Is my baby Russians shell look healthy??

[sarah05chiariello]

Our 6 month old baby Russians shell looks like it already has growth rings forming but it also looks similar to how fungus growth looks..help! Also is it normal for our baby to try and bite us? Is he just being a silly young tortoise or being aggressive??

 

[T33's Torts]

Looks good to me! What a cutie you've got there.

 

[TortsNTurtles]

Cute cute cute!

 

[sarah05chiariello]

Around what looks like growth rings has white fungul looking stuff...idk if you can see in the pic unless you zoom in..biting at you is normal baby stuff??

 

[Yvonne G]

He's very pretty, but for "health" we'd need to see his eyes.

 

[sarah05chiariello]

Is this a better one of his eyes? Can't take one now he's sleeping..lol

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This is our baby nono and are 4 year old female nika when they first met.

 

[tortoise5643]

I don't know if you do this but it isn't recommended to keep the baby with an adult, for aggression issues and parasitical/fungal issues as most of the adults are wild caught with diseases

 

[sarah05chiariello]

There housed seperatly and both bought from breeders.. But we did let them meet for the first time they had nothing to do with eachother..

 

[05loquet]

Heres a better picture of our babys shell

 

[Tom]

The shell looks normal to me. The squiggly lines are not fungus. They are normal. Looks like mild pyramiding is trying to start. How are you housing this baby?

The biting is typical of bold hand fed tortoises. Its not likely an aggression thing. It is most likely a food response as your baby associates you with food. WHat sort of lighting are you using? Any UV indoors?

 

[Yvonne G]

Heres a better picture of our babys shell

So, is this Sarah's tortoise that she's asking about in this thread? Or are you a new member and I need to split off your post to be on your own?

 

[05loquet]

Yes the pic I posted is sarahs tortoise (our tortoise) Nono

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Yes the pic I posted is sarah's tortoise (our tortoise) Nono

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The shell looks normal to me. The squiggly lines are not fungus. They are normal. Looks like mild pyramiding is trying to start. How are you housing this baby?

The biting is typical of bold hand fed tortoises. Its not likely an aggression thing. It is most likely a food response as your baby associates you with food. WHat sort of lighting are you using? Any UV indoors?

thanx tom we were really worried that the squiggly line might be fungus...housed indoors in plastic tub, we use the powersun bulb provides uva/uvb and heat.

 

[sarah05chiariello]

Sorry for the confusion but the baby Russians name is nono both me and loquets. When we got the baby his shell was already arching like that didn't know if it was because he's a baby or something is wrong.

 

[biochemnerd808]

The little squiggly lines are normal in growing shells. The lighter edges around each scute are new growth, too.

You have help stop the pyramiding by increasing the humidity. Mist his shell several times daily with warm water, and provide a hot, humid hide that stays a constant 80ish degrees (CHE with a thermostat works well), with wet sphagnum moss inside. I made my hot humid hides by cutting a hole into one of those plastic shoe boxes from the dollar store.

Sorry for the confusion but the baby Russians name is nono both me and loquets. When we got the baby his shell was already arching like that didn't know if it was because he's a baby or something is wrong.

 

[sarah05chiariello]

So it is pyramiding?? Thanks for the help will try that out

 

[Ryongsyong]

They're defensive creatures rather than predators so I'm not sure they really have it in them to be aggressive in that way, but as was said if they're fed by hand from time-to-time and there's a finger nearby they might try to have a little nibble just in case there's something worth taking for themselves . Our three year old is the same, although strangely he only does it with my girlfriend's fingers and not mine, even though we both hand-feed him sometimes (but not all the time of course). Not sure if it's the smell or the sight that he's able to discriminate between, but we're always quite impressed as you'd think to a tortoise a finger is a finger. Anyway, I always like holding my finger near his mouth just to annoy my girlfriend, who will watch it getting a cursory sniff and no more, and then try it and get a snapping mouth coming her way .

As for the shell, I'll leave it to people more knowledgeable than me, but for a six month old it looks fine. They're not born with perfectly flat shells straight away and that develops over time, I believe.