Air bubbles underneath the carapace?

Corvuskoracx

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Hello, I have a twelve years old greek tortoise and a few weeks ago I started noticing that there were light spots appearing on his shell, and as time passes, more are appearing. Our veterinarian said those are air bubbles that we should scrape off and treat the shell underneath with potassium permanganate. I didn’t ask him what causes those and if it’s dangerous, so please, is anyone on this forum familiar with the conditionD69BDF5C-6101-4450-B812-FF0C704A6727.jpeg?
 

JoesMum

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It’s bits of shell flaking away.

I have no idea where the air bubbles thing comes from. It’s nonsense.

Leave it alone. Don’t pick it off.

How are tou keeping this tortoise? Photographs of the enclosure and lighting would help. My suspicion is that it is being kept in an environment that is too dry.
 

Corvuskoracx

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It’s bits of shell flaking away.

I have no idea where the air bubbles thing comes from. It’s nonsense.

Leave it alone. Don’t pick it off.

How are tou keeping this tortoise? Photographs of the enclosure and lighting would help. My suspicion is that it is being kept in an environment that is too dry.
Hi, thank you for the reply. About the dryness, I recently switched to coconut chips mixed with coco soil ca 1:1, the tortoise is used to pure coco soil. Do you think this might be the case? Here’s the picture of the enclosure.F1BF26A2-A0E5-4D28-BC67-ACC18D6A77FC.jpeg
 

JoesMum

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Your substrate looks dry, he enclosure is too small and the lamp is far too low which might cause shell damage due to heat.

Please read this thread by @Tom and compare it with your setup
 
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AgataP

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This looks waaaaaaaaay to small for your tortoise. Looks like the light is hanging very low. What is the temperature and humidity for your tort? I almost worry that his shell is getting “toasty” under the light. Your tortoise looks like a “good size” tortoise and the enclosure is good for ... mhmm a something small that likes dry environment.
I would think about giving him a new living space.
 

Corvuskoracx

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This looks waaaaaaaaay to small for your tortoise. Looks like the light is hanging very low. What is the temperature and humidity for your tort? I almost worry that his shell is getting “toasty” under the light. Your tortoise looks like a “good size” tortoise and the enclosure is good for ... mhmm a something small that likes dry environment.
I would think about giving him a new living space.
We often let him move around the house for a couple of hours. When I was setting up the lamps, I put my hand underneath it for a minute and it didn’t seem so hot, but I now put the lamp twice as high as it was before. Now that I think about it, would it be possible to have a heat lamp and UV just somewhere in the room so he can spend more time walking around?
 

JoesMum

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We often let him move around the house for a couple of hours. When I was setting up the lamps, I put my hand underneath it for a minute and it didn’t seem so hot, but I now put the lamp twice as high as it was before. Now that I think about it, would it be possible to have a heat lamp and UV just somewhere in the room so he can spend more time walking around?
Your tortoise should not be allowed to roam your home. There are far too many hazards and you have correctly identified that he is away feom the heat but also the humidity he needs to be healthy.

Set him up in a proper sized enclosure - read that thread I linked to.

Buy an infrared temperature gun type thermometer and use that to get your basking lamp at the correct height so it is 35-37C directly underneath it. This is really important. Without being able to bask at this temperature your tortoise will become very sick.
 

Corvuskoracx

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Your tortoise should not be allowed to roam your home. There are far too many hazards and you have correctly identified that he is away feom the heat but also the humidity he needs to be healthy.

Set him up in a proper sized enclosure - read that thread I linked to.

Buy an infrared temperature gun type thermometer and use that to get your basking lamp at the correct height so it is 35-37C directly underneath it. This is really important. Without being able to bask at this temperature your tortoise will become very sick.
Okay, thank you. I saved the link and I’ll read it when I’ll have the time.
 

Maggie3fan

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We often let him move around the house for a couple of hours. When I was setting up the lamps, I put my hand underneath it for a minute and it didn’t seem so hot, but I now put the lamp twice as high as it was before. Now that I think about it, would it be possible to have a heat lamp and UV just somewhere in the room so he can spend more time walking around?
It is extremely dangerous for turtles and tortoises to wander around the house. He needs a bigger enclosure, more humidity, and more exercise. You would not have to allow him the run of your house, if he lived in a proper enclosure. It is very bad to have him running around on the floor and it really is too cold on the floor for him. Your basking light should be from 12 to abt 18 inches away from him.
 
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