TotoTheTortoise
Member
Hiii,
I'm new here. It's lovely to meet you all. I just wanted to ask a few questions on here about my tortoise but first let me give you some background info.
I got Toto from a family friend who said he's about a year old at the time (sep 2019). He was in a table top enclosure but only had a insted heat lamp and a heat mat. He didn't go outside much but he was high up inside to get sunlight through the windows. When i got him i bought him a baking bulb with uva and uvb and it was attached to a on/off thermostat. She had it set to turn off at 28°C. He was fine for the months i had him although due to being a new owner i should have weighed him to monitor his growth (he's my first reptile). His she'll had a tiny bit of pyrymading (one one scute-the first middle one closest to his head) but the rest of his shell was fine.
This year, however, i noticed his scutes getting a slightly darker colour underneath and im not sure whether its new growth or if he is developing MBD because these darker patches are a bit soft. I do have to apply some pressure too. His plastron is fine but is also a little soft. Currently, he is around 3.5 inches.
Due to my negligence, i didnt realise i had to change the bulb to make sure hes getting enough uba/b so i think after a while he just want getting enough. It still have it heart though. So this month, I have moved him to a viv because i have younger siblings and i don't want them to get hurt if the accidentally touch the heat lamp (just for a while because he's still small and where i live its too small to get a larger enclosure. Hopefully we will move soon so i will 100% get him a bigger one. I still also have his table top enclosure which I'll take outside when the weather warms up a bit. I live in south east England so the weather is a bit glum and i don't have a secure garden to leave him outside)
He has an arcadia 12% UVB light strip (with 30% uva) and he has a heat lamp on one end of the viv. I use tortoise terrain (soil like) and i spray is every so often. He has good ventilation too and i like to put him in his tortoise table (with a lot of substrate) to sleep at night as the temperature remains fairly constant. He's very active, likes to climb on top of his hide (he was also like this when i got him) and bathes in his water bowl. I also soak him. So i don't know if I'm just worrying for nothing or if i should take him to a vet. He does have a cuttle fish bone in his viv now, but i still do solenoid some powder on his food since he's not to keen on the bone). I did this when he was in his table top too. He's never been before and i don't know any around me..
He walks fine and he's even begun to shed again, I'm just concerned over his shell. Since his husbandry has changed, should i leave him for a while to see improvemnts before i take him. His shell isnt too domed either but it's not flat (looks normal to me).
I'm still young so i am trying. Any help is greatly appreciated.
I'm new here. It's lovely to meet you all. I just wanted to ask a few questions on here about my tortoise but first let me give you some background info.
I got Toto from a family friend who said he's about a year old at the time (sep 2019). He was in a table top enclosure but only had a insted heat lamp and a heat mat. He didn't go outside much but he was high up inside to get sunlight through the windows. When i got him i bought him a baking bulb with uva and uvb and it was attached to a on/off thermostat. She had it set to turn off at 28°C. He was fine for the months i had him although due to being a new owner i should have weighed him to monitor his growth (he's my first reptile). His she'll had a tiny bit of pyrymading (one one scute-the first middle one closest to his head) but the rest of his shell was fine.
This year, however, i noticed his scutes getting a slightly darker colour underneath and im not sure whether its new growth or if he is developing MBD because these darker patches are a bit soft. I do have to apply some pressure too. His plastron is fine but is also a little soft. Currently, he is around 3.5 inches.
Due to my negligence, i didnt realise i had to change the bulb to make sure hes getting enough uba/b so i think after a while he just want getting enough. It still have it heart though. So this month, I have moved him to a viv because i have younger siblings and i don't want them to get hurt if the accidentally touch the heat lamp (just for a while because he's still small and where i live its too small to get a larger enclosure. Hopefully we will move soon so i will 100% get him a bigger one. I still also have his table top enclosure which I'll take outside when the weather warms up a bit. I live in south east England so the weather is a bit glum and i don't have a secure garden to leave him outside)
He has an arcadia 12% UVB light strip (with 30% uva) and he has a heat lamp on one end of the viv. I use tortoise terrain (soil like) and i spray is every so often. He has good ventilation too and i like to put him in his tortoise table (with a lot of substrate) to sleep at night as the temperature remains fairly constant. He's very active, likes to climb on top of his hide (he was also like this when i got him) and bathes in his water bowl. I also soak him. So i don't know if I'm just worrying for nothing or if i should take him to a vet. He does have a cuttle fish bone in his viv now, but i still do solenoid some powder on his food since he's not to keen on the bone). I did this when he was in his table top too. He's never been before and i don't know any around me..
He walks fine and he's even begun to shed again, I'm just concerned over his shell. Since his husbandry has changed, should i leave him for a while to see improvemnts before i take him. His shell isnt too domed either but it's not flat (looks normal to me).
I'm still young so i am trying. Any help is greatly appreciated.