Is this normal shell growth?

[Karen(pebbles)]

Morning everybody
Can somebody please tell me if this is normal shell growth please? I’m a little concerned about the top of pebbles shell, s/he is nearly 3 yrs old, the rest of the shell is smooth except these 2 on the top? All my temps and lighting are correct following advice on here for the last year and half.

 

[Yvonne G]

Looks a little pyramided, and the last picture looks like maybe some extra scutes? Hard to tell from a picture.

 

[Karen(pebbles)]

Looks a little pyramided, and the last picture looks like maybe some extra scutes? Hard to tell from a picture.

This is what I was concerned about, but it’s only the two middle scutes,

 

[Yvonne G]

It's just cosmetic. The tortoises with aberrant scutes are my favorites. I have several that I chose specifically because of the aberrant scutes.

 

[Karen(pebbles)]

It's just cosmetic. The tortoises with aberrant scutes are my favorites. I have several that I chose specifically because of the aberrant scutes.

Thankyou Yvonne, it just seemed a bit strange that pebbles shell was growing this way, and I wondered what I’d been doin wrong.

 

[Markw84]

This is what I was concerned about, but it’s only the two middle scutes,

Karen, Your tortoise has an interesting scute pattern. As @Yvonne G mentions - an abnormal pattern. Normal pattern is 5 vertebral scutes and 4 costal scutes on each side. Your tortoise was born with 4 vertebral scutes and what appears to be a very small area where the missing 4th vertebral would be that has grown with your tortoise and filled in with unpigmented keratin where that missing scute would have been. As bone grows beneath, the scutes are spread which stimulated the new keratin to fill in at the seams. In this tortoise, the spreading of those 6 adjacent scutes is simply spreading this area faster as there is no scute here, and the area is being filled with new keratin.

Totally cosmetic and an interesting pattern I've never seen before. But no worries for you as it looks like you've done a great job with this tortoise.

 

[Karen(pebbles)]

Wow, thankyou Mark, I’m really pleased to hear this, and it’s all thanks to the advice given by you and others here on the forum.