Flaky plastron

[Ashliewood]

So, I have had my Russian for about two weeks, he has been to the vet, dewormed, hydrated and is on mazuri instead of lettuce. I am starting to feel like he is Heading in the right direction and I loom him over today after a soak and he seems to have a flaky plastron and a bit splintered. I will get pictures ASAP. And after I post those I willwant to know everyone's opinion if this could be old and I never noticed it or newish

 

[Ashliewood]

HEY! I GOT SOME CLOSEUPS, ALSO IS THIS FLAKY SKIN ON HIS NECK AND HEAD NORMAL?

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i wanted to bump it to the top

 

[Jacqui]

Everything I see, looks old. The skin does slough off naturally, and as long as it doesn't do a huge amount, do it continually, or have any redness or smell, that is normal. He looks like he has been kept dry and not feed well perhaps in the past. All this will improve with time and proper care now that you have him.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

My Russians had the same thing when I bought them in April. Kristina said this is most likely due to being stacked in crates while being shipped here to the States from Central Asia. However, my guys' abrasions are almost healed over now, and it looks like yours will do the same.

As for the flaky skin, again, my guys had this, but they got over it. Peeling skin can be due to stress, low humidity, or both. To correct this, they need a good habitat, and time to recover from being shipped halfway across the world. Tortoises are adapted to arid or semi-arid climates, but they still need a moist micro-climate (burrow) to stay healthy. Our Russian had flaky skin at first, but after they acclimated and became comfortable, that went away, too.

I'll save my soapbox on wild-caught (WC) pets vs. captive born and bred (CBB) pets for another time, partly because I'm guilty of buying WC turtles myself. For now, suffice it to say that our torties are doing fine, and it looks like yours will do fine, too. I'll add that I look forward to the day when Testudo tortoises are bred in captivity the way sulcatas, leopards, and redfoots are, and I hope my two little torties will contribute to that effort once they're grown up.

 

[Ashliewood]

Thanks