What is this bloody looking spot on my RF head?

[ashlyn]

So I recently took in my fiends 2 year old RF, and I noticed a weird bloody spot on top of his head. Does anyone know what this is and the cause of it? And if it a really big issue, should I be taking him to the vet? If it comes to that could y'all please recommend some vets in the area (Houston TX) that would see this issue? My phone couldn't capture how dark it was, it looks a lot like dried blood.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Can you try to clean it with a wet cotton bud? This could be something harmless like a mix of strawberry with dirt. Even if there is some damage - you will need to clean the area anyway.

 

[ashlyn]

Hello!
Can you try to clean it with a wet cotton bud? This could be something harmless like a mix of strawberry with dirt. Even if there is some damage - you will need to clean the area anyway.

alright! Me kinda panicking didn't think about that lol. When I get off work I will definitely do that, thank you! I'll get a new photo if it seems to be serious. Might be strawberry

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello!
Can you try to clean it with a wet cotton bud? This could be something harmless like a mix of strawberry with dirt. Even if there is some damage - you will need to clean the area anyway.

You see it.
I don't.
My eyes are not cooperating (again)

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Hopefully that will wipe off but time shall tell lol, keep us in the loop!

In the meantime, I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you’re keeping them? It’s nice to see with new members

What are your ground temps like day and night?
What kind of lighting/heating are you using? Packaging pics are handy!
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity reading? They appear quite dry, it could just be the photos, but there is definitely some pyramiding taking place. Are you giving them soaks?
What do you use for substrate? I’m noticing what looks like top soil? as I’m seeing small white pieces in the background, that does need switching as soon as possible if it is. We can advise on safe substrates once we know what you’re using

A pic of your full set up would be wonderful if you’re ok sharing

 

[ashlyn]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Hopefully that will wipe off but time shall tell lol, keep us in the loop!

In the meantime, I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you’re keeping them? It’s nice to see with new members

What are your ground temps like day and night?
What kind of lighting/heating are you using? Packaging pics are handy!
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity reading? They appear quite dry, it could just be the photos, but there is definitely some pyramiding taking place. Are you giving them soaks?
What do you use for substrate? I’m noticing what looks like top soil? as I’m seeing small white pieces in the background, that does need switching as soon as possible if it is. We can advise on safe substrates once we know what you’re using

A pic of your full set up would be wonderful if you’re ok sharing

Yeah absolutely I can give that information! As of right now I'm still operating under his old equipment that was given to me, which was a Ubv repstisun 18" T8, a red heat lamp can't remember the wattage, the substrate given was a soil mulch mixture from the pet store, reptisoil, I don't know anything besides that. he's currently in the same terrarium given, I know know the gallons but it's 15" by 32" ish.
Since I've had him (about 2 weeks) i've gotten a hygrometer to monitor his temps, which are about 80-83 everyday and unfortunately I can only get the humidity up to 52-56 with 2x misting and pouring warm water into the corners. I've followed the diet instructions in yalls RF forum, which was a great help. for this week he's having green leaf lettuce with some kale, and every other day for vegetable He's had carrot and red bell pepper. for the fruit he's had mango. Calcium 2x a week. For protein, a small amount the size of his tiny head of hard boiled egg and some crushed up shell. I've been soaking him 15-20 minutes every friday and monday.
I feel bad for his current conditions but I'm in the works of making him a closed tortoise table, with the proper lighting and heat humidity all the stuff. I just can't install them on his old tank. I've gotten him an incandescent heat light, and waiting for his CHE and 12" T5 UVB. also i've gotten him new substrate which is coco coir for bottom layer mixed with spaghumn moss (after i got it i've heard that it is bad to ingest so i'll take any other suggestions for keeping humidity in) and cypress mulch for too layer. gonna keep his old log ceramic hide and he now has a shallow terracotta dish for water. i got him an aloe in a terracotta pot for him to look at (made sure it was tall enough for him not to trample or climb up on)
I installed his new heat lamp so he didn't have to live in a red world anymore which he loves. and I got his timer thing going for the old uvb so it only runs 4 hours middle of the day.
also I wanna mention he does seem to bask right under the heat lamp for some reason? I haven't been home yet to see if the spot was strawberry or not but could this be a possible burn? he likes to get right on his log and sit under it in the middle of the night. I didn't know what to do so when i notice him doing it i kinda just put him back on the ground but he seems to just do it over and over again.
however I will get y'all pictures of his current enclosure as soon as I can, and when I'm finished with his new one!

 

[ashlyn]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Hopefully that will wipe off but time shall tell lol, keep us in the loop!

In the meantime, I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you’re keeping them? It’s nice to see with new members

What are your ground temps like day and night?
What kind of lighting/heating are you using? Packaging pics are handy!
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity reading? They appear quite dry, it could just be the photos, but there is definitely some pyramiding taking place. Are you giving them soaks?
What do you use for substrate? I’m noticing what looks like top soil? as I’m seeing small white pieces in the background, that does need switching as soon as possible if it is. We can advise on safe substrates once we know what you’re using

A pic of your full set up would be wonderful if you’re ok sharing

also I forgot to say that there is no white spots in the substrate, Pretty sure it's not topsoil. that's just how my camera picked it up lol

 

[ashlyn]

alright! Me kinda panicking didn't think about that lol. When I get off work I will definitely do that, thank you! I'll get a new photo if it seems to be serious. Might be strawberry

ok so the spot did not go away and it look's definitely like blood to me

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Yeah absolutely I can give that information! As of right now I'm still operating under his old equipment that was given to me, which was a Ubv repstisun 18" T8, a red heat lamp can't remember the wattage, the substrate given was a soil mulch mixture from the pet store, reptisoil, I don't know anything besides that. he's currently in the same terrarium given, I know know the gallons but it's 15" by 32" ish.
Since I've had him (about 2 weeks) i've gotten a hygrometer to monitor his temps, which are about 80-83 everyday and unfortunately I can only get the humidity up to 52-56 with 2x misting and pouring warm water into the corners. I've followed the diet instructions in yalls RF forum, which was a great help. for this week he's having green leaf lettuce with some kale, and every other day for vegetable He's had carrot and red bell pepper. for the fruit he's had mango. Calcium 2x a week. For protein, a small amount the size of his tiny head of hard boiled egg and some crushed up shell. I've been soaking him 15-20 minutes every friday and monday.
I feel bad for his current conditions but I'm in the works of making him a closed tortoise table, with the proper lighting and heat humidity all the stuff. I just can't install them on his old tank. I've gotten him an incandescent heat light, and waiting for his CHE and 12" T5 UVB. also i've gotten him new substrate which is coco coir for bottom layer mixed with spaghumn moss (after i got it i've heard that it is bad to ingest so i'll take any other suggestions for keeping humidity in) and cypress mulch for too layer. gonna keep his old log ceramic hide and he now has a shallow terracotta dish for water. i got him an aloe in a terracotta pot for him to look at (made sure it was tall enough for him not to trample or climb up on)
I installed his new heat lamp so he didn't have to live in a red world anymore which he loves. and I got his timer thing going for the old uvb so it only runs 4 hours middle of the day.
also I wanna mention he does seem to bask right under the heat lamp for some reason? I haven't been home yet to see if the spot was strawberry or not but could this be a possible burn? he likes to get right on his log and sit under it in the middle of the night. I didn't know what to do so when i notice him doing it i kinda just put him back on the ground but he seems to just do it over and over again.
however I will get y'all pictures of his current enclosure as soon as I can, and when I'm finished with his new one!

Hi!
You definitely make changes in right direction!
Can you make a picture of his old setup - so lamps and stuff can be seen?
It could be a burn from CHE but seeing the picture will tell if it's possible. Do you run CHE on a thermostat?

When planning new enclsoure make sure that T5 lamp has sufficient distance to substrate - 21-22 inches.

For maintaining humidity in the old enclosure you will need something like tin foil to cover the meshed top (I assume that's what you have), especially gaps around light fixtures.

Plain orchid bark as a substrate can be a better option. But coco coir alone or with a layer of cypress mulch will work too as will do just plain cypress mulch. Make sure you have "substrate free" (covered with cork bark, slate etc.) zone around food dish to prevent ingesting substrate.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

ok so the spot did not go away and it look's definitely like blood to me

Probably it's the burn from lamp or he's got a scab somewhere. Doesn't look too scary - I don't see damage on the scale surface, inflammation or fresh blood.

What are white spots on his shell? It doesn't look like glare to me. Can you make a photo of his plastron (belly)? Hold tortoise in you palm, head up, to make a photo. Don't turn him over.

 

[ashlyn]

Hi!
You definitely make changes in right direction!
Can you make a picture of his old setup - so lamps and stuff can be seen?
It could be a burn from CHE but seeing the picture will tell if it's possible. Do you run CHE on a thermostat?

When planning new enclsoure make sure that T5 lamp has sufficient distance to substrate - 21-22 inches.

For maintaining humidity in the old enclosure you will need something like tin foil to cover the meshed top (I assume that's what you have), especially gaps around light fixtures.

Plain orchid bark as a substrate can be a better option. But coco coir alone or with a layer of cypress mulch will work too as will do just plain cypress mulch. Make sure you have "substrate free" (covered with cork bark, slate etc.) zone around food dish to prevent ingesting substrate.

So the CHE is not set up yet due to me having a mesh top still, I wasn't sure if it would start a fire sitting right of top of that or melt it or something. Right now I have his heat lamp over his hide, where he likes to sit. Could it possibly be a burn? He didn't like me wiping at it, made his little angry breathing noises.
And I'll take your advice on the dish and substrate! thank you

 

[ashlyn]

Probably it's the burn from lamp or he's got a scab somewhere. Doesn't look too scary - I don't see damage on the scale surface, inflammation or fresh blood.

What are white spots on his shell? It doesn't look like glare to me. Can you make a photo of his plastron (belly)? Hold tortoise in you palm, head up, to make a photo. Don't turn him over.

it was just calcium from this morning, accidentally got him because he rushed at the food. but here's a photo just in case. He did not like that at all lol

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

it was just calcium from this morning, accidentally got him because he rushed at the food. but here's a photo just in case. He did not like that at all lol

Ah, good to know. And his plastron is clean. I was thinking about fungial infection, but definitely he's clean

 

[ashlyn]

Ah, good to know. And his plastron is clean. I was thinking about fungial infection, but definitely he's clean

ok that's good to know! thank you for your advice. I hope it's nothing bad and will heal fast. maybe I should block off his hide somehow?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

So the CHE is not set up yet due to me having a mesh top still, I wasn't sure if it would start a fire sitting right of top of that or melt it or something. Right now I have his heat lamp over his hide, where he likes to sit. Could it possibly be a burn? He didn't like me wiping at it, made his little angry breathing noises.
And I'll take your advice on the dish and substrate! thank you

If tank is 15" high, he can get pretty close to the lamp. But then there should be damage on his shell as well.

What would I do:
1. Move the heat lamp to the left (close to the UVB lamp).
2. Check heat lamp wattage and type - flood/spot, halogen or not. Usually there is a label on the lamp sleeve - you can post a photo here.
3. Remove towel and use tin foil instead. Dry towel can catch a fire.
4. Apply Betadine or chlorhexidine on time on damaged scale and edges. Then use Neosporin (or similar triple-antibiotic ointment) for a week.
5. Use a CHE for heating up the right side of the tank (placing a dome with CHE on mesh is okay but less effective for heating). CHE should be on a thermostat.

If he sits under the lamp a lot this often means that it's too cold in the enclosure. 82-84F all around is your goal.

 

[ashlyn]

If tank is 15" high, he can get pretty close to the lamp. But then there should be damage on his shell as well.

What would I do:
1. Move the heat lamp to the left (close to the UVB lamp).
2. Check heat lamp wattage and type - flood/spot, halogen or not. Usually there is a label on the lamp sleeve - you can post a photo here.
3. Remove towel and use tin foil instead. Dry towel can catch a fire.
4. Apply Betadine or chlorhexidine on time on damaged scale and edges. Then use Neosporin (or similar triple-antibiotic ointment) for a week.
5. Use a CHE for heating up the right side of the tank (placing a dome with CHE on mesh is okay but less effective for heating). CHE should be on a thermostat.

If he sits under the lamp a lot this often means that it's too cold in the enclosure. 82-84F all around is your goal.

Ok. I'll be moving the lamp now, here is a picture of what I ordered. It was a recommendation from another person on here but i could have gotten the wrong one. I believe that says spotlight on it and I think i may have gotten the wrong one, I was looking for floodlight.
will I need to take any precautions with aluminum foil next to the lamp?
I don't have Betadine or chlorhexidine on hand right now, but could I use neosporine until I can get it? to address it faster.
CHE is on the way. My dome is ceramic, that's what is required for it right?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Ok. I'll be moving the lamp now, here is a picture of what I ordered. It was a recommendation from another person on here but i could have gotten the wrong one. I believe that says spotlight on it and I think i may have gotten the wrong one, I was looking for floodlight.
Qwill I need to take any precautions with aluminum foil next to the lamp?
I don't have Betadine or chlorhexidine on hand right now, but could I use neosporine until I can get it? to address it faster.
CHE is on the way. My dome is ceramic, that's what is required for it right?

Sorry to say that - this is the wrong lamp (and, what's really surprising for Arcadia lamps, is not the best quality). However, as you have a redfoot - using a basking lamp is not necessary (only if you've got ambient temperatures correct).

Tin foil is resistant to high temperatures, no need to do anything special. Just try to leave gaps around lamps as small as possible.

Yes, you can start with just Neosporin.

Yes, for CHE you need a ceramic socket, that right.

 

[ashlyn]

Sorry to say that - this is the wrong lamp (and, what's really surprising for Arcadia lamps, is not the best quality). However, as you have a redfoot - using a basking lamp is not necessary (only if you've got ambient temperatures correct).

Tin foil is resistant to high temperatures, no need to do anything special. Just try to leave gaps around lamps as small as possible.

Yes, you can start with just Neosporin.

Yes, for CHE you need a ceramic socket, that right.

dang. good thing the CHE will work out, and he'll finally have a day/night cycle. Just to make sure I get it right this time, what kind of CHE do you recommend? I will be relying on it as the main heat source. also, what kind of thermostat for it? Thank you so much for your help.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Yeah absolutely I can give that information! As of right now I'm still operating under his old equipment that was given to me, which was a Ubv repstisun 18" T8, a red heat lamp can't remember the wattage, the substrate given was a soil mulch mixture from the pet store, reptisoil, I don't know anything besides that. he's currently in the same terrarium given, I know know the gallons but it's 15" by 32" ish.
Since I've had him (about 2 weeks) i've gotten a hygrometer to monitor his temps, which are about 80-83 everyday and unfortunately I can only get the humidity up to 52-56 with 2x misting and pouring warm water into the corners. I've followed the diet instructions in yalls RF forum, which was a great help. for this week he's having green leaf lettuce with some kale, and every other day for vegetable He's had carrot and red bell pepper. for the fruit he's had mango. Calcium 2x a week. For protein, a small amount the size of his tiny head of hard boiled egg and some crushed up shell. I've been soaking him 15-20 minutes every friday and monday.
I feel bad for his current conditions but I'm in the works of making him a closed tortoise table, with the proper lighting and heat humidity all the stuff. I just can't install them on his old tank. I've gotten him an incandescent heat light, and waiting for his CHE and 12" T5 UVB. also i've gotten him new substrate which is coco coir for bottom layer mixed with spaghumn moss (after i got it i've heard that it is bad to ingest so i'll take any other suggestions for keeping humidity in) and cypress mulch for too layer. gonna keep his old log ceramic hide and he now has a shallow terracotta dish for water. i got him an aloe in a terracotta pot for him to look at (made sure it was tall enough for him not to trample or climb up on)
I installed his new heat lamp so he didn't have to live in a red world anymore which he loves. and I got his timer thing going for the old uvb so it only runs 4 hours middle of the day.
also I wanna mention he does seem to bask right under the heat lamp for some reason? I haven't been home yet to see if the spot was strawberry or not but could this be a possible burn? he likes to get right on his log and sit under it in the middle of the night. I didn't know what to do so when i notice him doing it i kinda just put him back on the ground but he seems to just do it over and over again.
however I will get y'all pictures of his current enclosure as soon as I can, and when I'm finished with his new one!

Thanks for the response! Alex has already given some good suggestions to manage the current set up, one thing I’ll add is to remove the moss, like you say, that can become an impaction risk, in a good closed chamber with damp substrate, it’s not necessary anyway. With your substrate focus on the under layer being nice and damp.

Temps don’t sound too bad but humidity definitely needs to be higher, which will hopefully be easier to maintain in your planned upgrade.

For the temperature directly under the bulb, you could do with checking it using both a temp gun and digital monitor, if it is too hot directly underneath, it could potentially be a burn, though I’m not certain it is. The fact they keep basking directly underneath could be indicative that temps aren’t quite where they should be, so I’d definitely double check.

For your upgrade, I think you’ll hopefully find this thread super useful to read through, I go over appropriate equipment, levels, maintaining humidity etc, there’s also a really good diet list! And a bunch of inspiration pics at the bottom for effective closed chamber set ups

Young red foot/ cherryhead set up

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information on an effective example of a starter enclosure for a red foot/cherry head😊 Care advice for these guys is painfully behind, fb pages, YouTube, pet stores, they’re all repeating the same outdated advice, this forum is made of...

tortoiseforum.org

This thread is also super handy to double check when it comes to buying equipment/materials
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/common-keeping-errors.217956/

Hope this helps!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

dang. good thing the CHE will work out, and he'll finally have a day/night cycle. Just to make sure I get it right this time, what kind of CHE do you recommend? I will be relying on it as the main heat source. also, what kind of thermostat for it? Thank you so much for your help.

Any "branded" CHE should work - ZooMed, Arcadia, ExoTerra, Fluker's (they last for many years). I can't tell exact wattage - much depends on room temperatures, enclosure insulation and so on. My personal preference is to use 2 or more low-wattage CHEs on a single thermostat to achieve more even temperatures (simply said two 50W on left and right sides are better than one 100W in the middle).

This thermostat should work fine:

Digital Heat Mat Thermostat Controller 40-108°F BN-LINK

BN-LINK Digital Heat Mat Thermostat Controller For Seed Germination Reptiles And Brewing 40-108 F

www.bn-link.com

You can get it from Amazon as well. Two or more CHEs can be connected with a power strip.