Colors and smooth shell

[Pond_Lilly]

I posted this wild tort picture few years ago, but want to ask again. What factors would contribute to bright coloration and smooth shell? In general, what substances torts need to get coloration, where do they get these colors from? I know about carotenoids, but is there anything else?

And the shell....could it be that they dig and bury themselves in the soil and it polishes the shell somehow? Maybe it is swimming or a rain water that does it?

 

[Anyfoot]

I posted this wild tort picture few years ago, but want to ask again. What factors would contribute to bright coloration and smooth shell? In general, what substances torts need to get coloration, where do they get these colors from? I know about carotenoids, but is there anything else?

And the shell....could it be that they dig and bury themselves in the soil and it polishes the shell somehow? Maybe it is swimming or a rain water that does it? View attachment 166001

Nice question. One I ask myself over and over.
Things that come to my mind are, diet, humidity, growth rate, natural abrasion on wc carapace, exercise. Does stress contribute? or lack of maybe the case.
Does anyone out there have a WC that has grown since being captive and the growth as carried on exactly the same as it was in the wild?

 

[Pond_Lilly]

I am curious about what foods could enhance colors, for example. Torts have to get some compound from somewhere for that red they have, don't they? You are right, there are so many variables that could contribute...

 

[Yvonne G]

To make red-factor canaries more colorful, 'they' feed them foods high in beta carotene. I wonder if that would hold true for RF tortoises too.