3 Week DT Hatchling Shell Check

[Kelsey Shirley]

We adopted 2 hatchlings 2 weeks ago and the shell on one of them is getting dark and maybe a little shiny. I kind of think it is because she is my daughters and she is more hands on. This baby likes to snuggle in to my daughter's neck and take a nap while Mia watches cartoons so I was thinking it could just be from my daughters natural skin oils. My husband said something about what if it was a fungus or even like internal bleeding which has had me on the computer for hours and I finally found this site! Any help!?! (pink dot is a dab of nail polish so we could tell the two apart)

Also, the lady we got them from said we only needed the UVB light and not a heating source but I wasn't sure that is correct. Any advice would be great

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, it does look like maybe oily hands or maybe hand lotion from the hands or something like that. Reassure your hubby, no, it's not internal. It's from your daughter's hands. Try to encourage her to wash her hands before and after handling the tortoise. It's for her health as well as good for the tortoise.

Hi, and welcome to the forum! Desert tortoises are a very personable species, and one of my favorites!

 

[Yvonne G]

I forgot to answer your lighting question. I use a Mercury Vapor light for heat AND UVB. The babies should be kept at least 80F degrees all the time, day and night, until they get a bit older, then you can allow a bit of a drop at night time. For night time heat you can use a ceramic heat emitter:

Mercury Vapor Bulb


ceramic heat emitter


DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO TALK YOU INTO BUYING AND USING THIS TYPE OF BULB:

 

[Yvonne G]

You don't want your babies to dry out, and the heat and lights tend to do that very quickly, so you MUST keep them hydrated. You can keep them on moistened substrate, even WET is ok, and soak them in warm water for about 15 minutes daily.

 

[Kelsey Shirley]

Ahhh big sigh of relief!

I should have known... I am always right!

Yes she has the washing hands after she holds "Kendall" <--- lol who names their turtle Kendall? but the before part we are working! My son is great at it so I guess that would be why "sheldon's" shell hasn't changed

I read another forum and will be getting them a heating lamp first thing tomorrow! Lucky for our guys we live in Phoenix and take them outside a few times a day for some sun and grazing.

 

[Kenno]

(pink dot is a dab of nail polish so we could tell the two apart )

View attachment 154061[/QUOTE]

My wife wants to paint the toenails on our 3 desert torts so that she can tell them apart!