a torte named Charlie
New Member
Awe that just breaks my heart. I am expecting that little girl to out live me! Maybe with all the love and care she will ❤️ Her personality is so different from when we first got her. She actually comes out of her log in the mornings when i go in the room and she hears my voice The light part on the shell was actually covered in the paint and as she was finishing her bath the other nite i decided to try a little more nail polish remover with tissue and spent a little longer than usual on it and that was what was under her paint. My husband freaked out because he thought i had rubbed her natural color off of her shell. I panicked because i thought maybe i did too. It's so sad to think that that just maybe her natural color that we haven't ever seen! She has definitely really grown since we've had her. I did notice how she is too big for her shell and we figured the polish maybe had cut off air supply or something like that to keep it from growing. It's just sickening.Looks like a russian tortoise. From my years of experience rescuing unwanted and abused tortoises, I have surmised (guessed) that a tortoise kept in the house on a poor diet with no UVB will grow the soft parts (skin, muscle, etc), but the shell either doesn't grow or grows much more slowly. That's why your tortoise looks too big for her shell. I've never kept one of these rescues (I adopted them to good homes), so I don't know if the shell will catch up to the body or not. She probably has a shortened lifespan, but with good care, there's no reason she won't give you many years of enjoyment.
How old would you guess she is? My best estimate after talking to one of the previous owners is that she is 12 or 13 years old but who really knows.
Thabk you so much for your reply! ?