Cracked Shell

[Trottortoise]

Hi I’m new here! I have a horse field tortoise roughly 1.5years old and he has always been healthy but recently we noticed he had some pretty severe cracks on his shell that were bleeding. We didn’t know how it could have happened as we have no other pets, he’s on his own and there is no where in his enclosure that he could have fell hard enough to break it. He is still doing well eating and moving but we took him to the vets fearing it was shell rot and the vet was also at a loss for how it could have happened as it doesn’t appear to be shell rot. The vet repaired his shell with resin and we are halfway through a course of antibiotics but I have noticed more cracks and bleeding in different areas. I am going to take him back to the vet but I’m just completely at a loss for what could be causing it to keep cracking when he is otherwise in good health has anyone else experienced this before or know why it could be happening?

 

[zovick]

Hi I’m new here! I have a horse field tortoise roughly 1.5years old and he has always been healthy but recently we noticed he had some pretty severe cracks on his shell that were bleeding. We didn’t know how it could have happened as we have no other pets, he’s on his own and there is no where in his enclosure that he could have fell hard enough to break it. He is still doing well eating and moving but we took him to the vets fearing it was shell rot and the vet was also at a loss for how it could have happened as it doesn’t appear to be shell rot. The vet repaired his shell with resin and we are halfway through a course of antibiotics but I have noticed more cracks and bleeding in different areas. I am going to take him back to the vet but I’m just completely at a loss for what could be causing it to keep cracking when he is otherwise in good health has anyone else experienced this before or know why it could be happening?

Could you post some photos of the damages and the bleeding cracks? It would be much easier to tell what may be happening with some pictures showing the problem areas.

 

[Trottortoise]

 

[Trottortoise]

Sorry just figured out how to do that! The pink stuff is what the vet put on but a new crack has appears in between and to the right of it going down/up

 

[Trottortoise]

 

[zovick]

View attachment 341822

These look like traumatic injuries to me. IE, it looks as though someone may have accidentally stepped on that tortoise or possibly a neighbor's kid dropped a rock over the fence onto it (this actually happened to one of my friends from CA).

Is there any way one of these things or something similar could have happened?

 

[Trottortoise]

These look like traumatic injuries to me. IE, it looks as though someone may have accidentally stepped on that tortoise or possibly a neighbor's kid dropped a rock over the fence onto it (this actually happened to one of my friends from CA).

Is there any way one of these things or something similar could have happened?

 

[Trottortoise]

There is absolutely no way, he lives in a viv and we don’t put him outside as we don’t have a suitable garden at the minute, my toddlers aren’t allowed to touch him and they are rarely around when we get him out and if they are we supervise at all times and there’s no way they could get into his viv due to a lock on the door at all times.

I mean this in the nicest possible way as of course I wouldn’t want this to happen but I wish I could say he had been dropped or one of my kids got a hold of him because then I’d know exactly what had happened and how to help him, but none of the scenarios fit so I am at a complete loss for what has caused any of this I really feel sorry for the little guy

 

[Trottortoise]

These look like traumatic injuries to me. IE, it looks as though someone may have accidentally stepped on that tortoise or possibly a neighbor's kid dropped a rock over the fence onto it (this actually happened to one of my friends from CA).

Is there any way one of these things or something similar could have happened?

It’s also worth noting these new cracks have just appeared today since we took him the vet just over a week ago, and although the vet said the resin should hold his shell in place and we can handle him as normal we have been trying to limit how much we do handle him and are extra extra cautious

 

[Yvonne G]

The cracks as you call them are the new growth seams. I would NOT have put resin on them, but rather treat them as you would treat your own skinned knee - that is, clean them and apply first aid ointment. For some unknown reason, your tortoise's new growth lines are weak and have split. It could be you're feeding too much and he's growing too fast. Just keep him clean so they don't get infected.

 

[Trottortoise]

The cracks as you call them are the new growth seams. I would NOT have put resin on them, but rather treat them as you would treat your own skinned knee - that is, clean them and apply first aid ointment. For some unknown reason, your tortoise's new growth lines are weak and have split. It could be you're feeding too much and he's growing too fast. Just keep him clean so they don't get infected.

That is super helpful thank you so much! He does seem to eat a lot so I could try reducing it? I have wondered if he’s just like that and it’s something that will be a recurring issue, also the cracks (for lack of a better word) under the resin were quite a bit worse than the ones shown here the vet put the resin on as we had tried managing it ourselves keeping it clean/dry/sterile but it seemed impossible to handle him at all without hurting him further, is there any reason you wouldn’t put the resin on? I will try and just manage these ones without resin in that case, thank you so much again

 

[Yvonne G]

Because the resin is firm and won't allow for the growth of the shell. Those seams grow wider, moving. The resin does't move with growth.

 

[Trottortoise]

Because the resin is firm and won't allow for the growth of the shell. Those seams grow wider, moving. The resin does't move with growth.

Thank you so much for your advice! Sadly I don’t think there is much I can do to have that resin removed now but I will not have it put on these new ‘cracks’ and will manage them as they are and I will try reducing feeding

 

[Yvonne G]

It might also have to do with the size of his enclosure. A tortoise that has plenty of room to walk around doesn't get fat.

Also, make sure he is fed calcium-rich foods and has a GOOD UVB light. These will help to harden the new growth.

 

[MaNaAk]

The cracks as you call them are the new growth seams. I would NOT have put resin on them, but rather treat them as you would treat your own skinned knee - that is, clean them and apply first aid ointment. For some unknown reason, your tortoise's new growth lines are weak and have split. It could be you're feeding too much and he's growing too fast. Just keep him clean so they don't get infected.

I thought that as well but I wondered whether he has enough calcium try sprinkling some calcium powder which you can buy from a pet shop on his food. Also do you use a basking lamp which helps to provide calcium if he can't go outside?

MaNaAk

 

[Trottortoise]

I thought that as well but I wondered whether he has enough calcium try sprinkling some calcium powder which you can buy from a pet shop on his food. Also do you use a basking lamp which helps to provide calcium if he can't go outside?

MaNaAk

I thought that as well but I wondered whether he has enough calcium try sprinkling some calcium powder which you can buy from a pet shop on his food. Also do you use a basking lamp which helps to provide calcium if he can't go outside?

MaNaAk

thank you for this! Yes we regularly give him calcium powder on his food which he definitely does eat, I’m not too sure about the basking lamp we have a UVB lamp and a heat lamp to regulate the temperature does that sound right?

Also my partner was the one who took him into the vet and I was mistaken when I thought the ‘crack’ between the resin was new, it seems the vet was perhaps aware of the issue with growth and rightly or wrongly applied resin to the more severe cracks but left that one perhaps to allow for growth.. so the ‘cracks’ to the right of the resin are the only new ones and it remains a mystery to me why they occurring

 

[Trottortoise]

It might also have to do with the size of his enclosure. A tortoise that has plenty of room to walk around doesn't get fat.

Also, make sure he is fed calcium-rich foods and has a GOOD UVB light. These will help to harden the new growth.

Thank you for this! I do think his enclosure is a decent size for him at the minute as he is still very small and seems to get move around it a lot and has plenty of space to do so, I am going to take him back for a check up once his antibiotics are done and I will ask the vet to check his size to make sure he is not overweight