conditioner for shell?

[ColleenT]

i rescued some boxies and a few have damaged shells. i believe from poor lighting and nutrition. i wonder is there anything safe to use to condition their shell? Anything breathable?

 

[W Shaw]

You can actually buy a shell conditioner, but maybe @Tom has some ideas on this. I wonder if the issues will sort themselves out with proper hydration & he's kind of the expert on hydration issues.

 

[Pearly]

EVCO? Extra virgin coconut oil?

 

[Yvonne G]

EVCO? Extra virgin coconut oil?

Actually, that should read cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil.

 

[Pearly]

Actually, that should read cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil.

And ORGANIC

 

[ColleenT]

Cool. i usually have some of that around for my dogs. i will apply a light coat and hopefully it will help.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

If the nature of the shell issue is from the skeletal tissue below or associated with it, then a surface application of a moisturizing retaining product would have little or no effect.

The application of shell moisturizers is a somewhat debatable husbandry practice. There are only very modest parallels of applying a vegetable based moistener to what the tortoise might experience in the wild. And to some extent it mitigates what has become apparent as poor yet popular husbandry practices.

Many tortoises do spend a great deal of time pushed up into vegetation and there is a very small amount of 'waxes' on plant surfaces to prevent dessication of the plant itself. To what extent those plant surfaces waxes rub onto the shell, and then provide some benefit I believe is a completely unstudied aspect of wild tortoise ecology. Many tortoises live in burrows as well where any such plant wax application would likely be removed from the action of going into and out of the burrow.

The poor husbandry practices are too numerous to bring up yet again, but there are many that can contribute to deformed or poor shell health.

 

[ColleenT]

What it looks like is that a dog got ahold of the female, she has a healing hole and what look like teeth marks on the other side of the shell. The male looks like his shell is dry and peeling. it's not peeling, but it appears that way. I know time can help them, but i was curious if i could make them feel a bit better with something.

 

[Yvonne G]

Many wild box turtles, especially three toe, present with a clean, dry hole on either side of the carapace. I've tried to research this phenom. and have always come up empty. It has nothing to do with being chewed. And it is quite common.

 

[ColleenT]

Many wild box turtles, especially three toe, present with a clean, dry hole on either side of the carapace. I've tried to research this phenom. and have always come up empty. It has nothing to do with being chewed. And it is quite common.

Wow, that is weird. Thanks for telling me.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

My three toed has one on each side. They are small and I don't think they go all the way through.But, they are not as big as the one on your turtle.