# tortoise is very pale with dark circles under eyes and has a dark patch on her neck!!



## tortugalover (Apr 5, 2012)

My female russian tortoise, Tortuga, has been looking extremely pale and has dark circles under her eyes! She also has a dark, almost black, patch on her neck. She did not withstand any injury on her neck or anything, it just looks almost like a rotten or moldy patch. What could be wrong with her?! Is she sick or is this a result of lack of sunshine?

FYI: For the last over 6 months she has been living at my condo where the sun rarely reaches the ground for any period of time, so I've moved her back to my residential home where she can bask in the open sunshine everyday. She has plenty of sun now and I have been scraping cuttlebone onto her veggies everyday. She has a great appetite and is very active SINCE I moved her. 

Will this fix the problem or is her problem more serious?


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## Laura (Apr 5, 2012)

post pictures? 
is she eating?


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## Yvonne G (Apr 5, 2012)

Hi tortugalover:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

What would you like us to call you?

and may we know appx. where in the world you are?

Your Russian is more than likely wild caught. So being outside in the sun is the very best thing for it. I can't speak to the dark circles or spot without seeing it.


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## ascott (Apr 5, 2012)

I thought the title was a lead into a joke....

Wow....I would say the condo is not the pace to be from what you described....so good work on getting her back to the sun....do you soak her? What are your food offerings for her? When she was at the condo did she have a uvb lamp or some type of basking heat and uvb? 

Oh yeah...welcome to the Forum . We LOVE PICS


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## pam (Apr 5, 2012)

Welcome


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## tortugalover (Apr 5, 2012)

Laura said:


> post pictures?
> is she eating?



Yes, she IS eating A LOT since I moved her. About a paper plate full of veggies and a few roses every day and she is extremely active, getting up early in the morning and up all day. Basically her appetite and activeness has improved 100% since I moved her.

I've uploaded some pics from today.


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## tortugalover (Apr 5, 2012)

ascott said:


> I thought the title was a lead into a joke....
> 
> Wow....I would say the condo is not the pace to be from what you described....so good work on getting her back to the sun....do you soak her? What are your food offerings for her? When she was at the condo did she have a uvb lamp or some type of basking heat and uvb?
> 
> Oh yeah...welcome to the Forum . We LOVE PICS



Yeah, I got married and moved into a condo along with all of my animals but many of them are migrating back to my original house where there is a large yard. She did NOT have a lamp or anything at the condo because she has spent years outdoors and she basks during the day and heads into her dog igloo full of hay at night. she hibernates really well in the winter and she has never gotten sick before. Like I said, she has improved 100% in terms of her activity level and appetite since she moved back home. I feed her a simple mixed salad each day consisting of different combos of veggies like mustard, kale, collards, red and green lettuce, endive, escarole, dandelion, roses, and green beans. (small amounts of watermelon in the summer, its her guilty pleasure!) She has always been very healthy and spirited until I moved her.


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## ascott (Apr 5, 2012)

You know that the dark spot is right at her ear/kinda as though she had an abscess and it popped and is trying to heal.....now, I can not be sure of course, but that is what it looks like to me....if so, I would keep it clean and let it heal...and would keep a close eye on it to make sure it does not get re-infected and also that if there is any ooze there at all that you make sure to keep an eye out for flies around that spot, especially since it is getting warmer....



> small amounts of watermelon in the summer, its her guilty pleasure!)



I also give this guilty pleasure to the torts here, yes even the CDTs, but only two or three times total... 

Also, if she resided at your home for any length of time, the sudden change/move can cause stress on them---the stress can then promote any of their health weaknesses to speed to the surface...so now she is back at "her home" I would still keep an eye on her to make sure she falls right back into her routine.....

Oh yeah....SHE IS ABSOOOOOLUTELY GORGEOUS...such a regal calmness in her eyes....


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