# Tortoise shell indentation



## dl450 (Jan 3, 2017)

I was soaking my tortoise and while drying him I realized a little indent in his shell he is a 2 foot by 18 inch table with uvb and an 83 degree baskin spot and he gets soaked twice a week and fed everyday unless he doesn't eat. Here's a picture of the dent it goes all the way down his side


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## Yvonne G (Jan 3, 2017)

That's new growth that occurred while the tortoise was being kept a bit on the dry side. When it grows indented like that, that's what causes the scutes to grow pyramided.


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## wellington (Jan 3, 2017)

Ditto what Yvonne said


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## dl450 (Jan 3, 2017)

Yvonne G said:


> That's new growth that occurred while the tortoise was being kept a bit on the dry side. When it grows indented like that, that's what causes the scutes to grow pyramided.


Any idea how to treat it besides just boosting the humidity, such as more frequent soaks


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## JoesMum (Jan 4, 2017)

dl450 said:


> Any idea how to treat it besides just boosting the humidity, such as more frequent soaks


That's how you treat it. Get the humidity correct and temperatures and diet too of course. 

It won't go away. It will just become less obvious as your tort grows. 

What species is your tortoise? Have you read the TFO care sheets for it?


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## dl450 (Jan 4, 2017)

JoesMum said:


> That's how you treat it. Get the humidity correct and temperatures and diet too of course.
> 
> It won't go away. It will just become less obvious as your tort grows.
> 
> What species is your tortoise? Have you read the TFO care sheets for it?


It was given to me from a friend going to college they said it's a three year old hermanns but that seems so tiny for a hermanns


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## Tom (Jan 4, 2017)

dl450 said:


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> I was soaking my tortoise and while drying him I realized a little indent in his shell he is a 2 foot by 18 inch table with uvb and an 83 degree baskin spot and he gets soaked twice a week and fed everyday unless he doesn't eat. Here's a picture of the dent it goes all the way down his side



In addition to what has been said, your tortoise needs a much larger enclosure. 4 times what he's in now.

What sort of UV bulb are you using. The profile pic of the shell makes me suspect MBD.

He needs a much warmer basking area directly under the lamp. Should be 95-100.

I wrote this for russians, but care for hermanni is essentially the same. Give these a read through:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/


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## dl450 (Jan 5, 2017)

Tom said:


> In addition to what has been said, your tortoise needs a much larger enclosure. 4 times what he's in now.
> 
> What sort of UV bulb are you using. The profile pic of the shell makes me suspect MBD.
> 
> ...


Alright thank you I'm going to switch him to a powersun I think and I luckily have a spare 3.5 foot by 4 foot which I'll switch him over to


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