Nail discolouration

[JessL]

Hi there, I have noticed what seems to be over night that my tortoise Franks nails have suddenly gone a bit brown, they are usually a bright healthy yellow colour, I haven’t changed anything, the only thing he’s eating more of at the moment are dandilions, apart from that, he still has a varied diet, with calcium and cuttlebone fish, all the lighting (heat lamp, ambient lighting and uvb tube light) the right temperatures etc, soaked everyday so I am unsure why his nails have changed colour. I have included photos of the nails, and his enclosure - he is 10 months old, I have observed him over the last 24 hours and still seems himself still active and eating all his food, any ideas are welcome!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
I don't see anything concerning with his nails (the difference between recent photos and photos from February is subtle).

A few suggestions on heating and lightning, if you don't mind:
1. Get a wide dome (8-10") for the ceramic heat emitter and hang it from the greenhouse frame. Clamps are unrealiable and without a dome CHEs are less effective.
2. Rotate ambient lights a bit, towards the substrate: it seems they are pointed sideways now and don't add much brightness to the enclosure (usually, basking lamp light is barely seen when ambient lights are on).
3. Check if you get temperatures in 95-100F (36-37C) under basking lamp, if not - try removing protective screen from the dome. Also, add some "guardrails" to prevent dome from falling when clamp fails.
4. Could you tell exact model of the UVB lamp and fixture and the distance from the lamp to substrate? Not all UVB tubes are safe and reliable (only Arcadia, ZooMed, Reptile Systems and ExoTerra are tested and recommended at the moment).