Can terracotta scratch shell?

[Jackson7]

When taking Berry out for a bath I noticed terracotta dust on the top ridge of his shell, meaning he's gotten bigger and is brushing up against his hide. Is there concern he'll damage his shell? If it was my other tort I would just take it out but he REALLY likes this hide. He's got 5 and uses this one 95% of the time and has the whole time I've had him. I think I'll either make another bigger one or modify this one. But it'll be a couple days before I can get to that and I'm wondering if there's any danger in the mean time.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Mmm this is actually a very good question! I’ve been wanting to look into a large terracotta hide for our red foot too. Does it appear to have left a scrape on his shell or?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I’m thinking his shell is causing abrasion on the hide as opposed to the other way round, but ideally you don’t want terracotta dust getting everywhere eitherlet’s us know if you find a solution to fix this current one, but perhaps a bigger one will be better

 

[Jackson7]

The Shell looks good right now. They've bumped into it now and then and its not been problem. Then fact that there's dust on his shell mean that the shell is harder that the hide so I'm not really worried about a proper scratch, my concern is more wear over time.

That's a good point about the dust.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

The Shell looks good right now. They've bumped into it now and then and its not been problem. Then fact that there's dust on his shell mean that the shell is harder that the hide so I'm not really worried about a proper scratch, my concern is more wear over time.

That's a good point about the dust.

Yeah at least with a bigger one he hopefully won’t constantly hit the entrance/sides, that might help with the wear n tear

 

[Tom]

When taking Berry out for a bath I noticed terracotta dust on the top ridge of his shell, meaning he's gotten bigger and is brushing up against his hide. Is there concern he'll damage his shell? If it was my other tort I would just take it out but he REALLY likes this hide. He's got 5 and uses this one 95% of the time and has the whole time I've had him. I think I'll either make another bigger one or modify this one. But it'll be a couple days before I can get to that and I'm wondering if there's any danger in the mean time.




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Yes. Terra cotta is abrasive. That is why it makes good traction in their water bowls. I would never use one as a hide. I use plastic tubs for hides.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Yes. Terra cotta is abrasive. That is why it makes good traction in their water bowls. I would never use one as a hide. I use plastic tubs for hides.

I might skip out on making a hide from one then, can sometimes be such a pain finding a big enough one she won’t lift all over the place though lol

 

[Tom]

I might skip out on making a hide from one then, can sometimes be such a pain finding a big enough one she won’t lift all over the place though lol

I put weight on top to stop larger tortoise from moving them. Bricks, rocks, sandstone slabs, slate, potted plants, etc...

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I put weight on top to stop larger tortoise from moving them. Bricks, rocks, sandstone slabs, slate, potted plants, etc...

Im paranoid squirt would knock then off somehow

 

[Jackson7]

I decided to get a new material. I got a couple bowl shaped planters made from plastic and then cut out the openings with some tin snips. They seem perfectly happy with the replacement.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I decided to get a new material. I got a couple bowl shaped planters made from plastic and then cut out the openings with some tin snips. They seem perfectly happy with the replacement.

We ended up going with a plastic cat house lol

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Yes. Terra cotta is abrasive. That is why it makes good traction in their water bowls. I would never use one as a hide. I use plastic tubs for hides.

I agree.
You could take a file and round off the sharp edges of that bowl. Or plan a nice replacement for it soon