Shell growth concern

Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
42
Location (City and/or State)
Alberton, South Africa
Hi there, my little Leopard Tortoise’s shell is starting to grow but not uniformly.. is this normal? See attached photo- the back left (but still on top) does not yet have growth lines between the segments..
IMG_9276.jpgIMG_9275.jpg
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
42
Location (City and/or State)
Alberton, South Africa
Humidity is 70-80%, temps are 30-38°C where she sleeps so she can move between the range.. and then the rest of the enclosure is 20-25°C. She eats pro-choice turtle pellets, grasses and every now and then some lettuce.

Ps she’s (or he) is a South African Leopard Tort in South Africa [emoji1221][emoji16]
 

Pure Tortoise Power

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Jan 7, 2019
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It could be caused by some error during incubation before it hatched. Just a guess though.
If so, it should not be a problem for your tort. That could even be what makes your tort unique!
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
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42
Location (City and/or State)
Alberton, South Africa
She was born under natural circumstances.. mom laid eggs in the soil and she and about 50 others hatched ( multiple nests ) naturally and crawled out of the soil [emoji16]

So chances of a purely natural process going a bit wrong is probably more likely than some extra human interventions to help make the circumstances ideal
 

Yvonne G

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You can take a Q tip dipped in cold pressed coconut oil and massage that line that seems to be stuck together. Gently rub and massage for a few minutes then wipe off the oil. Do it daily until you see it starting to show growth.

The overall silhouette of the tortoise is still symmetrical, so you may not see growth in that area, but that's all I know to try.
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
42
Location (City and/or State)
Alberton, South Africa
You can take a Q tip dipped in cold pressed coconut oil and massage that line that seems to be stuck together. Gently rub and massage for a few minutes then wipe off the oil. Do it daily until you see it starting to show growth.

The overall silhouette of the tortoise is still symmetrical, so you may not see growth in that area, but that's all I know to try.

Thank you Yvonne, will try it and update if there is any news :)
 

Markw84

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Leopard tortoises in particular seem prone to this. As the bone is growing and expanding under the scute, the scutes are not "attached" to the bone. However, normally a spot at about the areolae of each scute normally stays fixed over that spot on that bone. I often see with leopards that one or two of the scutes do not do this and the whole scute seems to slide over the growing bone. This leaves the seam narrow and not expanding between these adjacent scutes.

Normally, I see this often correct later and growth seams begin to expand. It really seems cosmetic and does not affect overall growth. SImilar to aberrant scutes.
 

C. Nelson

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Grand Junction, CO
Leopard tortoises in particular seem prone to this. As the bone is growing and expanding under the scute, the scutes are not "attached" to the bone. However, normally a spot at about the areolae of each scute normally stays fixed over that spot on that bone. I often see with leopards that one or two of the scutes do not do this and the whole scute seems to slide over the growing bone. This leaves the seam narrow and not expanding between these adjacent scutes.

Normally, I see this often correct later and growth seams begin to expand. It really seems cosmetic and does not affect overall growth. SImilar to aberrant scutes.

That's fascinating. Thank you for this information.
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
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Location (City and/or State)
Alberton, South Africa
Can someone maybe guide me on how to measure the little guy? I’ve weighed it a few times but I’m not sure from where to where do I measure it..

Oh and on that note- age? It bread out naturally (from soil in a garden) so is there some way to know exactly how old it is? I’ve been going on the day it crawled out of the soil but the ‘belly button’ was almost completely closed that day. How long does that normally take to close? Or can I take the day it crawled out as the DOB? [emoji16]
 
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