Help, split shell

ericnvivien

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Jan 17, 2021
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Hi
I’m new here, I have a 3 yrs old leopard tortoise, this week I found a split on his shell under the neck.
I wondered how serious is this, and what should be done?
Some online sites said we can do DIY repair, but I’m not sure if this is suitable or not.
If needed, I’ll take to the vet.
Any help appreciated.

typical diet leafy greens, lettuce, kale, mixed spring greens, and water. But food intake is small.
Mostly live outdoor garden, dirt/grass, daily water sprinkling, but it hide from direct sunlight a lot.

Thank you
Eric

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Tortisedonk7

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Hello and welcome.
I don’t know much about leopard tortoise but that does not look good. Hopefully some experts will respond soon.
@Tom
@zovick

I’m also wondering about it’s feet. The front legs don’t look normal to me. Where are it’s nails?
 

wellington

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Hello and welcome.
I don’t know much about leopard tortoise but that does not look good. Hopefully some experts will respond soon.
@Tom
@zovick

I’m also wondering about it’s feet. The front legs don’t look normal to me. Where are it’s nails?
Good catch on the feet. I didn't even look there.
 

wellington

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The split is not normal and he looks to be missing his feet.
Did you get him like this? Do you know what happened to his feet?
Not sure if you should just keep an eye on the split or if it she be dealt with. See what @Yvonne G @Tom @Markw and Zovick have to say.
 

ericnvivien

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The split is not normal and he looks to be missing his feet.
Did you get him like this? Do you know what happened to his feet?
Not sure if you should just keep an eye on the split or if it she be dealt with. See what @Yvonne G @Tom @Markw and Zovick have to say.


Thanks for the feedback, and checking on the nails too.
I got them at six months old.
Is it just angles, how do they look?


Will call the vet to look at the split.
Thanks

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Yvonne G

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His feet are fine - it was just the angle of the picture. The gular is fine - the area of the split. It is normal shell growth.
 

wellington

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Wow, it was the angle of the pic that made it look like he had no nails/feet lol. The split looks normal to me in the second set of pics you posted but looks more drastically split in the first pics. My leopards are much older and their gular are not split like that. Yvonne says it looks fine though so I would go by her. She's has more experience with multiple leopards and other species.
 
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