# brown spots on baby sulcatas neck ?



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 2, 2019)

pls help cant tell if it’s scales or an infection


----------



## Gillian M (Aug 2, 2019)

@Yvonne please help.
Thank you.


----------



## JoesMum (Aug 2, 2019)

Nothing abnormal there. Probably starting to shed skin.

All animals shed skin. Snakes do it tidily all in one go. Humans do it in tiny bits that become house dust. Tortoises do it in patches and look downright tatty at times.

It needs no potions. Leave it alone and the old skin will rub off as your tort goes about its business


----------



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 2, 2019)

thank you so much for the help !!


----------



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 2, 2019)

do you know why it looks like small brown dots ? i would expect small flaking skin haha


----------



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 2, 2019)

JoesMum said:


> Nothing abnormal there. Probably starting to shed skin.
> 
> All animals shed skin. Snakes do it tidily all in one go. Humans do it in tiny bits that become house dust. Tortoises do it in patches and look downright tatty at times.
> 
> It needs no potions. Leave it alone and the old skin will rub off as your tort goes about its business


what are some good foods to feed him? he eats romain, lettuces with the occasional vegetables . anything else i should add ? maybe some mazuri diet?


----------



## TechnoCheese (Aug 2, 2019)

Stevieturtlelady said:


> what are some good foods to feed him? he eats romain, lettuces with the occasional vegetables . anything else i should add ? maybe some mazuri diet?



Give these a read, especially the middle links-

How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0 https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php...ealthy-Sulcata-Or-Leopard,-Version-2.0.79895/ 

For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata... https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/For-Those-Who-Have-a-Young-Sulcata....76744/ 

Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/ 

Your tortoise should be eating mostly weeds from outside with very little grocery store foods, or high fiber grocery store foods like endive, escarole, arugula, chicory, and radicchio as staples with pellets like zoo med’s grassland tortoise food or mazuri tortoise diet. Romain and other lettuces should not be fed often because of their low fiber and high water content.


----------



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 2, 2019)

TechnoCheese said:


> Give these a read, especially the middle links-
> 
> How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0 https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/How-To-Raise-A-Healthy-Sulcata-Or-Leopard,-Version-2.0.79895/
> 
> ...


thank you so much! also, my tortoise hasn’t grown much and he’s a few years old. he has all the signs of a healthy tortoise and he is active and loves his baths lol . i’ve read some just take a while to grow. do you think he’s just taking his sweet time growing?


----------



## katieandiggy (Aug 3, 2019)

I see those dots that you mention, I take it, it’s definitely not coir or some of the bedding stuck? Have you tried to wash them off? When I zoom in, they do not look normal to me. Can you take a clearer picture of them please because I don’t think people are seeing them properly.

When you say hasn’t grown much, what does your tortoise weigh and how old is he? How much weight has he put on since you have had him? You say he’s a few years old? He looks very small to be a few years old...


----------



## jsheffield (Aug 3, 2019)

When I first looked at them, they looked like clusters of small mites or similar, but as someone else said, I can't see them very well in the pics provided.

Jamie


----------



## Yvonne G (Aug 3, 2019)

@Stevieturtlelady 
It looks like some sort of little blood sucking creature stuck to the skin. If you don't want to try to scrape one off then you need to go to a vet and ask the vet to scrape one off to see what it is under a microscope. It's not normal, and as you indicated above, shedding skin comes off in flakes, not brown balls stuck to the skin. I've never seen tick in a cluster like that, but maybe it's some sort of tick.


----------



## TechnoCheese (Aug 3, 2019)

Stevieturtlelady said:


> thank you so much! also, my tortoise hasn’t grown much and he’s a few years old. he has all the signs of a healthy tortoise and he is active and loves his baths lol . i’ve read some just take a while to grow. do you think he’s just taking his sweet time growing?



He’s definitely way too small for being a few years old. Most are 8-12 inches or bigger by age 3 and should be outside. What’s your set up like? Can we see pictures? How often do you feed, and how much? Are you sure he’s a few years old?


----------



## santorozoo (Aug 3, 2019)

Stevieturtlelady said:


> thank you so much! also, my tortoise hasn’t grown much and he’s a few years old. he has all the signs of a healthy tortoise and he is active and loves his baths lol . i’ve read some just take a while to grow. do you think he’s just taking his sweet time growing?



That sulcata looks just MONTHS old. How long have you had the tort? Definitely doesn’t look years old.


----------



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 3, 2019)

santorozoo said:


> That sulcata looks just MONTHS old. How long have you had the tort? Definitely doesn’t look years old.


i’ve had him 2 years . got him as a hatchling . turns out it’s not mites , just some dry skin ! i’ve started giving him daily warm baths and more grass . hopefully he will thrive more this way .


----------



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 3, 2019)

he’s very active and happy. i read in here that some sulcatas simply don’t grow as fast and will hit a growth spurt later on in their life.im starting feeding him daily now . we’ve recently moved and he was not being fed as much. but i’m going to stay feeding him daily and get cuttle bone to keep in his habitat for some more calcium. also adding calcium spray in his food 2-3 times a week.


----------



## katieandiggy (Aug 4, 2019)

Stevieturtlelady said:


> he’s very active and happy. i read in here that some sulcatas simply don’t grow as fast and will hit a growth spurt later on in their life.im starting feeding him daily now . we’ve recently moved and he was not being fed as much. but i’m going to stay feeding him daily and get cuttle bone to keep in his habitat for some more calcium. also adding calcium spray in his food 2-3 times a week.
> View attachment 277907



Wow that is tiny for a 2year old sulcata, it looks like a hatchling. How often were you feeding? You should be feeding as much as it wants to eat, multiple times per day. Have you read the sulcata care sheets? Please do.


----------



## Romeo Serback (Aug 4, 2019)

katieandiggy said:


> Wow that is tiny for a 2year old sulcata, it looks like a hatchling. How often were you feeding? You should be feeding as much as it wants to eat, multiple times per day. Have you read the sulcata care sheets? Please do.


I agree with Katie as that's either the wrong age or it's not growing well for a 2 yr old Sulcata. My leopard is barely a year and he's at least a third the size larger.


----------



## katieandiggy (Aug 4, 2019)

Have you actually weighed him? What does he weigh. 
What are you feeding and how much?
As I said above, you should feed as much as the tortoise will eat, several times per day. 

Can we see your tortoises enclosure and can you tell us more about your lighting/heating? We may be able to work out why your tortoise isn’t growing properly.

@Tom can you help here?


----------



## Tom (Aug 4, 2019)

Stevieturtlelady said:


> i’ve had him 2 years . got him as a hatchling . turns out it’s not mites , just some dry skin ! i’ve started giving him daily warm baths and more grass . hopefully he will thrive more this way .


Did the dots go away? Were you able to rub them off?


----------



## Stevieturtlelady (Aug 4, 2019)

Tom said:


> Did the dots go away? Were you able to rub them off?


not yet but some have. i’m starting to feed him zoomed grassland diet and adding cuttle bone and taking him outside. truly i think his size was from me not giving him what he needed. i’m now FULLY committing to him. hopefully we will see some growth.


----------



## Tom (Aug 5, 2019)

Stevieturtlelady said:


> not yet but some have. i’m starting to feed him zoomed grassland diet and adding cuttle bone and taking him outside. truly i think his size was from me not giving him what he needed. i’m now FULLY committing to him. hopefully we will see some growth.


I agree with Yvonne. That is not normal and I think you have a problem there that needs immediate attention. Have you tried to carefully and gently rub the dots off? Like with a dull rounded pencil tip or something similar that won't hurt the tortoise?


----------



## Sue Ann (Aug 14, 2019)

JoesMum said:


> Nothing abnormal there. Probably starting to shed skin.
> 
> All animals shed skin. Snakes do it tidily all in one go. Humans do it in tiny bits that become house dust. Tortoises do it in patches and look downright tatty at times.
> 
> It needs no potions. Leave it alone and the old skin will rub off as your tort goes about its business


Good to Know. Thanks for sharing


----------

