# cleaning the dead tort shell



## Yvonne G

I have been told by a person who should know, that in order for you to save the dead tortoise's shell, you have to actually gut and clean the body, as you would clean a fish. Its the moisture that causes the upper layer of keratin to fall off as the shell dries. I had tried leaving the dead animal on the roof in the sun, or burying it, but both times, while the insects cleaned out the organic material, the shell did not stay in one piece. 

A cleaned and preserved tortoise shell is a really great educational tool. I went to the TooSlo (CTTC chapter) show quite a few years ago in San Luis Obispo, CA and someone there had brought a whole slew of cleaned tortoises shells, one of which was a very large Sulcata. While it is sad that these animals lost their lives, it was very interesting and educational to see the shells...especially for children, who are always told of the live animal, "Don't touch it." They are usually allowed to "touch" the dead shell.

Yvonne


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## RTfanatic

That's too bad as I don't think I could do it. My first Russian died a few years back and I've kept her in the freezer until I could figure out how to keep the shell properly. I would love to have her memory, but I'm not sure I could feel good doing that to her. Bummer.


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## Jacqui

That makes sense. I know I too tried several ways and always the shell would peel. Made me ticked because my ex husband's uncle had all these snapper shells laying around in perfect shape.  Duh, he of course had removed the meat from those shells.

I too find the shells fascinating. I think it's like honoring them, if once they die, we can still find a way to use their bodies (in this case shells).


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## Madkins007

When my first Red-foot died, I let ants do the work- left it by an anthill outside with a loose brick 'cage' around it to minimize other predators. Other than a few leathery flakes that peeled out nicely, the ants did a great job in a short time (although I don't recall the time-table.) No scute loss, etc.


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## sushisurf13

I buried an adult golden greek that I lost about a year ago. I've been wanting to dig it up to retrieve the shell. Do you all think enough time has gone by for nature to do its thing?


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## cdmay

I have cleaned a number of large redfoot shells and a few very large yellowfoots. These were animals that had come to an importer and then died.
What I did was this: first I separated the plastron from the carapace by cleanly sawing throught the bridge. It is important to do this with a fine saw as you will want to glue (or silicone) them back together later and you want as perfect of a seam as possible.
The next (very gross) step is to manually remove as much of the muscle, tendons and internal organs as you possible can.
Then you need to put about a half inch of salt on the inside of the plastron and carapace. Turn the carapace upside down for this. 
At this point it is very important to keep the shell in dry place and OUT OF THE SUN. Sunlight and excessive heat will cause to lamina to peel away from the underlying bone.
After a day or so you will notice that the salted areas will appear wet. This means that the salt is working by drawing out moisture from the remaining tissue. Add more salt so that it looks dry.
After a few days of this you can dump the old salt and repeat the proceedure again if the tortoise was fairly large. For a small tortoise one treatment may be all that is needed.
Then let the two pieces air dry for a day and see if any more moisture remains by blotting with a paper towel.
If the shell pieces are dry I recommend two light coatings of polyurathane (inside and out) to protect the scutes from damage or peeling. You can then glue the carapace back onto the plastron.
The shells that I have prepared in this manner are still beautiful after over twenty years and I recently sent them all to a friend in Ohio who was amazed at their condition.
While the method I described sounds like a lot of work, you will be glad you went to the trouble when you are finished.


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