Question about my sulcatas face color.

[Jesse977]

Hello I was wondering if my torts face color was normal? I have looked around these forums and most of the baby sulcatas that I see have a even yellowish color on thier faces/head. My sulcata has a real dark mouth, dark circles around his eyes and dark markings on top of his head. I bought him 5 days ago and was thinking maybe his previous owner had him under a hot bulb that caused his skin to darken. Or Im thinking maybe its because hes real young. I dont mind the darker color Im just a little worried that everything is ok.

 

[Blakem]

Interesting. Hopefully someone else will chime in. Is your tortoise going to the bathroom daily? Soaked daily? What's the diet and temps like?

 

[Tom]

There is quite a lot of color variability in sulcatas. Yours looks normal to me.

Two things do concern me though. One is that yours appears to have a split scute up front. This is an unusual place for that. This usually indicates high incubation temps, and it's usually cosmetic and doesn't hurt them. It's just noteworthy because of the unusual location.

Second thing is all the sand on those leaves. Babies are somewhat susceptible to impaction. I would feed your baby on a lid or tray of some sort. Terra cotta plant saucers work well too. Just do your best to keep the food off the substrate and the substrate off the food. A little bit some of the time in unavoidable, but try to minimize the sand/substrate intake.

 

[Jesse977]

I dont think that the people who had him before me took good care of him. Some of the other babys in the bunch had scutes that were very deformed. When I bought him home I took a few pictures and the spot I set him down just happened to have those dirty leaves. I keep him in a plastic shoebox since his yolk sac is still healing. His temps are in the 80's. From what I see he poops fine. I soak him twice a day, and spray him often with distilled water. Thanks guys for the info and advice.