Blood in Growth Rings????

[Buehrle]

Hi,

I have 2 Russian tortoises (1 male and 1 female). I bought them from a pet store for Christmas. I had gone to the store to buy just 1 and ended buying both when I had overheard the workers saying they were going to send the male "away". They lived their whole lives together as far as i am aware of and didn't think they should be separated.

I estimate their age to be less than a year old. Lately, the female has this white line surrounding the base of her shell. I looked it up in books and other sources, and it says that it is just a growth ring. I cut down on her diet like they suggested but I have noticed that the rings look red. Like they are cut.

I house the male and the female together. I am wondering if the male might have cut her, or if its something worse????

Buehrle Family

 

[TortieLuver]

Do you have any pictures? The white around scutes are growth rings and completely normal. I'm not sure what you mean by where the red is....on the carapace. you are not referring to any part of the plastron (bottom shell) correct?

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Is it just in one spot or multiple spots? Have you seen any aggressiveness with the male?

 

[Buehrle]

Do you have any pictures? The white around scutes are growth rings and completely normal. I'm not sure what you mean by where the red is....on the carapace. you are not referring to any part of the plastron (bottom shell) correct?

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Is it just in one spot or multiple spots? Have you seen any aggressiveness with the male?

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I haven't noticed any aggressive behavior from the male towards her. In fact he seems somewhat protective of her when we go to feed them.

Right now they are being housed in a smaller enclosure then they normally are in due to damage to their previous one. I attached several photos plus a close up of the area that concerns me the most.



the white powder looking stuff on the shell is the calcium we put in her food. for some reason she likes to lay int he food. gets all over her.

 

[lupitapliego]

Pictures would really help. Try to get one up soon so that the experts here can really help and advise you.
Hope your little one is fine tho.

 

[Tom]

That looks like the typical scraping that would be done by a males persistent biting.

Most tortoises, but ESPECIALLY Russians, should NOT be housed in pairs. They are solitary creatures in the wild, and they do their best to avoid each other. You female is experiencing extreme chronic stress right now at not being able to escape this males territory. This could eventually kill her. They need to be separated.

 

[Buehrle]

Their previous enclosure was a large bookcase with a split down the middle that separated them. It was damaged in the move to our new home and we had to house them in the only thing we had available at the time (a 30 gallon tank). I am in the process of building them a new one, but I think this means I have to speed up the process.

thank you so much for all the help!!!

 

[Yvonne G]

There's no reason to cut back on their food when you see growth rings. The light band is new growth, and it is 'tender' when it first appears. The blood is probably from the male trying to breed her and bumping up against the tender new growth.

Also, your tortoise is not as young as you think. I figure its 8 or 10 years old, maybe even older, and full grown/sexually mature. In my opinion, unless you have Russian tortoises in a large outdoor pen, they should not be housed together. Male Russian tortoises can be brutal to other tortoises (male or female).

 

[Tom]

You can buy a 50 gallon tub at HD for about $20. This will serve just fine as a temporary home for your male while construction takes place on repairing the big divided book case.