# Black spots on russian tortoise shell



## Carolyn M (Oct 17, 2016)

I recently noticed some black spots on my tortoises shell that weren't there before. They definitely appear as part of the shell or even under the shell (if that's possible). The spots aren't soft or seem abnormal in anyway other than the differentiation in color. My tortoise spends the summers outdoors and was just moved indoors for the winter. He has been acting more lethargic recently and has been sleeping a lot. I believe he may be going into hibernation because it happened last year, but not this early. Although I am not sure that his behavior is related to the shell spots I noticed them at about the same time. I attached before and after pictures. The after pictures is the one with the pink background. In the picture the black spots are just cranial to the dark shell coloring on the 3 middle plates of the shell, and is a lighter black than the normal shell coloring. Thanks for your help.


----------



## JoesMum (Oct 17, 2016)

I really don't see anything abnormal there. It's normal for the colouration to change and develop as the tortoise grows. 

Nice looking tort


----------



## tortoishell (Oct 17, 2016)

My Russian also has patches similar to that. I wouldn't worry if I were you ☺.


----------



## Carolyn M (Oct 17, 2016)

Okay thank you!


----------



## Millerlite (Oct 17, 2016)

As mentioned above looks normal. As they grow the black can start to break up 

Kyle


----------



## Carolyn M (Oct 31, 2016)

Okay thank you everyone


----------

