what does this mean?!

[sruiz14]

I have noticed my tortoise having a distinct line going through the bottom of his shell. Just recently it getting worse and peel a little. I have not touched or tried to peel anything off. Also it seems to be looking pinker. Just curious on what this can means. He/she is three years old, and I try to give him a bath every other day, no less than three times a week. I also rub vitamin e oil around his shell. If someone can let me know what does means and what I should be doing different to prevent from getting worse.
Thank you

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings.

Im pretty darn sure that the pink line that you are seeing is brand new growth there along that line. The shell is constantly growing & fast in a Sully. So you will see these pinker growth lines during spurts of growth. There where you noted as well as between scutes.

You say you soak often. Im just wondering in how deep of water & for how long? Good long daily soaks in warm water are great. Anywhere from 30-45 mins!

What does your Sully’s enclosure look like, specifically substrate? Is he on something soft like mulch or a hardscaped area?

 

[Tom]

Mark is right. The pink area is vascularization to support new growth.

This tortoise has not been raised or cared for correctly. It appears to have some metabolic bone disease going on too. Can we help you with this? Most of the care info in books, from breeders, from vets and from pet shops is all wrong. We've been doing it all wrong for 30 years, and we are only recently learning the correct ways to care for them. Most of the tortoise world has not kept up. If you share with us how you are heating, lighting, housing and feeding your tortoise, we can help make suggestions for improvement.

 

[sruiz14]

Mark is right. The pink area is vascularization to support new growth.

This tortoise has not been raised or cared for correctly. It appears to have some metabolic bone disease going on too. Can we help you with this? Most of the care info in books, from breeders, from vets and from pet shops is all wrong. We've been doing it all wrong for 30 years, and we are only recently learning the correct ways to care for them. Most of the tortoise world has not kept up. If you share with us how you are heating, lighting, housing and feeding your tortoise, we can help make suggestions for improvement.

Substrate: half coconut fiber/ and I want to say sphagnum peat moss. I changed it 6 months ago or so.

So im actually in process of getting plexi glass for a side wall and closing up the top of the enclosure for humidity purposes. We are moving in 4 months with a house with a backyard so we will be making a whole new enclosure, way bigger for him.

I soak him until he starts waddling around to get out. Usually after 30 minutes he wants to get out. I usually refill the water to make it warm again and let him in for another round.

I feed him escarole and butter lettuce. I occasionally feed him dried fruit and veggie mix which I soak in water. He’s not much of a fan but he has a little every now an then.
And I actually just planted some broadleaf testudo seed mix a couple days ago. So he’ll start feasting on that soon.

And yes, I would love any help I can get. Just found out theres a reptile veterinarian not too far from me, was planning on making an appointment as well.
I do feel like I am lacking in giving him the care he needs, it’s been hard adjusting to the weather from Florida to New jersey this past year, so I’m sure its been harder on him.