scuffs or shell damage?

[jdawn]

Hello All,
When Boris came to me a few months ago he had two small scuffed or damaged places on the top of his shell. They seem like they are from an impact of some sort (or maybe he dug under a rock and scraped it)? It's not soft or anything like that-- its just a couple of dry, cracked looking areas. Is there something I should do for him for this or will it repair itself eventually? Or, maybe it's just something that 'gives him character' (because he definitely is a character!
FYI, he is 4.5". Also, his shell looks a bit bumpy to me too, when compared to his roomie, Ivan's. Thank you for any thoughts that can be shared about this~ JD

 

[Yvonne G]

Most wild caught Russian tortoises are pretty scroungy-looking. "They" capture them in very large numbers, and the tortoises are piled up on top of each other in holding pens...wallowing around in poop and pee, and getting their shells all scraped up. Some of them come to us with shell rot, but most are just rough-looking.

There's nothing to be done about it. Sometimes old scars go away, but most of the time they're there for the rest of the tortoise's life.

Yvonne

 

[jdawn]

Thanks Yvonne,
I hate to think what he may have had to go through in his short life so far, but from the sounds of it, he earned his two 'stripes' or bars... maybe we should have named him 'Corporal'

 

[Stephanie Logan]

His shell looks a lot nicer than my Taco's; just a few combat injuries, apparently!

 

[Weloveourtortoise]

very adorable!!