Quick check up

[SteveTheHermanns]

Hello tortoise forum!
Just wanted to check in about Steve. He looks like he is doing good and has just reached 40g! I saw some people saying that their tortoises have dry skin so I wanted to check in to make sure that he is no pyramiding and doesn’t have dry skin. I also wanted to check about his plastron (to make sure his shell isn’t rotting-I don’t think it is but it doesn’t hurt to ask). I soak him everyday for 30 minutes and feed him a wonderful variety of weeds. I try to get him some outside time too with the lovely weather. Thanks all from Steve and Harvey!

 

[Tom]

He looks good. The plastron and skin look normal. Is he in an open topped enclosure or a closed camber. The areas between the scutes do look like there could be pyramiding forming. Be sure you are using the right bulbs and have enough humidity.

 

[Krista S]

To me, something looks strange with the skin on his limbs. It looks like a lot of the outer layer has sloughed off? Did you notice when this occurred? I don’t know what would have cause it or how to fix it though. I have an Eastern Hermann’s and just looked back at his baby pictures and the darker color was consistent on the entirety of each limb. I took a couple enlarged screen shots of one of your photos to show what I am talking about. I agree with Tom that it does look like the start of pyramiding is occurring. The daily soaks are great, but humidity needs to be higher in the enclosure.

 

[SteveTheHermanns]

He looks good. The plastron and skin look normal. Is he in an open topped enclosure or a closed camber. The areas between the scutes do look like there could be pyramiding forming. Be sure you are using the right bulbs and have enough humidity.

Yes he is in an enclosed top environment. I made sure I got a floodlight because the spot bulbs cause pyramiding and that arrives today.

 

[SteveTheHermanns]

To me, something looks strange with the skin on his limbs. It looks like a lot of the outer layer has sloughed off? Did you notice when this occurred? I don’t know what would have cause it or how to fix it though. I have an Eastern Hermann’s and just looked back at his baby pictures and the darker color was consistent on the entirety of each limb. I took a couple enlarged screen shots of one of your photos to show what I am talking about. I agree with Tom that it does look like the start of pyramiding is occurring. The daily soaks are great, but humidity needs to be higher in the enclosure.

View attachment 357941


View attachment 357942

Yes I have noticed his colour starting to change but it is all in areas that he is shedding. He is still very young only around a month or two.

 

[SteveTheHermanns]

He looks good. The plastron and skin look normal. Is he in an open topped enclosure or a closed camber. The areas between the scutes do look like there could be pyramiding forming. Be sure you are using the right bulbs and have enough humidity.

Here are some more photos of his skin. I understand he still very young and his skin might just start to lighten but is this normal. I have attached more photos of his skin to show the change to the lighter grey. Thanks