Wrinkly plastron - is it shell rot?

squirrelkitty

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My Frankie's plastron is a lot more wrinkly than it used to be. I'm fretting in case it's shell rot, as his substrate was probably too wet for a while. (At first we used the tortoise table and Aspen chips the shop recommended. When we changed his habitat and substrate, I think we overdid it and poored too much water into the coco coir because I saw a video by a breeder who had his on very wet substrate.)
Here are two photos of his plastron (in the second one he fell over in his playground, he is only allowed to go there under supervision). The pics aren't very good, but you can see the wrinkles if you zoom in.
I'll try to take better pictures tomorrow.

Is this something to worry about or is it just the way his plastron is growing?

I've put athlete's foot cream on it just in case and he's going to the vet this week.

Thanks! 20190527_095349.jpg20190523_125011.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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No. They are all squished up inside their egg and the shell is quite pliable. It smooths out over time.
 

squirrelkitty

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Oct 23, 2018
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No. They are all squished up inside their egg and the shell is quite pliable. It smooths out over time.
Thanks Yvonne, but he was less wrinkly before. He's nearly a year old now.
I have a theory, though. The two grooves at the bottom end of his plastron may be due to his shell abnormality. He doesn't have a fourth vertebral scute (only a very tiny one). His marginal scutes in that region are also missing, leaving 'cut-out' triangles above his legs. The two grooves at the back of the plastron are kind of aligned with that.
Here are some pictures of his abnormality:
IMG-20190531-WA0004.jpgIMG_20190530_163541.jpg
 

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