What is this????

[Elohi]

Ok so I discovered and have started treating what I think is shell rot in Watson's plastron. It looked like this:


Ok so onward to when I treated his shell and found all this strange redness. What the what is all this?? And do his eyes look irritated? Whatever the redness is does not soak or wipe away.

 

[wellington]

Oh my, I hope nothing bad. @Yvonne G or @tortadise or @Tom may be able to help you here. Good luck, hope nothing bad.

 

[wellington]

Btw, the shell looks like a fungus or rot, not sure about the red stuff.

 

[mike taylor]

The redness looks like irritation maybe from dirt or something sticking to his skin . I'm pretty sure thats the start of shell rot .@Tom what do you think .

 

[tortadise]

Is this beans the one that had te skin flake off previously? That looks like petechia. Could hav relation to the fungus infection irritating the skin and causing inflammation.

 

[Elohi]

The shell rot I'll keep treating until it's better. I'm disturbed by the strange redness.
This is Watson, Beans' brother.

 

[Elohi]

I need to get that substrate out of there don't I? :0/

 

[Elohi]

I just rechecked everyone else. No signs of shell rot or weird redness. JUST Sir Watson.

 

[mike taylor]

That is strange it's just the one . But he may have an allergen to the substrate .

 

[Elohi]

Is this beans the one that had te skin flake off previously? That looks like petechia. Could hav relation to the fungus infection irritating the skin and causing inflammation.

None of them have ever had any skin issues. In fact so far I've had no issues other than the first time they shed neck skin and my noob self posted in a panic only to find out they'd just shed a little. LOL
Watson has been nestling down into the substrate lately and I wonder if that's where this infection has come from. Does the redness indicate a systemic infection or is it a reaction to the rot starting in his plastron?

 

[wellington]

What kind of substrate are you using? No bugs in it that might be irritating him?

 

[tortadise]

None of them have ever had any skin issues. In fact so far I've had no issues other than the first time they shed neck skin and my noob self posted in a panic only to find out they'd just shed a little. LOL
Watson has been nestling down into the substrate lately and I wonder if that's where this infection has come from. Does the redness indicate a systemic infection or is it a reaction to the rot starting in his plastron?

It could be both. Did he recently start diggin down? I know all the plants in the enclosure you have. Were any of the fertilizer pellets(usually blue or green color sometimes dark orange) left in the plants when you planted them?

I'd say it's a reaction to something but could be fungus or bacterial in relation to the areas of "rot"

 

[Elohi]

What kind of substrate are you using? No bugs in it that might be irritating him?

It's mostly Eco earth. Some ground sphagnum. And a little but of black cow top soil. (Has baked cow manure in it)
They've been in this substrate for a while now. I have several fake plants and two live spider plants but the spider plants are in pots. There is sphagnum moss in hides and sheet moss on top of one hide. There is a little for bark around the water dish, but it's mostly buried by them tracking substrate through it.
No bugs. But they do go outside for sunshine. There are regular Texas bugs here and there. Fire ants on occasion, which Beans may have been bitten by if you remember this. Kelly, I bet this is what you were referring to.
This healed up quickly by the way with no intervention.

 

[tortadise]

I'd change the substrate and don't use cow manure. Mushrooms and lots of fungi grow from bovine waste. Especially in a perfect layer underneath a very humid ecosystem that your keeping them in, I'd stick with strictly peat moss and mulch. Scrub him with some chlorhexadine and apply clotrimazole antifungal cream on the spots on the shell. May want to aspirate and get a culture of the spots if it doesn't subside after changing the enclosure soil.

 

[Tom]

My best guess would be that Kelly's hunch is correct.

That is quite a substrate concoction, and this is just one reason why I have been raising an eyebrow at this trend of mixing all sorts of substrates. I especially don't care for any kind of "top soil". Top soil can be made of anything. Its made from people's composted yard waste so it could be made of toxic plants, and can have all sorts of things mixed in with it that are not yet fully broken down by the composting process.

I only use plain orchid bark for some species, like leopards and sulcatas, and plain coco coir for others, like Testudo species. I've never had any problems like the ones shown here.

 

[Yourlocalpoet]

Ok so I discovered and have started treating what I think is shell rot in Watson's plastron. It looked like this:
View attachment 98771

Ok so onward to when I treated his shell and found all this strange redness. What the what is all this?? And do his eyes look irritated? Whatever the redness is does not soak or wipe away.
View attachment 98772
View attachment 98773
View attachment 98774
View attachment 98775
View attachment 98776

I don't know if this is admissible or not, but something similar happened to Esmeralda a few months ago during a vet visit.

She'd never been before and I can only assume it happened due to her being rather stressed out at the whole situation.

Parts of her skin, notably the tops of the legs, tail and some of her neck turned a pinkish colour, but it was concentrated to little pinkish spots around the previously mentioned areas.

It looked very much like this Elohi, but not as red. It had gone by the next morning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tortoise Forum

 

[Elohi]

My best guess would be that Kelly's hunch is correct.

That is quite a substrate concoction, and this is just one reason why I have been raising an eyebrow at this trend of mixing all sorts of substrates. I especially don't care for any kind of "top soil". Top soil can be made of anything. Its made from people's composted yard waste so it could be made of toxic plants, and can have all sorts of things mixed in with it that are not yet fully broken down by the composting process.

I only use plain orchid bark for some species, like leopards and sulcatas, and plain coco coir for others, like Testudo species. I've never had any problems like the ones shown here.

I've mixed the ground peat with Eco earth many times in the past but the black cow organic stuff was something I had leftover and used as the first (deepest) layer of substrate because if it's texture and weight. I'll be pulling the substrate out ASAP.

I can not use orchid bark as a sole substrate because I'm unable to find large bags. I can only find the small bags anywhere. Very frustrating.

I can however find plenty of eco earth and the ground sphagnum moss.

They've always been on a mix of those two. The black cow was the only difference in this enclosure.

Can anyone recommend a good source for sphagnum moss aside from the super dry type lowes and Home Depot sell? I got some at petsmart that's super super green, I suspect it's dyed and I am not sure in comfortable with it.

 

[Tom]

I can not use orchid bark as a sole substrate because I'm unable to find large bags. I can only find the small bags anywhere. Very frustrating.

They sell it at any hardware store, but they don't call it "orchid bark". They call it "Pathway Bark", Fir Bark, or something similar. You have to open some bags and know what you are looking for. Get the fine grade stuff too. It only costs about $5 for a big 2.0 cubic foot bag. Any nursery will have it too.

 

[Elohi]

They sell it at any hardware store, but they don't call it "orchid bark". They call it "Pathway Bark", Fir Bark, or something similar. You have to open some bags and know what you are looking for. Get the fine grade stuff too. It only costs about $5 for a big 2.0 cubic foot bag. Any nursery will have it too.

I have done this actually and have been told they don't sell it because it doesn't sell. I'd sure buy if they'd sell it! Lol.

 

[Flipper]

I'm sorry your guy is I hope he heals quickly. Please keep us posted where you find the substrate you're looking for.

I can't find it either.