Sulcata Losing color and turning slightly pale

[Frank the tortoise]

Hi , i recently drove 16 hours from southern california to denver, my sulcata has kept good color on his shell, but recently i removed my two leopard geckos that loved my tortoise and placed them in a different enclosure, recently my sulcata is starting to lose his color, hes becoming pale between the grooves on his shell, i tried making sure it wasnt because he was getting to cold, , its gotten better on the top but on the sides its still fading it seems.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated

 

[Frank the tortoise]

he still is eating and drinking great, he seems to be sleeping a bit more but hes more active throughout the day so i think maybe it’s because he used all his energy im not sure

 

[TeamZissou]

What you have is a leopard tortoise, not a sulcata.

Here's the care sheet, they need much higher humidity than what you most likely are using to prevent pyramiding (grooves in the shell).

The whiteness leopard tortoises develop is totally normal.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Frank the tortoise]

What you have is a leopard tortoise, not a sulcata.

Here's the care sheet, they need much higher humidity than what you most likely are using to prevent pyramiding (grooves in the shell).

The whiteness leopard tortoises develop is totally normal.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

thank you!!

 

[Ink]

Cute leopard tortoise. I'm happy to read you removed the geckos from the enclosure.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings…….in addition to your Sulcata being a Leopard. I’m pretty sure that the pale/whiteness between the scutes that you are concerned about is really new growth. A good thing. 👏🏻👏🏻

 

[Frank the tortoise]

Cute leopard tortoise. I'm happy to read you removed the geckos from the enclosure.

thank you the geckos were great and very small when in the cage with him, but as the tortoise grew more i wanted him alone i hear some bad things about combining lizards with tortoises, but i frequently go to the reptile vet in denver that i have a friend that works there they seemed to have bonded and were very healthy but i understand concerns about combining them

 

[Frank the tortoise]

Greetings…….in addition to your Sulcata being a Leopard. I’m pretty sure that the pale/whiteness between the scutes that you are concerned about is really new growth. A good thing. 👏🏻👏🏻

that is great news i was very worried but the way he was acting seemed normal so i wanted to double check for sure, i appreciate the help

 

[Tom]

that is great news i was very worried but the way he was acting seemed normal so i wanted to double check for sure, i appreciate the help

Read the care sheet. It is likely that you got the usual bad care advice, and that could be why he is not doing well.

 

[Gijoux]

Hi , i recently drove 16 hours from southern california to denver, my sulcata has kept good color on his shell, but recently i removed my two leopard geckos that loved my tortoise and placed them in a different enclosure, recently my sulcata is starting to lose his color, hes becoming pale between the grooves on his shell, i tried making sure it wasnt because he was getting to cold, , its gotten better on the top but on the sides its still fading it seems.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciatedView attachment 342452

To what is that cord attached. Heat placed under the tortoise is not the best. It is far better to have a radiant heat panel placed above the tortoise, attached to the underneath side of the top of your enclosure. Your Leopard Tortoise is growing right now, probably because you removed the geckos. Keep the humidity up to a minimum of 80%.