Question regarding his shell

TeguBuzz

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Hey everyone, the tortoise in the photos below is Barney. One of my large male sulcatas. He weighs in at around 35-40lbs and is almost 9 years old.

I acquired him a few years back and he was much smaller, with some terrible pyramiding from what I assume could have been poor housing, and low humidity - generally bad care.

My concern is these "broken" pieces of shell along his side, which were there when I obtained him, and are still there. Barney appears to be growing at a nice rate these days, he mows my lawn very well and feeds on quite a varied diet. I'll post the little photos I have on my phone now, and hopefully you all can help me figure out what could have caused this damage to his shell in the past, and if there even is a possible treatment. He, along with all my sulcatas, is vet checked 1-2 times a year as check up fees are only $45, and he seems to be fine every single time according to the vet.

He has over an acre of yard space as his home, and retreats to one of my handful of pens at night.

Sorry for the long post, hope you all can help. I'll post more photos later in the day.

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Yvonne G

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He looks great. You're doing a good job with him. The broken off pieces will never grow back, and there's really no way of knowing how it happened. My guess would be that he was dog-chewed at a young age.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Yep, I guess that's why torts have shells... :( Some minor scrapes could heal and flake off eventually, but that looks big, so I don't think it will :(
Barney looks great now though, soon he'll be all grown up :D
 

Tom

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I sometimes get the same thing. Two possibilities, or a combination of both. Growth in dry conditions get all ugly and nasty in that area. Also when they ram each other in night boxes or up against walls, that is the most common area to see damage. You could have one or both going on. Does this tortoise live with other sulcatas? Is your climate pretty dry some parts of the year?
 

TeguBuzz

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He looks great. You're doing a good job with him. The broken off pieces will never grow back, and there's really no way of knowing how it happened. My guess would be that he was dog-chewed at a young age.
Thanks Yvonne for the compliments and guess as to what it could have been.
 

TeguBuzz

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I sometimes get the same thing. Two possibilities, or a combination of both. Growth in dry conditions get all ugly and nasty in that area. Also when they ram each other in nigh boxes or up against walls, that is the most common area to see damage. You could have one or both going on. Does this tortoise live with other sulcatas? Is your climate pretty dry some parts of the year?
Hey thanks for the response Tom. Barney lives with 4 other larger Sulcata, 3 of which are female and one of which is my ivory male.

Barney and Fred, the ivory, do not cross paths often but when they do - I see no aggressive confrontation. I have security cameras over my property so I check their behavior frequently, they seem to occupy different territories in my yard. As far as night boxes, I have 4 over my yard. Barney seems to always go into his own one whereas Fred retreats to one of his own, and the other 3 females all go to the same one, leaving one empty. The breaks haven't gotten worse since I've had him, nor have they fallen off - or any of that. Seems to just stay there. He's one of the "friendliest" sulcatas I have.

As far as climate goes, it's humid here almost all year and with my daily soaks and spray downs, I'm certain humidity is not an issue as all my juveniles that I've raised since hatchling have near perfectly smooth shells. Only time climate is dry is probably January - February, but even then - soaks, hides, etc., keep it nice and humid.

Let me know what you think.

Best,

Manolis
 

TeguBuzz

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Yep, I guess that's why torts have shells... :( Some minor scrapes could heal and flake off eventually, but that looks big, so I don't think it will :(
Barney looks great now though, soon he'll be all grown up :D
Thanks bud, yea it's never really fallen off.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Wow, they sound like they have a great yard! I bet Barney and Fred are thrilled to have all those girls :p
 

TeguBuzz

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@Yellow Turtle01 Thanks! Yea they seem to mind their own business most of the time. The yard is definitely spacious, I need to throw some more elephant grass into it along the fence!
 

TeguBuzz

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Here's a few more photos showing it close up. These scars of his and damage to his shell have never seemed to affect him in any negative way, nor has it hindered his ability to do anything. Of all my sullies, he probably has the most voracious appetite and there isn't a time I go out into my yard and he's not grazing. He was grazing when these photos were taken, haha.

The second he catches glimpse of me, he comes running along in my direction, will stick his neck out for a good scratch, close his eyes, sit a minute, then go back to grazing.

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