vita shell or not!?!

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Camdens tortoise

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Ive been reading mixed reviews on wether or not to use vita shell on your torts. Is this stuff good for them or does it cause them harm? You would think it would help keep their shells moist but Ive also read that their shells need to be able to breath and nothing should be put on them. Help??????
 

Laura

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not, IF you use it, just use a Q-tip and use on the lines between the scutes... the shell needs to 'breathe'.
Where would you see anything like that in the wild?
 

Camdens tortoise

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yeah, thats kind of what I thought too but then I saw several posts on here of people using it and liking it so I wast sure if it was good or not. Im new to this so trying to learn as much as I can and do ALL my research before I purchase my little guy. Thanks for the tip!
 

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Some people use it and some people don't. I tried it for a while with some hatchlings and found it didn't do much. Other people swear it helps. One thing for certain is that is does no harm and it does tend to make them look a little nicer. It's a personal choice. You do not NEED it, but if you want to use it, it won't hurt anything. It's kind of like lotion for ladies.
 

bigred

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Tom said:
Some people use it and some people don't. I tried it for a while with some hatchlings and found it didn't do much. Other people swear it helps. One thing for certain is that is does no harm and it does tend to make them look a little nicer. It's a personal choice. You do not NEED it, but if you want to use it, it won't hurt anything. It's kind of like lotion for ladies.



When I saw this title I thought to myself,,,,,OH no not again:D
 

Tom

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bigred said:
Tom said:
Some people use it and some people don't. I tried it for a while with some hatchlings and found it didn't do much. Other people swear it helps. One thing for certain is that is does no harm and it does tend to make them look a little nicer. It's a personal choice. You do not NEED it, but if you want to use it, it won't hurt anything. It's kind of like lotion for ladies.



When I saw this title I thought to myself,,,,,OH no not again:D

Me too. Did I do it justice? Balanced? Showing both sides?
 

bigred

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Tom said:
bigred said:
Tom said:
Some people use it and some people don't. I tried it for a while with some hatchlings and found it didn't do much. Other people swear it helps. One thing for certain is that is does no harm and it does tend to make them look a little nicer. It's a personal choice. You do not NEED it, but if you want to use it, it won't hurt anything. It's kind of like lotion for ladies.



When I saw this title I thought to myself,,,,,OH no not again:D

Me too. Did I do it justice? Balanced? Showing both sides?

Fantastic job, Im sure some thought went into it before posting
 

Camdens tortoise

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Oh was this an old topic? Sorry guys, new to this site and just learning how to navigate it. New to the world of tortoise too so just trying to learn. Sorry if I made you answer old questions.
 

bigred

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Camdens tortoise said:
Oh was this an old topic? Sorry guys, new to this site and just learning how to navigate it. New to the world of tortoise too so just trying to learn. Sorry if I made you answer old questions.

It was an old debate, no worries ask whatever you want
 

Phobi

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I LOVE this stuff, My Redfoot girlys get very dry and after I give them a soaking every other day I put it on them and they look all fresh and not dry and flaky for a couple of days then the same process again. I put it all over their shell, and body and legs.
 

Madkins007

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A few things to think about.

1. Tortoise shells are solid bone covered in basically fingernails. They DO NOT need to 'breathe' in any way.

2. The lotion does the same thing for torts that hand lotion (which is the same thing and cheaper) does for human skin- plumps up the outer layer of cells. It also traps moisture in the top couple of layers. It really does not affect dehydration and probably does not affect pyramiding.

3. Claims of causing health problems (by trapping dirt, or restricting breathing, etc.) are not supported by any research I am aware of. ALSO- there is no clinical support of any significant health benefit.

Bottom line: Seriously, this stuff is probably a waste of money, but it does make the shell shinier. However, there are those who swear it benefits their tortoises (and about the same percentage claims there are risks to the stuff. Go figure.)

If you DO choose to use it, understand that basic cheap white hand lotion is pretty much the same stuff. Also know that some people make the same claims (good and bad) for a very thin layer of olive, baby, or similar oil.
 

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Camdens tortoise said:
Oh was this an old topic? Sorry guys, new to this site and just learning how to navigate it. New to the world of tortoise too so just trying to learn. Sorry if I made you answer old questions.

At this point, almost everything is an old topic. Don't worry at all about this. We can always just post a link to the prior discussion if we don't feel like going over it again. You should feel free to ask whatever you want. Most of the time, other people probably had the same question and lots of people will learn from your question. Some of us might make little inside jokes like this from time to time, but we don't mean any harm. Every once in a while we have a big blow up over some topic. A "Battle Royale" of sorts, if you will. The Vita-Shell discussion was one such hot topic a couple of months ago. Soon you will be in on the jokes too. :D
 

Camdens tortoise

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Well, thank you all for you help and I do hope to be in on the jokes at some point! LOL I have learned so much on this site in just a few days and I really do appreciate it. As soon as I can track down a baby sulcata (that I feel confident enough that it is healthy) I hope to be the proud owner! I cant wait and I can only hope that I take the information I have learned here and provide him with a very happy and healthy life. So, once again, thank you all for the information and allowing me to bring up old topics!
 
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