Introducing Clyde and me.....and have some questions.

CaliforniaKaren

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Mar 25, 2017
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Meet Clyde....our "rescue" Sulcata. Steve, his "father", and I live in San Jose, CA. (Greeting from Silicon Valley!) We found him last summer ago hiking up the trail we were hiking down. Needless to say, he came home with us. He escaped and was gone for a few months but was returned to us. He lives outside in our huge enclosed garden to prevent his escaping again. He literally comes running up to us when we're in his garden and loves his neck rubbed. We feed him spring mix and Mazuri Tortoise pellets. I've got some TNT on order after reading about on this forum. My question is this: today I noticed some "clouding" on his shell along with some whitish looking stuff near the edges. It may be nothing more than I'm a worried new mom. It's been exceptionally rainy here so he's spends time in his house. We have a hole cut out of the top of his house with a heat lamp sitting above the hole that we turn on when it's cold. In between the rain, it's been warm so the lamp has been off. Is it nothing? Is his shell dried out? Thoughts please. :tort:;) 20170325_171759(0).jpg
 

Yvonne G

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the 'clouding' is from his shell scraping on something hard/rough as he's digging under it. Something like the cement patio or a cement border?????

At first I thought it might be a desert tortoise, but the shape is wrong. The skin on the head and neck looks sulcata, but like the above posters, I would be interested in seeing side view, front view. this may be a sulcata that has lived out in the big wide wonderful world most of its life. Very interesting. Also, judging from the size of the shoe in the picture, and the obvious age (he's quite old) of the tortoise, he's not big enough to be a sulcata.
 

SarahChelonoidis

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Looking at your profile picture - it's blurry, but this doesn't look like a sulcata. ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1490493296.463263.jpg

And I am fairly sure I see a nuchal acute in your shot of the carapace, which sulcata do not have.
 

cmacusa3

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Rachael403

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Ill be interested to see what you come up with.. I think you are correct on your assumption so far. :)
 

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