Hello from Wisconsin! please help with peeling

[erkarose]

Hello everyone!

My name is Ericka and I live in Wisconsin. I have recently purchased a russian torty which I have named Vlad. He is peeling quite a bit (since I've gotten him, about 2 weeks) and I have been soaking him everyday for about 20 minutes to get him rehydrated because I got him from petsmart. I've been reading up on how to care for russians as this is my first tortoise but now I've hit my first problem.

Like I said, Vlad has been shedding for a bit but when I bathed him today, I found a piece (about half a card in length) of his under bottom shell, not sure what its called, is coming off. I have read that sometimes they shed pieces of their shell but what about the bottom. There is normal looking shell underneath and no white spots and its not soft. Could this be an injury? He is super active, eating well, and really loves his baths but I do have a rock water dish, could this maybe be a cause?

Now that I took a picture of him, the spot does look a bit white and now I'm freaked out and worried.

His substrate is coco coir only in one hidey hole and the rest reptibark. Also does anyone know how old he may be?

 

[HotdogKnight]

Welcome to TFO! Age is pretty hard to determine once they get close to full size (he looks close to 6 inches) it could be anything, normally the place that sells them should know?
I'm not too sure on his shell, I don't want to jump to the conclusion of shell rot because I'm not an expert, but I'm sure an RT expert will be along shortly

 

[Heather H]

Hi and welcome

 

[erkarose]

Welcome to TFO! Age is pretty hard to determine once they get close to full size (he looks close to 6 inches) it could be anything, normally the place that sells them should know?
I'm not too sure on his shell, I don't want to jump to the conclusion of shell rot because I'm not an expert, but I'm sure an RT expert will be along shortly

Thank you for replying so quickly!!! Im glad I found a place where I can ask questions to knowledgeable people and stop freaking myself out looking things up on the internet!

 

[erkarose]

Hi and welcome

Thank you! Glad to be here!

 

[HotdogKnight]

Don't worry about it, we love new people! Some of us have only been on here a few months and we know so much more than when we started! You'll love it here..

 

[TortsNTurtles]

Welcome! Congrats on your new tortoise !

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Ericka welcome to the TFO from AZ. Your Russian tort is wild Russian tort and in the wild any thing could start this damage . But Russian torts rule !

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Ericka, and welcome to the Forum!

What caused the keratin to peel off like that happened quite a while ago, and is not due to anything you've done. Once it pulls away from the bone it will never re-stick itself. It looks like that whole piece underneath the white spot is loose and will eventually come off. But don't worry. New keratin is growing under the bone. It takes a very, very long time, but eventually the white, dead bone will pop off an new keratin will be exposed.

It looks like there might be a build up of dirt under the part that's lifting. You can take a water pik or squirt bottle or syringe without the needle and squirt water under there to clean it out. It will take a bit of a forceful squirt. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt him.

 

[weldorNate]

Welcome and nice looking tort

 

[Heather H]

Hi , he's so sweet looking. The cuttle bone can stay in for him to nibble what he wants just remove the medal band

 

[erkarose]

Hi Ericka, and welcome to the Forum!

What caused the keratin to peel off like that happened quite a while ago, and is not due to anything you've done. Once it pulls away from the bone it will never re-stick itself. It looks like that whole piece underneath the white spot is loose and will eventually come off. But don't worry. New keratin is growing under the bone. It takes a very, very long time, but eventually the white, dead bone will pop off an new keratin will be exposed.

It looks like there might be a build up of dirt under the part that's lifting. You can take a water pik or squirt bottle or syringe without the needle and squirt water under there to clean it out. It will take a bit of a forceful squirt. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt him.

Thank you so much! This puts my mind at ease! I was so worried about him yesterday especially looking up pictures on shell rot. He is a super sweet little guy, not shy at all, which is surprising if you say he is WC I am absolutely in love with my little guy and its really amazing to me how MUCH personality he has!

Also do I need to help him shed his skin at all? He has some big pieces of skin on his head and legs. Every day it gets a bit better tho so I'm not sure if I should just wait it out? I don't want to pull a piece off or something that is not ready to come off yet.

Again thanks everyone for your help!

 

[pam]

Welcome Russians are awesome

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[smarch]

Hello and welcome!
That's damage that was defiantly there before he came to you. If he's from petsmart he is wild caught, but Russian tortoises are full of spunk that's why he's not terribly shy, mine too time to warm up but they're all different.
As for the skin shedding resist the urge to pick at it, if you do you can expose new skin before its ready (I think of it like a scab). If there are really large pieces hear his head that seem to be bothering him I've heard of people taking a nail trimmer and just trimming down the shedding so its not flopping around irritating him... but the idea of sharp pointy things near my torts face never seemed like a good idea.

 

[Gillian M]

A warm welcome the forum! That's a very cute tort-GOD bless.Take good care of it.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

A very belated welcome Ericka, hope you are still finding it useful here and that Vlad is thriving.

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome Ericka and Vlad !

 

[erkarose]

A very belated welcome Ericka, hope you are still finding it useful here and that Vlad is thriving.

Yes he is doing very well and his fun little tort personality has come out and knows exactly how he wants everything! He ended up peeling a bit more but seems to be very happy and healthy. The stuff has not begun to grow back yet but from what I heard that usually takes quite a while

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Yes he is doing very well and his fun little tort personality has come out and knows exactly how he wants everything! He ended up peeling a bit more but seems to be very happy and healthy. The stuff has not begun to grow back yet but from what I heard that usually takes quite a whileView attachment 152218

Super!!!
He's looking good!!