a torte named Charlie
New Member
Hi I am new to this forum but have a coulle of questions that maybe someone can offer me help with. I adopted a Russian Tortoise about 3-4 years ago from very bad living conditions. The person that had her was paid to take her and was 100% negligent to the poor thing. Charlie had also been bounced around from a few homes before I found her. 2 of the previous owners painted her shell. It was 2 little girls whose mother apparently let them paint poor Charlie with nail polish for entertainment. I hhave googled and researched how to remove it but I don’t want to put any more nasty chemicals on her like nail polish remover and will not use sandpaper. I do not want to traumatize my baby anymore than she already has been. I did try a couple of times with a non acetone polish remover (venilated air and chemical was immediately rinsed away) and it actually took a little of the natural color off of her shell in a spot ? My best guess is that she is around 12 years old. I found out about when the original owner bought her from a pet store and just have kinda guessed she is around that age. Her shell looks like the growth may have been stunted from the paints also. I had hope that the paint would have naturally worn off by now but there are atleast 3 layers. This is after I have tried over the years here and there to get some of it off of her without stressing her. Any advice would be appreciated greatly! Also, her beak is growing long. The longest since we have had her. She has a dish that should help keep it trimmed but apparently it isn’t. Any suggestions there? Thank you so much!