What is this?

[vwchevelle]

From what I was told I have a 3 month old Sulcata. I have been interested in trying to find out what is on the bottom of his shell and thought I would ask the question to the forum.

On the bottom of Timmy's Shell it looks like a belly button. It's a small, brown dot. I haven't seen this on any other hatchlings in the forum so I was just wondering what it could be.

Any thoughts?

Chris

 

[Tom]

That's the area where the yolk sac protrudes from when they hatch. It should be all closed up and healed by now. How long have YOU had him? Whats his weight in grams? Can we see a pic of the top of his shell? Either he's actually very young and its just not healing as fast as it should have, or he's got a nasty prolonged infection going on there. I'd scrub it gently with some peroxide or betadine scrub and a soft tooth brush once, and then keep some triple antibiotic ointment on there until it heals.

 

[vwchevelle]

That's the area where the yolk sac protrudes from when they hatch. It should be all closed up and healed by now. How long have YOU had him? Whats his weight in grams? Can we see a pic of the top of his shell? Either he's actually very young and its just not healing as fast as it should have, or he's got a nasty prolonged infection going on there. I'd scrub it gently with some peroxide or betadine scrub and a soft tooth brush once, and then keep some triple antibiotic ointment on there until it heals.

Hi Tom,

I have had him for about a month now. We got him at the Reptile Show in Pomona from one of the vendors. They said he was two months old at the time of the show, so I am guessing that he is about 3 months old now. I don't know his weight, but I will find out and then post how much he weighs.

Here are some of the pictures that I have of the top of his shell. I will try to scrub it tomorrow night with peroxide and then apply ointment to make it heal.

Hopefully, it's not an infection! I don't want to see the little guy get sick.

Thanks for the info and insight!

 

[TortieLuver]

Hello vwchevelle! Welcome. Is your lil' tort eating and acting normal? The belly button should be closed by now if he/she is 3 months old. It's hard to tell by the picture, but is that area hollow, sticking out, is it soft/hard?

 

[Tom]

He still has an egg tooth. Those normally fall off within the first 3-4 weeks after hatching. I was at the Pomona show. Did you come by the Tortoisesupply.com booth? That was the 8th and 9th of Jan. He was probably only a few days to a week old when they sold him to you. I'd love to know who the seller is. If you don't want to publicly out them here on the forum, you could PM me.

Anyhow, here's how I like to keep the babies:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies

Lots of people have been telling me they are seeing great results by following this care sheet with several species. I hope it helps you too.

 

[Candy]

Now see this is exactly why we need Danny on here. I bet he would know exactly what that is. You don't want us guessing at what it is you want someone who knows what it is. Be careful with him he's just a baby. Oh Danny's posting name is "Egyptian" if you pm him he might take a look at your picture and be able to tell you why it's like that. Plus I see you're in Yorba Linda and I know of a wonderful vet near you if you need one. Good luck with your little one.

 

[RV's mom]

welcome to the forum and congrats on your new tort. I'd follow the instructions to gently scrub - lightly and with care............

looking forward more pictures as your little one grows. Have you a name yet?

teri

 

[Tom]

Now see this is exactly why we need Danny on here. I bet he would know exactly what that is. You don't want us guessing at what it is you want someone who knows what it is. Be careful with him he's just a baby. Oh Danny's posting name is "Egyptian" if you pm him he might take a look at your picture and be able to tell you why it's like that. Plus I see you're in Yorba Linda and I know of a wonderful vet near you if you need one. Good luck with your little one.

Uhh, Candy, I think we just told her what is was. Its an infected umbilical scar. We also told her what to do with it.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Chris:

(Tom: I think Chris is a "him.")

Does the spot have a bad smell? If not, its probably not infected. But Tom has given you good advice. But be very gentle with your scrub. This is a tender spot on a young tortoise.

 

[Wirewehear]

If you use peroxide, dilute it .... same with the betadene. Peroxide kills bacteria as well as good tissue. I've quit using it but do keep it handy as an emergency back up. Another thing I keep handy is Silvadene cream. I Always keep it around but have to buy it from the Vet. It promotes really fast tissue growth (great for punctures as it allows the bad stuff to ooze out where-as Neosporin may plug up a puncture) as well as being an excellent antiseptic.

 

[vwchevelle]

Here's the update. After dinner, I took Timmy out to soak him. the brown spot was hard and it did not smell funny at all. (That had too be a funny picture, me smelling the bottom of a tortoise.) Anyways, I soaked him for about 20 minutes and after that I dried him off and prepped him for a scrubbing with peroxide. At this point the brown spot was soft to the touch. I diluted the peroxide by about 50% with water and used a tooth brush to clean the area. I scrubbed a little bit around the spot before I actually touched it and after a couple of strokes over the brown spot it popped out. This scared me as I wasn't expecting it to do that. What came out was a small plug that was attached to the brown spot. It was only a couple of mm's long. I cleaned it out again with peroxide, soaked him again for 5 minutes with fresh clean water and then dried him off. After he was all dried off, I applied some Neosporin and then put a small wart bandaid over it so it wouldn't get anything in it for the next couple of days. Hopefully, that's ok.

Tom, I am going to PM you about the reptile show.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and I will keep everyone updated with pictures.

---

Hi Chris:

(Tom: I think Chris is a "him.")

Does the spot have a bad smell? If not, its probably not infected. But Tom has given you good advice. But be very gentle with your scrub. This is a tender spot on a young tortoise.

Yvonne,

You are correct, I am the father of Timmy the Sulcata.

 

[TortieLuver]

Thanks for keeping us informed. It's so nice to see tortoise lovers taking such good care of their torts. You are doing a great job.

 

[vwchevelle]

Thanks for keeping us informed. It's so nice to see tortoise lovers taking such good care of their torts. You are doing a great job.

Thanks Christy!

I have been trying to do everything that I can to properly take care of him. It's a lot of work but I want him to succeed and thrive to become a member of the family. Also, I have learned so much from reading the posts in this forum and there are some very knowledgable people on here. it's a great place to chat with people that have the same interest.

 

[Tom]

(Tom: I think Chris is a "him.")

D'oh! {smacks forehead}. I hate it when I do that. Sorry Chris.

 

[Shelly]

Same thing happens with human babies. Pretty gross when that thing finally pops off, but perfectly natural.

 

[montana]

You should send that picture to the band- aid Company ..