What is this white stuff on his shell?

[superpooper]

Hi, newbie here. I recently began seeing white growth between the shell plates, but just today, there are some new white spots located on the plates themselves. I also took a picture of the bottom of his plastron, which seems to be discolored. These marking do not come off with warm water and a soft brush. Is this shell rot,some kind of fungus, or from overfeeding? If so, how can I treat it?

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi,
Your Redfoot has fungal shellrot. The best thing for that is to keep him dry and treat with athlete's foot cream. Put it on the affected spots, but wash it off with soap and water before you do any soaking (which you should do twice a day) as it's toxic if they ingest it.
It might take a month or 2 to cure it.

Danny

 

[Yvonne G]

Ya see, folks???? This is why I just LOVE this forum! The pictures are so easy to post and there is usually someone here who really knows the answer to your question. I'm so proud to be part of this wonderful group and so extremely glad that Danny is one of our members.

Yvonne

 

[superpooper]

yikes! thank you.

 

[cdmay]

Classic shell fungus. Clean up his hiding area and then treat with jock itch cream or (yikes!) a feminine itch cream.
These products work like magic. But, make sure you address the original reason it appeared. Usually it is from sitting in or burrowing into a place that has old feces or urine soaked into it.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Ya see, folks???? This is why I just LOVE this forum! The pictures are so easy to post and there is usually someone here who really knows the answer to your question. I'm so proud to be part of this wonderful group and so extremely glad that Danny is one of our members.

Yvonne

I agree whole heartedly and the person who always knows the answer is Danny!!! I think we are sooo lucky to have him. OK Dan now that I've kissed up the price of that Golden Greek goes down...right??? (but I knew it was shell rot too!)

 

[egyptiandan]

Now that I've gotten all the chap stick off The price has gone way down

Just always glad to help and pass on the one or two things I've learned over the years.

Danny

 

[superpooper]

Classic shell fungus. Clean up his hiding area and then treat with jock itch cream or (yikes!) a feminine itch cream.
These products work like magic. But, make sure you address the original reason it appeared. Usually it is from sitting in or burrowing into a place that has old feces or urine soaked into it.

Haha I'd like to see the face on the clerk that rings that up... Usually he doesn't defecate where he sleeps, I think the substrate has just been kept too wet. I'm going to start treatment tomorrow and change the substrate.

 

[cdmay]

The one and only time I EVER bought jock itch cream was for a tortoise that I got from another keeper that had his plastron covered with that white crud. I told the lady at the drug store while she was ringing it up, "Uh, yeah...this isn't for me. It's for my turtle." Which I realized immediately made the situation even more embarassing. She stopped what she was doing and looked at me and said, "For your TURTLE?" I sort of stammered back "Um, well he has shell fungus and this stuff contains a broad spectrum antibiotic and the cream helps it stay on even in moist areas..." As you can imagine, this was only getting worse so I just shut up when she turned away and muttered, "Uh huh."
However, it did work amazingly well and very fast too. There is not a single trace of the fungus now after a couple of years.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Wow I never would have thought that--good diagnosis Danny!

 

[superpooper]

I applied Betadine, washed it off, and applied 1% Clotrimazole as recommended by redfoots.com. I was going to take pictures but the camera battery died right before. I wish I could have shown you guys how much he vacated his bowels while I was applying and washing LOL. Poor Bill all stressed out. Any of your kids ever do that at the clinic before they get their shots?

I'll post pics of the progression.