lives nearby, so I've seen it more than once.

Its shell fungus.

Thanks, Todd. I'll do some research on that. Part of my concern is whether it's contagious. I don't believe gopher tortoises share burrows with other GTs, but I've had a bunch of GTs show up/borrow on my property lately and worried about the healthy ones "catching" this. (I did observe one GT "visiting" another one's burrow, but it didn't stay down there for long - so either mating or the other one ran it off? Hence the concern about contagion.)

 

[KathyH]

It's possible, probably even, that the correct answer is to leave it alone and let nature sort things out...

Instead of that, I'd make a point of going for walks with a tube of dollar store athlete's foot cream in my pocket, and when/if I saw this tort again, I'd grab it just long enough to smear the entire shell with the antifungal cream.

Jamie

Thanks, Jamie. The poor critter just looked pathetic. Of course, I didn't say that until I was out of its hearing range.