Three toed box female with rubbed spot on foot.

[Stormmom5]

Hello, newbie here with a question about my TTBT. She has a rubbed spot on one of her back feet. She gets a scab on it, but when I soak her, the scab falls off. Also, she acts as if the scab is pulling or irritating her and will favor the foot until the scab falls off, and then she walks more normally on it. She is still eating fairly well, and using the bathroom when she soaks. She is not as active as she was, and after her soak and eating, she burrows back into her substrate and stays there the rest of the day. She also has a couple of rubbed spots on her plastron near her back end, which seem to be getting better. I can hear her scraping the bottom of her enclosure when she digs down, despite having 5-6" of substrate. I've been putting Neosporin on her foot with a q-tip after her bath. Any ideas/suggestions welcome as to the change in behavior or the abrasion on her foot.

 

[mark1]

something lacking in her environment ....... make her a pen outside if your able ........ maybe she's looking for a spot to lay eggs ..... maybe the temps don't suit her ..........

 

[wellington]

My first guess with the little bit of info we have, would be you are housing her in way too small and enclosure.
Now give us a bunch more details in order for us to be able to help.
Post pic of enclosure. Give details of heat, lighting, temps, humidity, etc.
If the enclosure is appropriate sized then something else is way off.
As for the foot. Keep putting Neosporin on it but I would keep her on paper towels until it's healed.

 

[Stormmom5]

Here is her setup. She's in a tortoise table with coco coir, reptisoil, and sphagnum moss. Reptisun t5 ho bulb, and a CHE bulb for nighttime heat. Humidity runs around 50-60% in the main area and 75-80% in her hidey-hole area. Temps are normally in the mid to high 70's with around 80-85 under the heat lamp, but I had her out for a soak and the lids were up, so it cooled off a bit. She gets red and green leaf lettuce, dandelions, strawberries and other berries, and Canadian crawlers, and boiled eggs. I dust her food with reptivite and reptical twice a week. She gets soaks for about an hour almost every day. Here lately she has been refusing to eat anything but the Canadian crawlers, but she absolutely devours them. If I get her out, she will move around and is very alert and curious, but as soon as I put her back, she yawns, looks at me for a few minutes, and then right back to her hidey-hole and burrows down to sleep. She's not showing any signs of a Respiratory infection either. Nose, eyes, and mouth all clear with no mucus.

 

[Stormmom5]

My first guess with the little bit of info we have, would be you are housing her in way too small and enclosure.
Now give us a bunch more details in order for us to be able to help.
Post pic of enclosure. Give details of heat, lighting, temps, humidity, etc.
If the enclosure is appropriate sized then something else is way off.
As for the foot. Keep putting Neosporin on it but I would keep her on paper towels until it's healed.

Sorry, I sent the reply separately instead of directly to this post.

 

[jeff kushner]

I generally stay out of these "injury" threads but HOW?

Looking at your fantastic but cold setup, how did he get hurt?

I would defer to the real talent here but I'd raise those temps, 5F degrees across the board. They need low-mid 80s to digest food. Warming them up fixes a lot of ills with these guys it seems.

Maybe something else is causing stress?

Good luck,

jeff

 

[Yvonne G]

What a cute little turtle!

You should try to figure out what the turtle is rubbing on that is causing the scrapes. Does he spend much time on the feeding rock? You might consider keeping him in a tub with no substrate, only paper towels or newspaper until the areas are healed, and I'd keep the one on the skin covered with Neosporin so a scab doesn't form.

 

[Stormmom5]

I generally stay out of these "injury" threads but HOW?

Looking at your fantastic but cold setup, how did he get hurt?

I would defer to the real talent here but I'd raise those temps, 5F degrees across the board. They need low-mid 80s to digest food. Warming them up fixes a lot of ills with these guys it seems.

Maybe something else is causing stress?

Good luck,

jeff

I've been asking myself the same thing! And she keeps wearing the scab off and reopening the spot on her foot. I let her just chill for a couple days and didn't soak her since that seems to be when she breaks the scab loose. The foot looks a little better but now she's constipated from not soaking, since she hasn't been drinking from her water dish, which she used to do all the time. I will raise the temps in her enclosure, but for some reason she seems to be avoiding the heat and uv bulb as much as possible.

 

[Stormmom5]

What a cute little turtle!

You should try to figure out what the turtle is rubbing on that is causing the scrapes. Does he spend much time on the feeding rock? You might consider keeping him in a tub with no substrate, only paper towels or newspaper until the areas are healed, and I'd keep the one on the skin covered with Neosporin so a scab doesn't form.

Thanks! The only thing I can figure that she is rubbing on is the bottom tray of her enclosure, it's a lightly textured plastic tray. I notice that when she goes in her hide, she digs down as far as she possibly can, I can hear her scraping the bottom. So I figure that's where the rubbing is coming from. The big question is why she started doing this, she never used to stay buried all the time before. It's definitely got me stumped.

 

[jeff kushner]

Storman....I know that you may not know since you are kinda new....but Yvonne isn't just a mod, she's also one of the most talented.....as are most of the Mods here....you might want to be real sure to pay attention when she speaks....like those old TV commercials from the 70's I think; "When EF Hutton talks, people listen".

Her and her little sister have helped me several times.....

 

[Stormmom5]

What a cute little turtle!

You should try to figure out what the turtle is rubbing on that is causing the scrapes. Does he spend much time on the feeding rock? You might consider keeping him in a tub with no substrate, only paper towels or newspaper until the areas are healed, and I'd keep the one on the skin covered with Neosporin so a scab doesn't form.

 

[Stormmom5]

I've been using the Neosporin on her foot after she soaks. The vet also suggested I soak her foot for 10 minutes every day in a small tub of warm water and betadine, at a very weak strength resembling weak tea. I've been doing that as well. I'm still trying to figure out why she is staying burrowed in all day and will only eat Canadian crawlers. I take her outside after her soaks, and she's more than happy to roam around the yard, though she always makes sure to keep me in her sight. But as soon as I bring her back in and put her in her enclosure, it's into the hide and burrowed in. Could something have frightened her? UV or heat lamps too close? I'm at a loss as to the cause of the change in behavior.

 

[TammyJ]

Thanks! The only thing I can figure that she is rubbing on is the bottom tray of her enclosure, it's a lightly textured plastic tray. I notice that when she goes in her hide, she digs down as far as she possibly can, I can hear her scraping the bottom. So I figure that's where the rubbing is coming from. The big question is why she started doing this, she never used to stay buried all the time before. It's definitely got me stumped.

Hi. I am no expert, so just a few ideas. You could make sure that you have the temperatures and humidity correct as prescribed here. Change that textured enclosure base to something smooth like a piece of linoleum or plastic sheet. Take out the sphagnum moss, it's not good for them. Last idea - try to get Silver Sulfadiazene (Silvadene) cream for the wound if you can, it's great stuff for reptile injuries. That's it from this old girl and hope you have some success.