White lines in Between my tortoise's Scutes

Big_Osc

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Joined
Jan 1, 2019
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1
Location (City and/or State)
Fairfield, CT
Hello everyone,

I just created an account because I got home from school for winter break and my tortoise appears to have some white lines in the valleys between scutes in his shell as shown. We keep him in an indoor inclosure that has some sand in it for the winter months so maybe that has something to do with it? Anyway, I just want to make sure nothing detrimental is going on.

Another thing I've noticed over the past couple of years that I might as well ask about while I'm here is the divot in the back his shell that you can see in the first photo. Not sure if that is normal but if anyone knows why that is happening, let me know!

And happy new year to everyone on here, lets keep our torts healthy this year!

Peace,
Bob
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AZtortMom

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Sunny AZ
Hello everyone,

I just created an account because I got home from school for winter break and my tortoise appears to have some white lines in the valleys between scutes in his shell as shown. We keep him in an indoor inclosure that has some sand in it for the winter months so maybe that has something to do with it? Anyway, I just want to make sure nothing detrimental is going on.

Another thing I've noticed over the past couple of years that I might as well ask about while I'm here is the divot in the back his shell that you can see in the first photo. Not sure if that is normal but if anyone knows why that is happening, let me know!

And happy new year to everyone on here, lets keep our torts healthy this year!

Peace,
Bob
View attachment 261065
View attachment 261061

Hi Bob,
Welcome to TFO [emoji851][emoji217]
You have a nice looking tortoise there and those white lines are growth lines, which are completely normal and healthy. [emoji851]
That divot will also grow out too. My girls have it too.
 

Yvonne G

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Jan 23, 2008
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Clovis, CA
Hi Bob, and welcome! For living indoors, the tortoise looks pretty darned nice. I don't know about the divot, but it seems to show up on quite a few sulcatas.
 
Last edited:

Markw84

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Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
Hello everyone,

I just created an account because I got home from school for winter break and my tortoise appears to have some white lines in the valleys between scutes in his shell as shown. We keep him in an indoor inclosure that has some sand in it for the winter months so maybe that has something to do with it? Anyway, I just want to make sure nothing detrimental is going on.

Another thing I've noticed over the past couple of years that I might as well ask about while I'm here is the divot in the back his shell that you can see in the first photo. Not sure if that is normal but if anyone knows why that is happening, let me know!

And happy new year to everyone on here, lets keep our torts healthy this year!

Peace,
Bob
View attachment 261065
View attachment 261061
Bob. Welcome to the forum. Don't know if you'll see this as I see you haven't check back since your post on Tuesday...

The white lines are perfectly normal and are new growth seams. Looks like your tortoise is growing well now and has been growing much smoother than a lot of sulcatas. Great job there.

The "divot" to me appears to be a sign of a mild case of metabolic bone disease. In the earlier first years of growth I would bet there was the beginnings of metabolic bone disease. Not enough calcium or the availability for D3. My experience is that sulcatas can easily develop a bit of a sunken 4th vertebral scute. That is where the muscles from the hip girdle attach to the back and has the most stress downward from this. While they are young and growing fast, with the bones still gaining mass, this downward pressure can cause this dip. Many sulcatas seem to get a tiny bit of this. But with faster growth and lower calcium absorption, it will become more pronounced. In outright cases of MBD the rear portion of the shell really becomes sunken. In extreme cases, the whole shell flattens.

It does look like your tortoise is growing well now. It may be left over from a few years ago. Just ensure good calcium and D3 availability. He is still growing very fast!
 

Stacy McCarty

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Joined
May 10, 2020
Messages
1
Location (City and/or State)
British Columbia, Canada
Bob. Welcome to the forum. Don't know if you'll see this as I see you haven't check back since your post on Tuesday...

The white lines are perfectly normal and are new growth seams. Looks like your tortoise is growing well now and has been growing much smoother than a lot of sulcatas. Great job there.

The "divot" to me appears to be a sign of a mild case of metabolic bone disease. In the earlier first years of growth I would bet there was the beginnings of metabolic bone disease. Not enough calcium or the availability for D3. My experience is that sulcatas can easily develop a bit of a sunken 4th vertebral scute. That is where the muscles from the hip girdle attach to the back and has the most stress downward from this. While they are young and growing fast, with the bones still gaining mass, this downward pressure can cause this dip. Many sulcatas seem to get a tiny bit of this. But with faster growth and lower calcium absorption, it will become more pronounced. In outright cases of MBD the rear portion of the shell really becomes sunken. In extreme cases, the whole shell flattens.

It does look like your tortoise is growing well now. It may be left over from a few years ago. Just ensure good calcium and D3 availability. He is still growing very fast!

All the above comments are so helpful. We rescued a Sulcata 10 years ago. He was 5 years old with pyramiding and weighed only 1 pound. He is now 25 pounds heavy., receiving the new UVA/UVB bulbs each 6 months, and is brought outside every sunny day between March and October. I pull grass all spring and dry it for his winter feed. I believe the grass supplies a nice calcium to phosphorus ratio. We know the pyramiding won’t correct, but has not increased in ratio to his growth. We had never noticed the white appearance between the scutes before. What a relief to know it is natural growth markers.
 

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