What is growing on/in this Desert Tortoises shell?

Toadturtle

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I have noticed recently that a 30+ year old female Desert Tortoise I care for has developed a mold like pattern on/in her shell. She is mostly kept outside during Spring/Summer in the southern United States. During Winter/Fall is kept indoors with a heat lamp and usually in a large concrete bottomed enclosure with pine straw or aspen shavings as substrate(have never seen or noticed she eats these substrates in her poop). When she is indoors she is frequently taken out in the sun on nice days to graze on weeds/grass and to get some UV rays. Diet is mainly collards, kale, spinach, romaine, mazuri tortoise diet, Timothy hay, and they very occasional strawberry or raspberry. Any idea what could be causing this and how to treat it?
 

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Yvonne G

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Looks more like a stain than something growing.
 

RatQueen_Irene

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The large white ones could be a hard water stains? Others have had success diluting white vinegar in a 50/50 solution with drinking water and gently scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and rinsing over a few days, it might help if it is, though they aren't known to be directly harmful I believe

Searching for hard water stains may find others with the issue, with photos to double check and their solutions
 

Toadturtle

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The large white ones could be a hard water stains? Others have had success diluting white vinegar in a 50/50 solution with drinking water and gently scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and rinsing over a few days, it might help if it is, though they aren't known to be directly harmful I believe

Searching for hard water stains may find others with the issue, with photos to double check and their solutions
Having a hard time finding photos with a similar pattern. To me it looks fungal, really would prefer to not visit a vet, haven’t seen many that seem to really understand tortoise care.
 

Toddrickfl1

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I have noticed recently that a 30+ year old female Desert Tortoise I care for has developed a mold like pattern on/in her shell. She is mostly kept outside during Spring/Summer in the southern United States. During Winter/Fall is kept indoors with a heat lamp and usually in a large concrete bottomed enclosure with pine straw or aspen shavings as substrate(have never seen or noticed she eats these substrates in her poop). When she is indoors she is frequently taken out in the sun on nice days to graze on weeds/grass and to get some UV rays. Diet is mainly collards, kale, spinach, romaine, mazuri tortoise diet, Timothy hay, and they very occasional strawberry or raspberry. Any idea what could be causing this and how to treat it?
Looks like fungus possibly. Get some cheap athletes foot cream and apply it to the area. See if that helps, if it doesn't it won't hurt anything.
 

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