Diamondback breaking out in lumps

[Charles & Denise]

Charles & Denise

June 23, 2004 at 5:28 pm #19883

Hi, We noticed a mark on our 8-year old diamondback’s leg two days ago. Yesterday it had turned into a lump about the size of a pea. This morning there were many lumps on her, most on her behind and about 4 on her neck and arms. Seems as the day progresses, more appear. They also have a discolored appearance and are slightly purplish and they are a rougher texture than her normal soft skin. Took her over to the Vet this morning and she thinks it is a skin infection. Said many animals and reptiles get these infections and most of the time it is not possible to figure out why. She put a needle in one lump to aspirate it and took a look at it under the microscope but could not tell what was going on. She gave her an antibiotic injection of Baytril and gave us 4 more needles of the antibiotic to give to her every other day. The diamondback has a very clean environment by herself so the obvious thing, which would be poor sanitation, is not the problem. Her water tank/acquarium is always crystal clear as is her feeding tank. The big Florida room where she walks around when not in her feeding tank or acquarium tank is also very clean as we have a “no shoes” policy in our house. The other obvious thing–poor nutrition has also been ruled out. She eats well even now with this problem she is eating well. She eats reptile pellets and shrimp which we purchase from the grocery store fish counter and keep frozen until we use it. And we also supplement her meals with Rep-Cal multivitamins and calcium with Vit D. She is normally a very healthy terrapin who gets regular checkups at the Vet. We took her outside on the lawn on Sat. for the first time this season. She was walking around for about 10 minutes and of course being watched very carefully. We saw no bugs or anything bite her. Has anyone ever encountered this problem? Thanks for any help. Denise

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