# Russian Tortoise Skin Discolored?



## Kay8605 (Apr 27, 2015)

Hello all,

I'm a newbie member here on the forum, glad to have found you all! Let's get down the business:

I have a Male Russian tortoise who has been through a period of malnourishment and neglect. I am a new to tortoises, but do have some basic understanding of husbandry, preferred diet, and enclosure types for tortoises. After browsing through online photos of Russians, I am concerned with the over black appearance of his skin. I have attached a few photos of him below:

He seems to be perkier than he was initially, I've been feeding him daily or every other day depending on the amount he ate the previous day. He seemed pretty dehydrated, but I've been soaking him about twice weekly which he seems to enjoy. 

His shell seems to be in overall good condition, but like his skin it is dark or black on the bottom. He has been housed in a wooden tortoise box with a hideaway portion. The substrate was and is coconut fiber. Not sure whether or not he was getting a lamp/uv light.

Any thoughts as to what may be going on with his skin? We really appreciate the advice!


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 27, 2015)

welcome to the forum! his skin is perfectly normal.


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## Killerrookie (Apr 27, 2015)

Welcome to the forum!!! His skin looks perfectly fine to me.
-Austin


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## Kay8605 (Apr 27, 2015)

Hello, thanks for the welcome 

Oh, good!! That's a relief! He was improperly cared for for quite awhile I am told so I was quick to assume the color of his skin was something to be concerned about! New mom problems!


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## Yvonne G (Apr 27, 2015)

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Some of them have lighter skin, and some darker.


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## lismar79 (Apr 27, 2015)

Glad you got him. Yep he looks like mine. I would increase soaks for a while since he went through a rough patch. It couldn't hurt anyway. Keep a shallow water dish in there for him if you don't have one already. And last, feed him on a hard flat rock or terra cotta dish to help file that beak down.


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## Kay8605 (Apr 27, 2015)

Thanks for the advice on his beak; I notice he has a little bit of a rough time trying to grab his food. I'll definitely put something in there that will help to file that down for him! He loves the soaks too so I'll give him a few more each week


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## Carol S (Apr 28, 2015)

I would feed him daily.


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## johnsonnboswell (Apr 28, 2015)

Does he have a water dish he can get into on his own, too? A plant saucer works well. 

So good you're turning his life around!


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