# CARING FOR THE TORTOISE'S SHELL



## Lolly (Jul 2, 2010)

A friend of mine who has 2 Herman's torts says...when she bathe's them she usually puts a drop of olive oil in the bath water...Is this OK..she's says it makes their shells shine ?.....and in doing so is it OK for the torts to drink the water?


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## Terry Allan Hall (Jul 2, 2010)

Lolly said:


> A friend of mine who has 2 Herman's torts says...when she bathe's them she usually puts a drop of olive oil in the bath water...Is this OK..she's says it makes their shells shine ?.....and in doing so is it OK for the torts to drink the water?



Doubt a single drop would hurt 'em...an old book I have about tortoioses, written about 1920, suggests rubbing their shells w/ olive oil occasionally, so this may have once been a common thing (amongst tortoise fanciers).

Also, these links discuss it:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-3245.html
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/shelled-turtles-tortoise/416521-olive-oil.html
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080401170543AAxAsdj


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## Lolly (Jul 2, 2010)

thanks for your help..I will pass your comments on to her


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## Yvonne G (Jul 2, 2010)

I was told that topicals attract dirt to stick to the shell and this might cause the tortoise to overheat. So I've always told people not to use anything on the shell.

However, we've recently seen a picture of a 12 year old sulcata with a very smooth shell. The owner said she used to rub olive oil on the carapace when the tortoise was young.

So, here's what I've decided to try with my next baby: I'm going to get an artist brush, very fine, and paint the new growth areas of the carapace with olive oil. Not the whole carapace, just the spaces between the scutes where new growth occurs. This will help to soften the new growth and I'm hoping, to help it grow smoothly (along with the humidity thing we're learning about).


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## Terry Allan Hall (Jul 2, 2010)

emysemys said:


> I was told that topicals attract dirt to stick to the shell and this might cause the tortoise to overheat. So I've always told people not to use anything on the shell.
> 
> However, we've recently seen a picture of a 12 year old sulcata with a very smooth shell. The owner said she used to rub olive oil on the carapace when the tortoise was young.
> 
> So, here's what I've decided to try with my next baby: I'm going to get an artist brush, very fine, and paint the new growth areas of the carapace with olive oil. Not the whole carapace, just the spaces between the scutes where new growth occurs. This will help to soften the new growth and I'm hoping, to help it grow smoothly (along with the humidity thing we're learning about).



An interesting idea!


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## tortoisenerd (Jul 2, 2010)

I am old school and would never put anything on a tort's shell or give them anything they wouldn't get in the wild. Same with my idea of care--I try my best to mimic their natural environment, diet, etc. Sure, a drop or two wouldn't hurt, but I don't like to take any risk, and I don't know how much is too much. If there was some scientific info on the olive oil & tort shell thing about how it is safe and healthy, and a group of people doing it, than sure I might be interested, but I'm too geeky to go off of what one or two people say.


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## Redfoot NERD (Jul 2, 2010)

Yvonne is getting closer. 

The (along with the humidity thing we're learning about).. is the "lubricant" which allows the scutes to grow normally without "stacking/pyramiding"! "We've" been advocating lubricate their carapace [ with water ] for *well over 5 years*.. Richard Fife wrote his article for Reptiles magazine in May '05 and spoke of raising the humidity for his redfoots some 5 - 6 years prior! 

AND.. I believe any "oil" on the carapace would not allow the "ECOSKELETON" to breathe.. which would cause it to over-heat.

NERD


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## Madkins007 (Jul 3, 2010)

At this moment, whether a small amount of olive oil helps or hurts is anecdotal, guesswork and theory. We've heard these comments before-
- Causes them to overheat? Since they thermoregulate themselves externally, this does not really make any sense.
- The shell breathes? No reference on chelonians suggests that the scutes 'breathe' in any real way (and if they did, how would sea turtles survive?).
- The oil helps the shell somehow? It makes it look shiny, which in the eyes of most humans would mean it looks healthier, but does it have ANY known benefit? 

On the other hand, we know you can raise tortoises with a healthy shell without it, so why bother?


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## Laura (Jul 3, 2010)

my sulcatas end up with mudd on them.. I think they dig it and fling it, but not sure.. I doubt they are rolling..  
So that would help with keeping moist.. just like a burrow.. I guess they carry thiers with them.


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## Angi (Jul 3, 2010)

Emu oil is a interesting product. I have used it on my skin. The molecule are smaller so you are suposed to get better absorpbtion. You might want to look in to the benifits of it. I plan to try it on the next baseball glove we have to work in.


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## Yourlocalpoet (Jul 5, 2010)

I've read a lot of things about the oil clogging up pores, stopping the shell from breathing, preventing it from absorbing UV etc, but i must admit i've always added a few drops of olive oil to Esmerelda's bath ever since she was a yearling, not every bath time but maybe once a month? I also massage a tiny amount into the spaces between the scutes once a month and she's never had any problems, i don't know whether it has any benefit on the smoothness of the shell but it doesn't appear to do it any harm, her shell is pretty smooth.


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## Tom (Jul 5, 2010)

Yourlocalpoet said:


> I've read a lot of things about the oil clogging up pores, stopping the shell from breathing, preventing it from absorbing UV etc, but i must admit i've always added a few drops of olive oil to Esmerelda's bath ever since she was a yearling, not every bath time but maybe once a month? I also massage a tiny amount into the spaces between the scutes once a month and she's never had any problems, i don't know whether it has any benefit on the smoothness of the shell but it doesn't appear to do it any harm, her shell is pretty smooth.



That's very interesting because you do have a pretty smooth Leo compared to most that I've seen.


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## PeanutbuttER (Jul 5, 2010)

Yourlocalpoet said:


> I've read a lot of things about the oil clogging up pores, stopping the shell from breathing, preventing it from absorbing UV etc, but i must admit i've always added a few drops of olive oil to Esmerelda's bath ever since she was a yearling, not every bath time but maybe once a month? I also massage a tiny amount into the spaces between the scutes once a month and she's never had any problems, i don't know whether it has any benefit on the smoothness of the shell but it doesn't appear to do it any harm, her shell is pretty smooth.



That is really interesting. Maybe the olive oil has some sort of "sealing" effect on the shell which allows less moisture to leave the tortoise? thus helping it to better utilize the humidity that it has. I don't know... this is the first time I've heard of oil as having any type of physiological benefit and not just to make the shell look shiny. Has anyone else ever tried this?



PeanutbuttER said:


> Yourlocalpoet said:
> 
> 
> > I've read a lot of things about the oil clogging up pores, stopping the shell from breathing, preventing it from absorbing UV etc, but i must admit i've always added a few drops of olive oil to Esmerelda's bath ever since she was a yearling, not every bath time but maybe once a month? I also massage a tiny amount into the spaces between the scutes once a month and she's never had any problems, i don't know whether it has any benefit on the smoothness of the shell but it doesn't appear to do it any harm, her shell is pretty smooth.
> ...



I thought I'd heard of this before. Here are a couple threads that I was able to find about people using olive oil on tortoises as they grow up.


http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-16328-page-2.html
-towards the bottom of the page she talks about how she used olive oil. Her tort is the one on the top of the page? I believe this is the thread that emysemys referred to.

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-3086.html?highlight=olive+oil
-a quick thread about why oiling is bad, but mostly talking about how it's unnecessary and only superficial.

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-1845.html?highlight=olive+oil
-another thread talking about how olive oil is bad, yet has no specific examples as to how. No talk about what damage it can do to their health for instance. Once again, it just talks about how they'll get dirty.


There's not as much out there as I'd like to see on the subject. A couple people in these threads voiced the opinion that it will cause your tortoise to overheat, which I don't understand since tortoises self-regulate their temperature. If they're getting hot faster, they'll just head for the shade sooner no? Also, a couple people have mentioned that oil may have a net drying effect. How does that work and how would that be different in the case of a tortoise shell as opposed to human skin?

Also, maybe the fact that a some of those that have used olive oil and gotten great results is due to the way that they're using it. In Moderation. There's many many examples of things that are unhealthy for our bodies in excess, but in moderation play an important role in maximizing health. 

For some reason, this is a very interesting topic to me. Thanks for bringing this up Lolly.


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## GBtortoises (Jul 6, 2010)

There's really nothing to care for about their shell except to keep excessive mud off in order for them to be able to a expose their shells to the sun's rays. The verdict on whether or not putting oil on their shells does them any good (or harm) is always questionable. Oil probably does block pores, think about what it does on human skin and on wood, it absorbs into pores and clogs them causing dirt and debris to stick and be trapped. If the tortoise is healthy what would be the purpose of adding the oil anyway? My opinion is that if you have the urge to wax something to make it shiny leave the living animal alone and go polish your silverware or your car. Maybe satisfy the urge by using "turtle wax"!


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## chairman (Jul 6, 2010)

Aren't olives native to the habitats of some torts? I wouldn't think that olives, or their oil, would be harmful in small quantities for a tort that might eat a stray fruit now and again in the wild.

Along the same lines (shell care), something I have always wondered about (but never tried) was whether or not products designed to help encourage healthy fingernails in humans would be of benefit to tortoises' shells. I know they're both made of keratin, but being different kinds of animals we might make keratin using a different process than the torts, making the vitamins/minerals that encourage healthy keratin growth in humans irrelevant for torts. Anyone with any thoughts/experience in that regard? And just to be clear, I'm not talking about fingernail polishes that happen to contain "healthy" things, I'm talking about "pure" manually applied vitamins.


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## Madkins007 (Jul 6, 2010)

chairman said:


> Along the same lines (shell care), something I have always wondered about (but never tried) was whether or not products designed to help encourage healthy fingernails in humans would be of benefit to tortoises' shells. I know they're both made of keratin, but being different kinds of animals we might make keratin using a different process than the torts, making the vitamins/minerals that encourage healthy keratin growth in humans irrelevant for torts. Anyone with any thoughts/experience in that regard? And just to be clear, I'm not talking about fingernail polishes that happen to contain "healthy" things, I'm talking about "pure" manually applied vitamins.



All keratin is dead tissue. There is no way to 'feed' it to a healthier status- whether we are talking nails, hair, or scutes. Keeping the growing tissue healthy is the key, and most of that is dietary.


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## chairman (Jul 7, 2010)

Madkins007 said:


> All keratin is dead tissue. There is no way to 'feed' it to a healthier status- whether we are talking nails, hair, or scutes. Keeping the growing tissue healthy is the key, and most of that is dietary.



Lol, guess that makes those nail care products a genius marketing ploy. Shame on those health/beauty companies...


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## PeanutbuttER (Jul 7, 2010)

Madkins007 said:


> All keratin is dead tissue. There is no way to 'feed' it to a healthier status- whether we are talking nails, hair, or scutes. Keeping the growing tissue healthy is the key, and most of that is dietary.



Respectfully, I have to disagree with you. I agree that growing healthy tissue is vital and has the greatest affect. But, while it is not possible to get "healthier" keratin, it is possible to keep the keratin as "healthy" (or in as good of condition) as it can be. That's a big part of what hair conditioners do. On a molecular level, keratin will degrade slowly over time due to normal wear and tear. Synthetics can help prevent that from happening which would in essence lead to long term healthier keratin. They can't reverse the damage that has been done, but they can provide a layer which prevents further damage from occuring.

In humans we have natural oils excreted through oil glands. These oils help coat the hair (protect the keratin) from degrading. Tortoises to the best of my knowledge do not have similar oil glands which would imply that they don't need the oil to protect their keratin like we do. However, that does not automatically mean to me that they couldn't also benefit from some oils.

As to whether or not the synthetics and oils are healthy in the long run for the rest of the tortoise is another issue and in most cases I would say that they're going to be doing more harm than good.


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