Shell Problem? Help!

[morelal]

Hello,

I have been concerned about Greg's shell lately. Greg is my 3 year old Russian Tortoise. I was wondering if anyone can help me in figuring out whether or not Greg has any shell problems. I have posted a few pictures.


I am really worried that this maybe shell rot, any help is appreciated. Please let me know if you need any other information to help diagnose.
Thank you,

 

[Macy Fidler]

My tortoise looks the same as yours, but he acts fine and active. I'm wondering the same thing.

 

[morelal]

Thanks for the reply Macy, Yeah, Greg is active and fine as well too.

 

[Yvonne G]

No, it's not shell rot. Shell rot happens from the shell being in contact with wet feces, wet substrate, etc. and so, shell rot is normally first seen on the plastron, not on the carapace.

Those chips in the centers of the scutes are damage from bumping or scraping. Also, his new growth looks very dry to me. What kind of substrate and lighting do you use?

What makes you think Greg is 3 years old? Did you buy him from a breeder, and so you know the hatch date? Greg looks like a wild-caught Russian tortoise to me. One that is about 8 or 10 years old. If you're going by what the pet shop told you, they are notoriously wrong. They think Russians are young because they are small. Russian tortoises are a small species of tortoise. They are at least 8 years old before they can bypass the 4" rule and be sold in pet stores. Reason I brought that up is if he IS wild caught, that's why his shell looks like it does. Russian tortoises are put through the wringer. They are gathered up in very large numbers and piled up on top of each other waiting to be shipped out. Then when arriving in this country, the dealers separate them out and put them in pens with hundreds of other Russian tortoises. During this process, the shells get scraped, nicked and messed up. It's not harmful to the tortoise, but the rough treatment really takes a toll on their shells.

 

[morelal]

Hi Yvonne,

Thank you very much for your response and your very informative feedback.

I got Greg from Petsmart and I was told by the sales rep he was 2 yrs old . I have had Greg for a little over a year now. I initially fell for the trap of the Petstore recombining a glass tank for Greg and had him in there for half a year. I then noticed he would scratch at the glass tank alot and researched about this. I found out about tortoise forum and found about the negatives of glass enclosures : (

When I received Greg from Petsmart his shell did not have any chips on his scutes. However I did notice Greg would get in his log and bump his shell against the log and I think that's what caused some scraping on his scute but I immediately corrected that and made sure he did not bump his shell on the log. I feel sad that I may have caused this for him.

Greg is currently in a temporary enclosure that measures 26 in L x 18 in W until I get him into his new wood enclosure that will be 74 in x 50 in. I have him in coconut fiber substrate with a mix of cypress mulch substrate. I put Greg in a small tupperware container once a week so he can soak and have him on a diet of Dandellion greens, escarole, raddichio, He is very picky and only likes these. He doesn't like mustard or collard greens at all.

For Lighting: I am using a 60 watt bulb and a 10.0 uvb strip bulb as well. I am upgrading the bulb to a 100 watt bulb because his old lightbulb died.

Are there any errors in Greg's enclosure? I will be happy to post up in pictures of his current enclosure if that helps.

Thanks again,

Al

 

[Yvonne G]

A two year old Russian would have been too small for a pet shop to legally sell it. So that part of the equation is out. He's older.

Your light might not be warm enough, and I THINK you might need to wet your substrate. Once a week soaks is enough for a russian of his size.

It sounds like you have everything under control. I'm not a big fan of using topicals on a tortoise's shell, but I'm trying the coconut oil treatment. Your tortoise might benefit from it too:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/coconut-oil.103782/

 

[morelal]

Thanks for all your help! You have been very helpful. After reading through the coconut oil treatment thread, I will try this as well.

 

[Tom]

All excellent info from Yvonne.

Some times the damage is done to the carapace prior to you getting the tortoise, but it doesn't show up until later when the outer layer finally dries up and chips off. I say this because it is not likely that Greg did this in your care under his log hide. As Yvonne said, this damage is old, superficial and nothing to worry about.

 

[Tom]

Here is how I like to care for them:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/semi-underground-russian-box.98590/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[morelal]

Hi Tom, Thanks for your valuable input on this. I appreciate the information you mentioned and thank you for the excellent threads..

Thank you again!
Al