What's wrong with my shell?!

[Vidyogames]

My two female Russians seem to have white spots developing on their shells. One definitely has one and the other looks like she might be developing them (or they might just be nothing.) Any insight into what this might be? Their shells also are looking a bit dry. First three pics are of Natasha, second two are of Gertrude.

 

[Tom]

Russian tortoises tend to have pretty rough looking, beat up shells. Even more so for imports.

Are they housed together? The one white spot looks like a chip that might have been bitten off by the other one. Tortoises should not be housed in pairs. Especially not russians.

Check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[Vidyogames]

They are housed together, the housing is not the issue. I'm concerned at what looks like new developing spots.

Re the housing, I adopted Natasha from a rescue group that specializes in reptiles and they advised that females can be housed together just fine.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

They are housed together, the housing is not the issue. I'm concerned at what looks like new developing spots.

Re the housing, I adopted Natasha from a rescue group that specializes in reptiles and they advised that females can be housed together just fine.

Unfortunately, that is generally not true. Russians are extremely scrappy, and even females will fight. In very large outdoor enclosures you may be able to get away with it, but it's a risky species to keep in pairs, regardless of sex. The spots you are seeing could be from combat - biting or dominance based mounting could be taking chips out of the shells.

 

[JoesMum]

Unfortunately, that is generally not true. Russians are extremely scrappy, and even females will fight. In very large outdoor enclosures you may be able to get away with it, but it's a risky species to keep in pairs, regardless of sex. The spots you are seeing could be from combat - biting or dominance based mounting could be taking chips out of the shells.

I agree with Sarah. Russians are very territorial regardless of gender and pairs almost never work out.

They need to be kept separately.

In the wild they roam huge distances, meet up to mate and move on. They are solitary. They don't get lonely and don't need or want a friend. Another tortoise is simply competition for food and space. Russians are expert mental bullies with the dominant tortoise trying to tell the subordinate one to leave by trying to sleep in the same spot as it (often misinterpreted as cuddling up) and not allowing the subordinate tortoise to feed properly. This can turn to proper fighting and Russians will bite and draw blood; both genders fight mean.

You were advised incorrectly unfortunately.

 

[Yvonne G]

What you're seeing is extremely fast new growth. The tortoises came from a place where food was scarce and now they're being fed way more food than they're used to eating. This ends up with extremely fast growth and wide, clean-looking new growth between the scutes. The old parts of the shell are rough-looking because of the way they were captured and shipped. There's nothing you can do about that. And it's not harmful.

Besides the wide, clean new growth bands, I see a couple spots where the old keratin has been chipped off. This might possibly have happened when they were pushing and shoving each other. Russian tortoises are pretty rough with each other. It is not causing any pain and is not life threatening. It is just old, chipped off keratin.

 

[Tom]

They are housed together, the housing is not the issue.

Yes it is an issue and it might be the issue that is causing the problem you are asking about. The rescue is wrong and giving you incorrect advice.

Should we compare credentials between the person at the rescue giving you this advice and the people here that have been keeping russians for decades? Also, what happens at a rescue in the process of throwing animals together in temporary housing until something better can be worked out, is not ideal housing in any way. Healthy russians that are housed and fed properly do not get along with each other. Add stress, incorrect temperatures, small housing facilities, multiple other tortoises that are sometimes not even the same species, and sure they might continue breathing and living for a while, but that doesn't make it good.

Please take a quick look at these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/bad-day-for-baby.148729/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/pairs.34837/

 

[Crzt4torts]

I have seen a similar mark on mine. My tortoise is outdoors in summer in a habitat on her own, she was digging under a slate and kind of scratched or chipped off a bit,of shell, I rubbed a bit of olive oil on there at the time. Looks much less white/noticible now several months later.