Ugh what next, need help tortoise family.

Jrham08

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OK I've gotten a lot of great info from everyone but right now I'm feeling like a terrible Tortoise dad. In the last 2 months we have gotten at least 2 to 3 times the rain we normally get and it's wrecked havoc on my tortoises enclosure and burrows. Twice in the 2 months we've had standing water in half of the tortoise pen measuring around 4 inches. The last time it happened my large tortoise burrow caved in a bit and pretty much filled with water. Luckily my tortoises are smart enough in those really wet situations to get out of their burrows and just sit in their enclosure. Here's my problem with all of this, because of the on and off rain I've been super focus on trying to prevent the enclosure ( its buried 2 feet into the ground) from taking water in. I decided to put a tarp over the enclosure and I think that was my unfortunate mistake, the enclosure has an opening allowing then to enter and exit whenever they what but unfortunately didn't let humidity out enough. It appears the humidity in the enclosure has been hovering around or higher than 80% for that time and I can only imagine the burrows are higher with the damp ground. I usually check and feed my torts at least once a day but apparently I've been oblivious because today I've noticed my large tortoise has what I would guess is shell rot or a fungus. It seems bad to me but looks treatable but definitely disappointed in myself for not realizing. I take caring for animals very serious especially considering they count on us for so much, ugh. This has caused deterioration in the lines between the scutes of the carapace ( I think they're the suture lines?) sorry my tortoise anatomy isn't up to par. The scutes seem to be OK... Ish as far as I can see and the real problem lies in between. It's doesn't seem to be everywhere but it's definitely in a few places. I have 2 tortoises and it really only seems to be happening to my larger one that has the burrow that's been flooded and caved in, my smaller tort seems to be doing OK with this issue. Since discovering this today I've removed the tarp so things can dry out and I may open the roof of the enclosure this evening. Also I washed the tortoise with betadine ( I know I shouldn't use that often ) hopefully to stop anything that could be grown like fungus and I'm curious what treatment would be best to continue with.

Thank you so much for reading this long ranty message with terrible grammar and punctuation. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Jason
 

ZenHerper

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Photos of the affected area(s) would be most helpful to confirm what you are coping with (and recommend the safest, most effective treatment).

Stuff happens...we're here to help!
 

Ink

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Are they housed together? What type of tortoises do you have? Welcome to the forum.
 

wellington

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We do need the pictures. We can help you, no worries.
If you post a pic of the buried hides, and the ground around them, we may be able to suggest how to fix any flooding of them other then the tarp.
Just off the top of my head for now, would a raised tarp, like used for shading a picnic table and such, up on poles work? This way air can get under it.
 

Jrham08

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Yes they're in the same pen and share the same general enclosure. I'm going to have to wait until later or tomorrow to get better pictures. They've retreated into their separate burrows for now and won't be back out until evening. The pen is looking a bit rough I apologize with the rain and heat it's been unbearable working outside. Here's a picture of the basic setup right now, I removed the tarp and after taking the picture removed the top to the enclosure ( there's reflective foam insulation protecting them from the sun still) that should allow it to release a ton of humidity. There's a camera inside so I can monitor the humidity and heat levels.. I'll try to get actual informational pictures ASAP.

Thanks everyone.

Also please don't judge the water, my broom for cleaning it just broke yesterday and the sun causes the water to start growing algae super quickly.
 

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wellington

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First, tortoises should never be kept in pairs. One will always be bullied and both will be under stress. If one of each sex the male will bother the female to death sometimes.
The water? They drink from mud holes sometimes in the wild, so I don't think yours is so bad.
As for water flooding hides, maybe dig a trench from the opening and away?
 

Yvonne G

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Some sort of little drainage ditch to divert the water ending at the lowest spot in the pen and then a PVC pipe under the fence with hardware cloth over the opening.
 

Jrham08

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Yeah I know about them being together, it's in the future of their pen. I'm in AZ and it's beyond hot and humid lately so I need to wait another month or two before I start working on that. Like I said I have a camera and I monitor their behavior. They have separate burrows and rarely if ever interact with each other. They're fed on opposite side of their enclosure and generally don't bother each other. With all that said they're going to be separated as soon as the weather cools. I was thinking about the trench idea and that's a possibility. The flooding issue isn't something I'm worry about too much at the moment it's a once every few years type of thing at best. Definitely something to work on but probably no more flooding possibilities for months if not yrs to come considering I'm in the Desert here. Just need to get some pictures of the tortoise in question and get some opinions. Really wish I would have when they were out earlier.
 

Jrham08

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Some pictures of the areas on the tortoise and the enclosure. There a lot of wiring on the top for the winter heating please don't mind that. Setup inside I have 2 ceramic heaters that control the heat plus a night time heat lamp . In the winter during the day the heaters are usually off because our daytime temps will get into the 70s and a UV lamp covers the rest of the daytime heating. During the summer they have a regular led light that illuminates the enclosure for general lighting no heat. I'm in Arizona and our summer temps are well above 100 and the inside of the enclosure is usually in the 90s. They both have individual burrows that are quite deep and provide additional relief from the heat. For the first half of the summer I had issues with to low humidity and now I'm battling to high humidity, go figure.
 

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Ink

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Is that puss in between the scutes in the picture? @Yvonne G
 

Jrham08

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No definitely not it's just the material that's naturally between the scutes, cartilage or whatever it is sorry I'm not sure the term.
 

vladimir

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my guess is the ceramic heat emitters are too close to the top of the carapace.
 

Jrham08

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my guess is the ceramic heat emitters are too close to the top of the carapace.
It's 100+ degrees here in AZ and the heaters haven't been on since April. We've had more rain than normal and burrows were flooded and their enclosure was holding 80+ % humidity. I'm trying to figure out what to do or how much to worry. I don't want shell rot or fungus. The heaters are usually further away but my my large tort redug his burrow after rain caused it to collapse. He politely filled the enclosure with dirt that was in his way. . One one light is being used at this time and that's just an led for general lighting.
 

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