Skin Rot

[Idaliadream]

Please help... Not sure what caused her skin rot but we moved June 15 to a new home. Charlie, our female Tortoise, had made her own burrows at my last home. This home.. Not so much. She isn't really eating or drinking? ? And we live in AZ.. Its hot! Her whole goal is to get inside now! I made her a burrow at this house... She went in it for a day and then ignored it. Tries to get in thru the doggy door all day. She went in her burrow Friday night and hasn't come out. I can see she is alive in there but don't know if I should make her come out? And to top it off, she has skin rot on her front legs.. That appeared about 3/4 weeks after moving here. Please help..

 

[nicoleann2214]

Please help... Not sure what caused her skin rot but we moved June 15 to a new home. Charlie, our female Tortoise, had made her own burrows at my last home. This home.. Not so much. She isn't really eating or drinking? ? And we live in AZ.. Its hot! Her whole goal is to get inside now! I made her a burrow at this house... She went in it for a day and then ignored it. Tries to get in thru the doggy door all day. She went in her burrow Friday night and hasn't come out. I can see she is alive in there but don't know if I should make her come out? And to top it off, she has skin rot on her front legs.. That appeared about 3/4 weeks after moving here. Please help..

Can you post pictures

 

[Idaliadream]

Can you post pictures

 

[nicoleann2214]

View attachment 301296View attachment 301297

@Tom

 

[Lokkje]

Is the burrow in the shade? I live in Phoenix and have three desert tortoises in the backyard (have raised over 300) and all three chose to burrow underneath trees that aren’t watered regularly and then hang out and wallow in the mud when the citrus trees are watered. The legs look like the outer skin has been ripped off. Is there any way she could have torn them or have them bitten off by a male tortoise? My little Texas desert tortoise keeps coming into the house if I leave the door open because it’s cooler and lately my two Sonoran desert tortoises also been trying to go into the house because it’s just so danged hot. Make sure there’s plenty of water and that the burrow is in a shady area and fairly deep and dry so that it isn’t too hot for her but she can’t get a respiratory infection. Try feeding some favorite foods like hibiscus flowers and leaves or Cactus pads. Somewhat surprisingly, Arizona game and Fish actually has a pretty good website on captive desert tortoises as they run the adoption program for Arizona. You might want to look at it. https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife/nongamemanagement/tortoise/diet/
It’s not close to Peoria but Arizona Exotic animal hospital could be helpful on 19th Ave and the 101.

 

[Idaliadream]

Is the burrow in the shade? I live in Phoenix and have three desert tortoises in the backyard (have raised over 300) and all three chose to burrow underneath trees that aren’t watered regularly and then hang out and wallow in the mud when the citrus trees are watered. The legs look like the outer skin has been ripped off. Is there any way she could have torn them or have them bitten off by a male tortoise? My little Texas desert tortoise keeps coming into the house if I leave the door open because it’s cooler and lately my two Sonoran desert tortoises also been trying to go into the house because it’s just so danged hot. Make sure there’s plenty of water and that the burrow is in a shady area and fairly deep and dry so that it isn’t too hot for her but she can’t get a respiratory infection. Try feeding some favorite foods like hibiscus flowers and leaves or Cactus pads. Somewhat surprisingly, Arizona game and Fish actually has a pretty good website on captive desert tortoises as they run the adoption program for Arizona. You might want to look at it. https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife/nongamemanagement/tortoise/diet/
It’s not close to Peoria but Arizona Exotic animal hospital could be helpful on 19th Ave and the 101.

No trees in this backyard for her... Burrow is in the shade for all but a couple hours. I want to get a canopy and keep it low to help out get more shade. I will do that tomorrow. Burrow is as deep as the video told me to go... I dug about 10 inches? I think and then put cinder blocks around the outside of it. Wonder board on top and covered with dirt.

I always have water for her and she normally grazes on grass plus eats the variety of foods I know she loves. I don't know if the move stressed her? But she isn't eating and drinking, unless she is doing it at night, which also is not like her.

The damage on her front legs could be from constantly trying to come in the doggy door but even when I keep the 'insert' in there... The white spots seem to spread.

 

[Lokkje]

I think the burrow is too hot and not quite deep enough with not quite enough shade. The first two pictures are of Tiny Tim my little male Texas tortoise. He is on the outside of a natural burrow. It went down about 3 feet. There is a block fence behind it that they dug around and a rosemary bush beside it. It was always quite cool and dry within not that I like sticking my hand inside it to find out. The next picture is up on my porch where a number of the tortoises would come and shove them selves by the house underneath my cupboards were the patio was quite cool since it was never in the sun and buy the house. The last picture is tiny Tim coming into the house when the Arcadia door was open with my old Labrador Jilly wondering why a tortoise is coming in. I thought I had a picture of the tortoises flipping mud on themselves and wallowing around in the orange tree but I can’t find it right now. They really enjoy cooling off by flipping mud on themselves but I don’t want them burrowing in the area as they can get a respiratory infection.

 

[Lokkje]

Sorry I dictated and there are many typos as is typical of me.

 

[Lokkje]

By the way welcome to the forum and your tortoise is adorable. She might enjoy a nice soak. Tiny Tim avoids water like the plague and gets very stressed out when I try to soak him but my other tortoises really enjoy it. Tiny is probably around 65 to 75 years old so I guess he’s allowed to be an old grump. I’ve had him for almost 60 years.

 

[Tom]

The damage on the legs is not rot. It looks like rodent damage. I suppose it could also be from trying to get inside and rubbing. That is a possibility.

Set up some rat traps where the tortoise can't reach them. Look for signs of rodents like droppings and chew marks on things.

Either way, this tortoise needs proper housing. That means an enclosure with walls that it can't hurt itself on, and a burrow that is deep enough and cool enough. How do you know if the burrow is deep enough and cool enough? Stick a digital thermometer down there that records the high and low each day.

Here is some care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Idaliadream]

I think the burrow is too hot and not quite deep enough with not quite enough shade. The first two pictures are of Tiny Tim my little male Texas tortoise. He is on the outside of a natural burrow. It went down about 3 feet. There is a block fence behind it that they dug around and a rosemary bush beside it. It was always quite cool and dry within not that I like sticking my hand inside it to find out. The next picture is up on my porch where a number of the tortoises would come and shove them selves by the house underneath my cupboards were the patio was quite cool since it was never in the sun and buy the house. The last picture is tiny Tim coming into the house when the Arcadia door was open with my old Labrador Jilly wondering why a tortoise is coming in. I thought I had a picture of the tortoises flipping mud on themselves and wallowing around in the orange tree but I can’t find it right now. They really enjoy cooling off by flipping mud on themselves but I don’t want them burrowing in the area as they can get a respiratory infection.

Tiny Tim's burrow looks like her last burrow... Could moving have stressed her out?

 

[Toddrickfl1]

The legs look like they were chewed on by rodents possibly.

 

[Idaliadream]

The damage on the legs is not rot. It looks like rodent damage. I suppose it could also be from trying to get inside and rubbing. That is a possibility.

Set up some rat traps where the tortoise can't reach them. Look for signs of rodents like droppings and chew marks on things.

Either way, this tortoise needs proper housing. That means an enclosure with walls that it can't hurt itself on, and a burrow that is deep enough and cool enough. How do you know if the burrow is deep enough and cool enough? Stick a digital thermometer down there that records the high and low each day.

Here is some care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

My roommate and I are going to dig the burrow deeper right now for her. Before it gets any hotter... The problem at this house is there isn't anywhere that gets shade all day. What if after we dug it.. I put like a pop up over it (low) to help with sun?

 

[Tom]

My roommate and I are going to dig the burrow deeper right now for her. Before it gets any hotter... The problem at this house is there isn't anywhere that gets shade all day. What if after we dug it.. I put like a pop up over it (low) to help with sun?

A deeper burrow is good, but still use a thermometer to check the temperature down there.

You also need to figure out what is damaging the leg scales. My first guess is still rodents. Action needs to be taken immediately. You can't leave the tortoise down in a burrow if rodents are chewing on it at night.

 

[Idaliadream]

A deeper burrow is good, but still use a thermometer to check the temperature down there.

You also need to figure out what is damaging the leg scales. My first guess is still rodents. Action needs to be taken immediately. You can't leave the tortoise down in a burrow if rodents are chewing on it at night.

We walked around and looked for signs of rodents.. We couldn't find any. Will get traps today. Thank you. I'll keep you posted

 

[Rodriguez Chelonians]

Hello. Sorry to read your tortoise is not acclimating to the move well. Older tortoises tend to have trouble with relocation especially if the new environment is not correct. I recommend getting some plants, shrubs, trees...what have you to plant ASAP and create shade for the tortoise. I agree with Tom on the legs appearing to be chewed on by rodents. Set up a camera at night on the burrow so you can see if there is anything going in and out. This too will cause serious stress for the tortoise. I have treated desert tortoises who had their whole forearm eaten while in a burrow during the winter. It’s not pretty. Keep us posted.

 

[Lokkje]

Horrible but excellent example of rodent attack.

 

[Idaliadream]

Hello. Sorry to read your tortoise is not acclimating to the move well. Older tortoises tend to have trouble with relocation especially if the new environment is not correct. I recommend getting some plants, shrubs, trees...what have you to plant ASAP and create shade for the tortoise. I agree with Tom on the legs appearing to be chewed on by rodents. Set up a camera at night on the burrow so you can see if there is anything going in and out. This too will cause serious stress for the tortoise. I have treated desert tortoises who had their whole forearm eaten while in a burrow during the winter. It’s not pretty. Keep us posted. View attachment 301333

Problem is I am renting this place so I can't plant trees and bushes ? I dug the burrow deeper and put a shade over it. Tomorrow I'm getting a thermometer delivered to see the actual temp. While I was digging it, Charlie, the tortoise, was actively trying to help ❤️

 

[Idaliadream]

Horrible but excellent example of rodent attack.

In grateful she didn't look like that ?

 

[Lokkje]

Get potted plants. I was renting for a year waiting for my current temporary forever home and I had potted plants that were shady and edible. I had three hibiscus in pots which are now in the ground at my house and what I did is I put various potted plants out in the tortoises would gather amongst the potted plants and then I would pluck leaves and blossoms for them when I was feeding. You can also get plants the trail down and it makes for a pretty garden at a rental home and the tortoises really enjoy eating some of the different greenery and you have control of how much they trash it because you’re the one that’s plucking. Is she eating yet?