Thanks, Ed! He WAS "strikingly beautiful"....we are in that "fading phase" now this is now, most new growth is dark but his plastron is still prettyMarbelling is a great thing as far as I'm concerned.
It's almost always associated with Cherry heads. I see from the spurs that yours likely IS a cherry.
It will at some point stop and start to fade. But looks very good. IMO
@Pearly has one that is just strikingly beautiful.
Don't be, you have a great herd and awesome set up! I can't wait to meet you guys in personI'm very envious
We are also looking forward to it.Don't be, you have a great herd and awesome set up! I can't wait to meet you guys in person
Thanks, Ed! He WAS "strikingly beautiful"....View attachment 210355View attachment 210352we are in that "fading phase" nowView attachment 210353 this is now, most new growth is dark but his plastron is still prettyView attachment 210354
It had started very early in first few wks of his life. I didn't know about marbling and at first trying to scrub it with soft tooth brush thinking it was hard water or calcium (back then I was still trying to supplement, before I quit bcs Tucker would eat anything with calcium powder in it) then was freaking out about him getting some shell disease.... bfr finally realizing that my "problem tort child" was just growing different color shell... he was growing those streaks or all white up until about 18 months of age. Now he is 2 and growing mostly dark and all that used to be bright white has faded and little Tac-tack from distance looks now almost like his reg RF "house-sister". But that's ok, it's been a very cool experience with this "marbling thing"That looks so cool! How long did it take once it started to spread that far?
It had started very early in first few wks of his life. I didn't know about marbling and at first trying to scrub it with soft tooth brush thinking it was hard water or calcium (back then I was still trying to supplement, before I quit bcs Tucker would eat anything with calcium powder in it) then was freaking out about him getting some shell disease.... bfr finally realizing that my "problem tort child" was just growing different color shell... he was growing those streaks or all white up until about 18 months of age. Now he is 2 and growing mostly dark and all that used to be bright white has faded and little Tac-tack from distance looks now almost like his reg RF "house-sister". But that's ok, it's been a very cool experience with this "marbling thing"
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Pearly's-cherryhead-marbling-story.144600/ here is a link to the thread I had started on Tucker once realized he was marbling
Yea but you know what? The black pigment has been ... infiltrating those white fields and almost completely obliterating the white in some areas!@Pearly
I like the black growth coming in, it provides the marbling with that "starburst" pattern around the areola. That is a unique redfoot and rather stunning.
see??!! Almost all if the white on the sides is gone! But the pigment came later! After the previously white growth rings were already there! I used to think that the new growth came in with its color... see that???!!! Crazy stuff! It's like black ink "bleeding" into the porous paper! This last pic is an earlier one to show you how much white there used to be thereYea but you know what? The black pigment has been ... infiltrating those white fields and almost completely obliterating the white in some areas!
View attachment 210543 see??!! Almost all if the white on the sides is gone! But the pigment came later! After the previously white growth rings were already there! I used to think that the new growth came in with its color...View attachment 210544 see that???!!! Crazy stuff! It's like black ink "bleeding" into the porous paper! This last pic is an earlier one to show you how much white there used to be there
No idea! And thank you... But you know what? This is actually very interesting! I wonder if @Anyfoot or @cdmay know how that pigmentation in shell growth works RFsWhile I vastly prefer all black shells the pattern of yours is actually attractive. Could it be that it just "seems" to bleed in because as the scutes get bigger so much more area is growing in dark around the edges?