Tortoise getting darker?

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turtlemom

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Our greek tortoise, Bowzer, has become very dark on his head and legs over the last couple of months. During that time, I also noticed that he was having problems with crusty eyes. I decided to check his bulbs, which we had recently changed out. We had replaced one of the uvb bulbs with a 10.0 swirly-coil type bulb. I read some articles on those types of bulbs and they usually have tables that show measurements on how close they should be to the substrate and our bulb was too close to Bowzer. We have since moved the fixture higher and Bowzer's eyes are doing great - no problems, but he remains dark.

Guys, did I just sunburn Bowzer? I don't mind that he's darker, I'm just worried that it would be painful to him or otherwise unhealthy for him, besides the eye issues? Any thoughts?

I know, I know, bad turtle mom . . . :(

Donna
 

Yvonne G

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Well, thank goodness you found out before there was a serious problem! Good Turtle Mom! Good Turtle Mom!!

Yvonne
 

agiletorts

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I think with tortoise ot goes the other way - the hotter the temp the lighter the tortoise would be. Maybe you just have one of those black greek subspecies.
 

turtlemom

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I really do need to figure out how to post a picture here and have Danny tell us what kind of greek Bowzer is. Bowzer is not a youngster so I would think if he was a black greek, he would've turned darker as he was maturing . . . . not after I baked him for a month :D And I think if he was a black greek, his shell would be dark, too. Danny? Don't you have some dark greeks?

Donna
 

egyptiandan

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I do have some dark Greeks of at least 3 different subspecies, so a few pictures would help. :D

Danny
 
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