Help is this normal on the shell?

[muggec1]

I have a 15 year old sulcata we have raised since a hatchling. His (at least we believe thats the sex) shell is approximately 20 inches long and seems as healthy as ever. But his shell seems to be growing a little odd. Could it be we need to adjust his diet? He eats grasses, lettuce and the occasional melon and vegetables. Take a look at the close up pic and you'll see one carpace is starting to overgrow?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Yvonne G]

I see what you're talking about...that front scute in the middle seems to be splitting off from the new growth between it and the next one back, and is growing up and over the next scute. I have no idea why this is happening. Could there have been an injury there at one time? Maybe the light is too close and burned the sensitive new growth?

Sorry...I really don't know what's happening with your tortoise's shell.

 

[diamondbp]

That's usually do to extremely dry hot conditions. I've made it a practice to rinse my sulcatas shells every day since a few months ago because I've noticed the same thing on my larger female.

 

[Dizisdalife]

I have seen that sort of growth on other sulcata. One scute wanting to grow over another. I would have to say that it is common. I don't have enough experience to say that it is normal or not. Your case seems more extreme than the ones that I have seen. In the first post of this thread you will see sulcata with that type of growth:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-36412.html

Not sure what you can do about it. diamondbg, in the previous post, had as good of a suggestion as I could give. If it is due to growth in too dry of a condition, then the solution would be to eliminate the dryness. Is it possible that your tortoise has been resting too close to a heat source? A basking light? Something like that focused on a small spot of the carapace might be the cause of it. Can you tell us more about how your tortoise is kept.

 

[muggec1]

I have seen that sort of growth on other sulcata. One scute wanting to grow over another. I would have to say that it is common. I don't have enough experience to say that it is normal or not. Your case seems more extreme than the ones that I have seen. In the first post of this thread you will see sulcata with that type of growth:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-36412.html

Not sure what you can do about it. diamondbg, in the previous post, had as good of a suggestion as I could give. If it is due to growth in too dry of a condition, then the solution would be to eliminate the dryness. Is it possible that your tortoise has been resting too close to a heat source? A basking light? Something like that focused on a small spot of the carapace might be the cause of it. Can you tell us more about how your tortoise is kept.

The tortoise is in phx, in the winter I have a burrow but he goes to the north wall and I have a shelter with a heat last but the lamp is 12-16 inches higher than him and only keeps it ~50 on cold nights. He has 50x20' to move freely that has some fountain grass and a tree for shade.

 

[Dizisdalife]

It's my guess that the heat lamp is causing the carapace to dry out in that area. At 12 inches it is focusing most of the heat in a small area of the shell. A oil filled radiant heater or a radiant heating panel would provide a more even heat distribution. Burrows are a great way for sulcata to escape the high temperature that you get in Phoenix. For winter time an above ground heated shed is best. Some put the heated shed over the burrow opening so that the heat gets down into their burrow or they can come up and enjoy the warmth. 50F is on the cool side for a sulcata. They seem to survive it, but I don't think it is the best conditions for them.

If you want to try to heal that area of your tortoise's shell you could provide it with a warm and humid shelter. In about three months you will know if it has a positive effect or not. The reason that I say this is because my sulcata had some shell issues, mostly on the scute margins, that have begun to heal using this approach. I keep his shelter at about 65% RH and around 80F. Here is the shelter design that I copied to house him in.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html

The shell didn't get that way overnight and it will take time to correct. Three months in a humid environment may not heal what has happened, but in that time you will begin to see results.