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A friend of mine has a couple redfoots with plastron crud. Since I haven't been here in quite awhile I forget how to post pics. Will someone email me on 'How to' please?.. so I can go into detail about our concern.

turtletary@turtletary.com

Thanks..

Terry
Turtletary.com

Maybe I've figured it out.

My friend has a number of my "Northern" '05 & '06 hatchlings. Earlier this year he acquired 3 "Southern" ( aka cherryhead ) redfoots - an '07 and 2 '05's. After the fecal tests, etc. he introduced these 3 to his existing group.

Six months later his "Northern's" are unchanged.. however the "Southern's" look like this one.. before and after!

The "Northern's are kept warm & humid [ 85-90 both ].. fruit twice a week.. greens 3-4 times a week and protein once a week - no supplements.

I maintain a similar "group" of youngsters - Northerns & Southerns.. only difference is I know where mine came from and they have all been maintained the same.. from hatchlings. All are perfect in everyway.

I've not seen this before.. any ideas?

Terry

Interesting...

My guess is they are kept too moist.

The interesting thing is that the northerns did not develop the same problem.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

That's the puzzling part of this whole thing Ed! Without going into all of the different flora where redfoots are found. AND mine from the South have fared O.K. - then again they started as hatchlings and have been raised in the high humidity environment.
Whereas his came from who knows where? He's having "diet" issues with the '05's also.. trying to find something they will eat. Of course the '07 is not an issue with the diet.

Mayday has Southern's in FL.. how humid is it there?

Puzzling!

Terry

It's not the humidity... it's the moist substrate.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Well Ed.. WE finally got one right!

Come to find out my friend WAS using a different substrate. I mentioned to him that about the only thing that would cause that ( in a clean environment ) would be if they were "sitting" in water all of the time. Which they were! He WAS using some kind of "EARTH" product that wasn't 'retaining' the humidity.. it was absorbing it - soaking it up like a sponge! He said he wondered why he had to refill the waterdish all of the time. It's still confusing why the "Northerns" weren't affected (?).

Now that we have ALL of the facts.. where do we go from here?

Thanks,

Terry

duhhh... maybe change the substrate... dry it out?
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

O.K. - anybody know how to treat this fungus/bacteria.. on their plastron?

Thanks.. Terry
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Terry E. Kilgore
Turtletary.com

Often these infections are fungal and your friend can try to treat it with a fungizidal creme (e.g. Canesten = Lotrimin:
1% Clotrimazole, Micatin: 2% Miconazole nitrate). It is possible that there is a secondary bacterial infection present too, so alternating with an antibiotic creme like Polysporin might be a good idea if the fungizide alone doesn't work.
The plastron has to be cleaned daily, some people disinfect with betadine solution, and then the creme is applied in a thin layer.
The damage on the plastron will remain, but spreading should stop.

Gaby

Thanks Gaby.. long time since hearing from you. It's amazing how fast it can spread!
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Terry E. Kilgore
Turtletary.com

I would also think keeping them on clean paper towels or newspaper until its cleared up would be helpful as well. Much easier to keep the area clean that way.
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Anja Buffalo
Crotalus & Company
Venom-Center
Wisconsin Reptiles Site
Free PC Inspection

common sense is a wonderful thing.

>>I would also think keeping them on clean paper towels or newspaper until its cleared up would be helpful as well. Much easier to keep the area clean that way.
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>>Anja Buffalo
>>Crotalus & Company
>>Venom-Center
>>Wisconsin Reptiles Site
>>Free PC Inspection
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I was waiting for "common sense" to kick in.. until someone would come up with their solution/remedy [ other than keeping them dry ]!

Thanks all...
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Terry E. Kilgore
Turtletary.com

This same problem used to occur on the plastra of Radiated Tortoises which were kept at St. Catherine's Island, GA. I have seen very remarkable results when the white areas of shell rot were gently brushed off with a wire brush (be careful) or with a very stiff bristle brush, and then painted liberally with Gentian Violet. This should be repeated avery 2-3 weeks for about 3-6 months, depending upon how well it responds.

One of my friends had a Radiated which came from St. Catherine's and looked just as bad as this Redfoot. He treated it as described above for 6 months. Not only did the problem go away, but over the next few years, the entire plastron filled back in and today looks almost 100% normal. The tortoise is a great producer of offspring for him as well, so that story had a happy ending.

One note about Gentian Violet: it is very effective on fungus, but will stain anything it touches purple, so be careful when using it. Also, it should be available in many drug stores.