How to fix my sulcata shell? I came to visit my sulcata after leave my tortoise on my cousin house. But after 3 months I saw the shell become this white. Theres no sign of shell rot and its healthy. The only thing bothering me was the shell. I dont know what he did to my sulcata. Is it permanent damage on shell?
Fix tortoise shell color
- Thread starter sweetjune
- Start date
Where is this?
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2013
- Messages
- 5,073
It looks like shell rot to me even though it is in an unusual area of the shell for that to occur. You might need to treat it with athlete's foot cream for several days to make it go away.
Is it on the bottom shell also?
Please tell us about how your tortoise has been kept, Does it have a soaking pool, and what its been eating.
Calm down and be glad you had a place for your tortoise to be while you couldn't take care of it. (Tell us that story, too. Why did you have to have your tort not be with you?)
It is important to know where your tortoise is located because environmental factors, temperatures and humidity, and so much else can affect any answers we can give you. The answers for someone in Lima, Puru, are quite different than the answers in Lima, Ohio.
.
Calm down and be glad you had a place for your tortoise to be while you couldn't take care of it. (Tell us that story, too. Why did you have to have your tort not be with you?)
It is important to know where your tortoise is located because environmental factors, temperatures and humidity, and so much else can affect any answers we can give you. The answers for someone in Lima, Puru, are quite different than the answers in Lima, Ohio.
.
Its bottom shell also has whitish color but its still hard and not soft maybe its whitish color because of walking on rough concrete floor causing abrasive on shell . Im pretty sure it was caused by concrete floor. And i just asked my cousin yesterday and he said there was lots of moss on my tortoise shell thats why he use brush and reptile soap to clean those moss and leaving white color on shell. There was alot of rain on our city this year. He said clearing those moss much better and shell color should be gradually return after clearing mosses
Its living on rough concrete floor, where it has soaking pool. It was eating water spinach supplemented with calcium powder, multivitamin powder, stonebreaker oil to prevent stone bladder. Its enclosure cleaned everyday including where it sleeps, thats why its wet. My cousin said much easier to clean if enclosure has concrete floor. My tortoise and his tortoise been eating very well everyday just those whitish mark on shell bothering me. He said those moss leaving white color on shell
WHERE on the planet is this enclosure located?
We don't need your address, just need to have some idea what town/country you are located in. If you are in a place where a vague state-name, or large country-name with lots of different environments won't explain the climate and such, we need you to be more specific (like where I live it is more important to know the altitude than the name of the state or town. It changes radically here for every thousand feet of altitude.) SO - we are not being intrusive, we need to know WHERE you are located to know what you are dealing with so that we can give you best answers.
_________________________________________________________
I am not entirely certain, but it seems like I read that concrete leaches chemicals for a while. That could be affecting your tortoise's shell. Is the enclosure painted/sealed? It could be changing the pH in the soaking pool and that is affecting the shell... Though I think Zovick may have figured out the actual problem.
We don't need your address, just need to have some idea what town/country you are located in. If you are in a place where a vague state-name, or large country-name with lots of different environments won't explain the climate and such, we need you to be more specific (like where I live it is more important to know the altitude than the name of the state or town. It changes radically here for every thousand feet of altitude.) SO - we are not being intrusive, we need to know WHERE you are located to know what you are dealing with so that we can give you best answers.
_________________________________________________________
I am not entirely certain, but it seems like I read that concrete leaches chemicals for a while. That could be affecting your tortoise's shell. Is the enclosure painted/sealed? It could be changing the pH in the soaking pool and that is affecting the shell... Though I think Zovick may have figured out the actual problem.
Last edited:
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
Do you have photos of what it looked like when there was moss on the shell? What about a photo of the bottom of the shell?
Have you tried scrubbing the shell with a soft brush and water?
Have you tried scrubbing the shell with a soft brush and water?
Chemical burns
Tortoise needs to be cleaned with fresh water. It is permanent damage
Tortoise needs to be cleaned with fresh water. It is permanent damage
Looking at your photo, I suspect the issue might be caused by hard abrasion, fungus damage, or possibly both.
Long story short, I have two Red-Eared Sliders. One likes to stay in a small, algae-filled pond almost full-time (except when begging for food, then he gets out and runs straight toward me!), while the other prefers to soak for just a few hours a day in a small plastic container where I change the water daily. They can get in and out whenever they want. The one that stays in the pond gets his carapace completely covered in algae, while the other stays clean.
When I clean the algae-covered turtle, I always use a soft toothbrush. It takes a lot of time and patience to get it completely clean because the hardened algae is quite difficult to remove. My brother once used a harder brush and while it was definitely faster, I was worried it would hurt the turtle, so I switched back to the soft toothbrush. Was your cousin patient enough to clean your tortoise safely? I really hope they didn't use a hard scrubber (and definitely not a metal one!) to remove the moss.
Secondly, looking at your Sulcata's carapace, I notice what looks like a water or moss line. This suggests its soaking water is full of algae and it hasn't had time to dry off completely (perhaps because it's been raining every day). If you are in a highly humid place like Indonesia, a fungal infection is very possible if the area never fully dries out. I also hope the "moss" you are seeing isn't lichen (the kind you sometimes see on trees or old walls). If it is, it could definitely be a fungal attack.
Finally, I noticed something on the back left side: is there a crack on the carapace?
Long story short, I have two Red-Eared Sliders. One likes to stay in a small, algae-filled pond almost full-time (except when begging for food, then he gets out and runs straight toward me!), while the other prefers to soak for just a few hours a day in a small plastic container where I change the water daily. They can get in and out whenever they want. The one that stays in the pond gets his carapace completely covered in algae, while the other stays clean.
When I clean the algae-covered turtle, I always use a soft toothbrush. It takes a lot of time and patience to get it completely clean because the hardened algae is quite difficult to remove. My brother once used a harder brush and while it was definitely faster, I was worried it would hurt the turtle, so I switched back to the soft toothbrush. Was your cousin patient enough to clean your tortoise safely? I really hope they didn't use a hard scrubber (and definitely not a metal one!) to remove the moss.
Secondly, looking at your Sulcata's carapace, I notice what looks like a water or moss line. This suggests its soaking water is full of algae and it hasn't had time to dry off completely (perhaps because it's been raining every day). If you are in a highly humid place like Indonesia, a fungal infection is very possible if the area never fully dries out. I also hope the "moss" you are seeing isn't lichen (the kind you sometimes see on trees or old walls). If it is, it could definitely be a fungal attack.
Finally, I noticed something on the back left side: is there a crack on the carapace?
