Advice on shell growth

[Flora171]

Hi all you tortoise fans out there, this is a great forum and hopefully should provide me with some advice.

A few years ago I was given two sulcata's by my best friend who moved country.. they've been living with me in London for the past year (I have all the necessary housing, heat lamps/mats etc etc for them).

They've got a local vet that I take them too and Princess and Betty (their names) visited her the other day, she said everything was fine they were a healthy weight - however she said it was very dangerous for them in hibernation which is obviously not true as they don't hibernate.

So I am a bit worried because she obviously isn't a reptile specialist just a regular vet, and also because I was looking at Princess's shell this morning and thought that it has begun to show signs of pyramid-ding. I asked the vet before and she said they were healthy but obviously I understand how dangerous this can be for tortoise shell development.

I have attached some pictures below, can anyone give me some advice? Specifically if they have an older tortoise (mine are around 4 years old now) to suggest if this is a normal process of if mine are specifically bad and need attention?!

Help!

 

[JoesMum]

I have no idea which part of London you live in, but if Maidstone in Kent is achievable then I can recommend an excellent tort vet.

Sulcatas don't hibernate and your vet is correct that it would be dangerous for you to attempt to hibernate them. So I think you are actually in agreement there!

Your photos aren't showing on my tablet. I will try again on another device.

Can you help up by telling us what you feed your torts.
Do they have access to water to soak in?
If you are keeping them indoors, what are the 4 important temperatures? (Warm side, cool side, directly under the basking lamp and overnight minimum)

We don't recommend keeping torts as pairs, especially Sulcatas. Torts are largely solitary in the wild; they roam large distances, meet up to mate and move on. Kept as pairs, one becomes dominant and the subordinate tort becomes withdrawn, stops eating and can become very sick indeed. Bullying may be physical, and can be brutal, or mental so you are not always aware that one tort is not thriving as it should. They are best kept competely separately.

 

[JoesMum]

Here are a couple of excellent posts that will help you...
Beginner mistakes http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Sulcata Care http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
Sulcata Diet http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-diet-sheet.64290/

And for looking up those leafy greens that grow around you and that you can buy in the supermarket to see if they are suitable to feed
Tortoise Table Plant Booklet http://thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plant_booklet_8595_40.asp?v=desktop
Tortoise Table Plant Database http://thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plant_database_14.asp?v=desktop

 

[JoesMum]

I see photos in this version of your thread

That pyramidding is in need of attention. It won't go away , but will become less obvious as your torts grow.

Please can you post pictures of your enclosure and the lighting as well as answering the questions I asked before

I have no idea which part of London you live in, but if Maidstone in Kent is achievable then I can recommend an excellent tort vet.

Sulcatas don't hibernate and your vet is correct that it would be dangerous for you to attempt to hibernate them. So I think you are actually in agreement there!

Your photos aren't showing on my tablet. I will try again on another device.

Can you help up by telling us what you feed your torts.
Do they have access to water to soak in?
If you are keeping them indoors, what are the 4 important temperatures? (Warm side, cool side, directly under the basking lamp and overnight minimum)

We don't recommend keeping torts as pairs, especially Sulcatas. Torts are largely solitary in the wild; they roam large distances, meet up to mate and move on. Kept as pairs, one becomes dominant and the subordinate tort becomes withdrawn, stops eating and can become very sick indeed. Bullying may be physical, and can be brutal, or mental so you are not always aware that one tort is not thriving as it should. They are best kept competely separately.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Flora, and welcome to the forum!

I get the sense, from looking at your pictures, that your tortoises live in the house, and not in their own habitat???? This is what's wrong with their shells. The growth is bumpy and dry. The tortoises need to be in a habitat where you can control the conditions. They need more moisture than what living in the house can provide. If you had them on moist substrate where they can dig down and bury themselves, it would help their shells.

Also, they are pretty small for their age. At that age they should probably be about 20 or 30lbs. Do they ever get to be outside? Unless you turn over a whole room to them, and set it up with substrate, hiding places, etc. it's pretty hard to provide a big enough container to use as a habitat. I can't imagine what it would take to provide a sulcata with what it needs, while living in the UK.

Hopefully other UK folks who keep sulcatas will see this thread and help you better than I can.