HewHermannsmum
New Member
Hi there,
It's been a while since I've posted on here!
My tortoise is now about 3 and a half years old. After a bit of a rocky start (first time tortoise owner with a lot to learn!) things seem to have been going smoothly for the last couple of years.
But now I have noticed indents towards the back of my tortoises shell and I am a little worried.
He is kept in an open top tortoise table (sometimes covered to keep humidity up). Humidity tends to sit around 60% but I have humid hides that he loves to hang out in that are more like 80-90%. The ambient temp. Is around 20°C on the cooler side 28°C on the hot side with basking temp of around 35°C. At night I switch the MVB off and the ambient night temp is around 18°C
To be honest, I got into the lazy habit of feeding him store bought salad mix over the winter (mostly lambs lettuce with a bit of dandelion leaves and radicchio) however I have recently increased his diet to just about every weed I can get my hands on (verified on tortoise table first of course!!)
He has calci-dust a few times a week. A cuttlefish bone to munch on. A soak at least 3-4 times a week.
I am worried about his shell health though. The indents are symmetrical on both sides where his back legs are. Doesn't seem to be dragging his legs or anything but still...pretty sure his shell shouldn't look like this.
My guess would be a lack of UV or humidity....but what should I do??
I've attached pics to help.
I am also going to arrange a vet check up from a tortoise specialist vet but wanted to get some of your advice in the meantime.
Thanks!
It's been a while since I've posted on here!
My tortoise is now about 3 and a half years old. After a bit of a rocky start (first time tortoise owner with a lot to learn!) things seem to have been going smoothly for the last couple of years.
But now I have noticed indents towards the back of my tortoises shell and I am a little worried.
He is kept in an open top tortoise table (sometimes covered to keep humidity up). Humidity tends to sit around 60% but I have humid hides that he loves to hang out in that are more like 80-90%. The ambient temp. Is around 20°C on the cooler side 28°C on the hot side with basking temp of around 35°C. At night I switch the MVB off and the ambient night temp is around 18°C
To be honest, I got into the lazy habit of feeding him store bought salad mix over the winter (mostly lambs lettuce with a bit of dandelion leaves and radicchio) however I have recently increased his diet to just about every weed I can get my hands on (verified on tortoise table first of course!!)
He has calci-dust a few times a week. A cuttlefish bone to munch on. A soak at least 3-4 times a week.
I am worried about his shell health though. The indents are symmetrical on both sides where his back legs are. Doesn't seem to be dragging his legs or anything but still...pretty sure his shell shouldn't look like this.
My guess would be a lack of UV or humidity....but what should I do??
I've attached pics to help.
I am also going to arrange a vet check up from a tortoise specialist vet but wanted to get some of your advice in the meantime.
Thanks!
