tortoise with septicaemiahttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/f/clinical-questions/16214/tortoise-with-septicaemia Hello, A colleague of mine has seen a 2.5 year old Horsefield that has areas of red discoloration on his carapace and plastron. There are no wounds any where, no sign of illness, and the tortoise is still eating when hand-fed, still quite lively.en-USTelligent Community 10Re: tortoise with septicaemiahttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/96787?ContentTypeID=1Sun, 01 Sep 2013 09:42:28 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:053f54ee-2c88-4530-b70f-c71e352e4ed0shanley barber<p>Thank you Catherine. If I was able to get a blood sample and make a smear, where would you suggest I send it? I don&#39;t think I could reliably recognise toxic changes in a tortoise!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>Re: tortoise with septicaemiahttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/96683?ContentTypeID=1Thu, 29 Aug 2013 21:43:23 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:6262d829-3b12-4276-bd60-b297fff41910CatherineThomas<p>I agree with Gillian it doesn&#39;t necessarily mean it&#39;s got septicaemia. I&#39;ve seen a tortoise before who seemed to have a pinkish tinge to his shell but all blood tests etc showed that he was perfectly healthy and stayed that way for several years. </p> <p>Is it big enough that you could get a drop of blood to make a smear? That should tell you if there&#39;s any changes in the WBCC or morphology.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>Re: tortoise with septicaemiahttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/96669?ContentTypeID=1Thu, 29 Aug 2013 15:14:44 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:1a148a89-d991-4a3d-8fcb-54d4c752147eGillian Mostyn<p>[quote user=&quot;shanley barber&quot;]A colleague of mine has seen a 2.5 year old Horsefield that has areas of red discoloration on his carapace and plastron.[/quote]</p> <p>I know that people tend to assume that this is due to septicaemia but</p> <p>[quote user=&quot;shanley barber&quot;]the tortoise is still eating when hand-fed, still quite lively[/quote]</p> <p>this makes it very unlikely!</p> <p>Check the shell is completely hard and well calcified and keratinised.&nbsp; Problems with any of these will cause the shell to appear red/bruised.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>