Markings

Tortoise213

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Heyy, I took my russian tort back to the shop I bought him from for a couple of days. I took him there once before and he put him with some other tortoises but this time he had no room so put him in a snake enclosure (with no snake in lol) that had bark in. I wasn't very happy but he said he'll be fine for a couple days, so I left him there. When I picked him up from the shop and took him home I noticed these markings that I'm pretty sure he didn't have before and just want to make sure it's not anything bad?
Thanks 😊 🐢
 

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zovick

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Heyy, I took my russian tort back to the shop I bought him from for a couple of days. I took him there once before and he put him with some other tortoises but this time he had no room so put him in a snake enclosure (with no snake in lol) that had bark in. I wasn't very happy but he said he'll be fine for a couple days, so I left him there. When I picked him up from the shop and took him home I noticed these markings that I'm pretty sure he didn't have before and just want to make sure it's not anything bad?
Thanks 😊 🐢
If you mean the reddish brown marks on the skin, they are probably stains from the substrate on which the tortoise has been kept. They most likely did not get there in just a couple of days, although it could be possible. They could have been there previously and you had not noticed them since you probably checked the tortoise more carefully after getting it back than you would on a daily routine basis.
 

wellington

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Just a note for future boarding at that place. You should never let them put your tortoise with other tortoises. That could be deadly for yours, theirs, or all of them. Tortoises should always be quarantined before being put together and they are just throwing yours in with god knows what from god knows where.
 

Tom

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Heyy, I took my russian tort back to the shop I bought him from for a couple of days. I took him there once before and he put him with some other tortoises but this time he had no room so put him in a snake enclosure (with no snake in lol) that had bark in. I wasn't very happy but he said he'll be fine for a couple days, so I left him there. When I picked him up from the shop and took him home I noticed these markings that I'm pretty sure he didn't have before and just want to make sure it's not anything bad?
Thanks 😊 🐢
It is a terrible idea to take your tortoise back to a reptile shop. Diseases run rampant. Mixing your tortoise with other tortoises with no quarantine can be a death sentence. At best is a huge gamble that no one should take. The stress of moving back and forth like that alone is enough to make a tortoise get sick.

Best to leave your tortoise at home in its temperature controlled enclosure with lights on timers. For a couple of days, you wouldn't even need anyone to come feed it, if that is the reason for taking it to the shop. Soak it the day you are leaving, or the day before for an early morning departure, and then remove the water dish so it can't be fouled. Drop a whole head of some sort of lettuce on the cool side of the enclosure and the tortoise can munch on it freely. Lettuce won't go bad in two days. Soak the tortoise again when you get home and replace the water dish. Alternatively, you can use opuntia pads instead of lettuce, and that works even better as they last even longer.
 

Tortoise213

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2024
Messages
46
Location (City and/or State)
Eastbourne
If you mean the reddish brown marks on the skin, they are probably stains from the substrate on which the tortoise has been kept. They most likely did not get there in just a couple of days, although it could be possible. They could have been there previously and you had not noticed them since you probably checked the tortoise more carefully after getting it back than you would on a daily routine basis.
Thank you 😊
 
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