Hey guys! My name's Bre and I have had my sulcata, Yahtzee, for 2 years this summer. He is about 8lbs and I just confirmed that he is in fact male, due to his genitalia making an appearance during his afternoon playtime out of his enclosure yesterday. TMI? Maybe, but I want you all to be informed before I start asking questions! ? I have frequently visited this forum for advice over the past year and a half, and many of you have unknowingly helped me out so much along the way... Yahtzee is my first reptile so I have been learning a lot through this experience, and I've found it's really difficult to find reliable tortoise care information - but I seem to find the best tips here!
Anyway, I thought since I am in this tortoise care thing for the long haul, I should just make a profile so I can just post my questions about Yahtzee rather than sort through tons of other posts looking for applicable answers. I have lots to learn and lots of questions... So with that, here are my current questions/concerns about my tort!
My questions mainly stem from me wondering about his growth/maturation rate, and I suppose diet as those are usually related. He has obviously grown really fast, which his breeder told me to expect based on his growth over the first 3-4mo of his life... But if he is growing too fast I don't want to be contributing by feeding him incorrectly or other poor husbandry. He eats romaine lettuce in the morning, maybe a small piece of kale, or a small amount of green beans, green pepper, or cucumber depending on what veggies I'm prepping for myself that day, and a heap of timothy hay. He also has cuttle bone free choice and he gets soaked Mazuri pellets mixed with a spoonful of pumpkin at night. I know many of you discourage feeding Mazuri every day, and I am in the process of weaning him off of it more now that he's eating more hay (he didn't eat hay for a long time when he was little, but has recently started eating it - I would say hay is probably 50% of his diet most days now). His enclosure is 8'x4' with a hide on one end, and the other end has his ceramic heat emitter and UVB bulb with a cement slab for him to sit on which he LOVES (plus it helps file his nails). He plays outside of his enclosure for an hour or two most days, either running around my house or outside if it's warm enough and I have time to supervise. I'd be happy to hear if anyone has suggestions on diet/husbandry!
My main question is about his shell. I noticed today that he has two spots about the size of my fingernail that are peeling - but it's only the very top layer, almost like it's just the waterproofing layer of his shell if that makes sense. But underneath it doesn't look much different than the areas around that aren't peeling. He soaks in my bathtub every day and is very well hydrated (he pees a lot of clear pee in addition to low amounts of urates). I was wondering if this peeling is a husbandry issue or if it's due to his growth rate (or something else completely?). These spots almost look like he just grew so fast the outer layer/coating of his shell just didn't keep up, and just split/peeled. Has anyone else had this issue with their torts or have any ideas of why this might have happened? Pictures below (and a couple unrelated pics of Yahtzee, just because!).
Follow-up question, also related to his shell: I accidentally dropped him from 3-4ft up when he was little (and yes, I felt HORRIBLE ?, still do). This is the only "trauma" this guy has ever experienced, at least in my care, but he appears to have a "scar" of sorts on his shell that has caused a scute or two to grow a little weird. I don't have a picture right now and he has tucked himself into his sleepytime corner for the evening so I don't want to bother him, but I can get a picture later if needed. I was just wondering if I need to be concerned long term about his shell growing with a "scar". It seems to be remodeling well so far, but I wondered if anyone has experience with shell damage like this and if there are any future complications I need to be aware of!
Sorry for the novel, I just realized I wrote a ton. Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Looking forward to hearing you guys' thoughts!
Anyway, I thought since I am in this tortoise care thing for the long haul, I should just make a profile so I can just post my questions about Yahtzee rather than sort through tons of other posts looking for applicable answers. I have lots to learn and lots of questions... So with that, here are my current questions/concerns about my tort!
My questions mainly stem from me wondering about his growth/maturation rate, and I suppose diet as those are usually related. He has obviously grown really fast, which his breeder told me to expect based on his growth over the first 3-4mo of his life... But if he is growing too fast I don't want to be contributing by feeding him incorrectly or other poor husbandry. He eats romaine lettuce in the morning, maybe a small piece of kale, or a small amount of green beans, green pepper, or cucumber depending on what veggies I'm prepping for myself that day, and a heap of timothy hay. He also has cuttle bone free choice and he gets soaked Mazuri pellets mixed with a spoonful of pumpkin at night. I know many of you discourage feeding Mazuri every day, and I am in the process of weaning him off of it more now that he's eating more hay (he didn't eat hay for a long time when he was little, but has recently started eating it - I would say hay is probably 50% of his diet most days now). His enclosure is 8'x4' with a hide on one end, and the other end has his ceramic heat emitter and UVB bulb with a cement slab for him to sit on which he LOVES (plus it helps file his nails). He plays outside of his enclosure for an hour or two most days, either running around my house or outside if it's warm enough and I have time to supervise. I'd be happy to hear if anyone has suggestions on diet/husbandry!
My main question is about his shell. I noticed today that he has two spots about the size of my fingernail that are peeling - but it's only the very top layer, almost like it's just the waterproofing layer of his shell if that makes sense. But underneath it doesn't look much different than the areas around that aren't peeling. He soaks in my bathtub every day and is very well hydrated (he pees a lot of clear pee in addition to low amounts of urates). I was wondering if this peeling is a husbandry issue or if it's due to his growth rate (or something else completely?). These spots almost look like he just grew so fast the outer layer/coating of his shell just didn't keep up, and just split/peeled. Has anyone else had this issue with their torts or have any ideas of why this might have happened? Pictures below (and a couple unrelated pics of Yahtzee, just because!).
Follow-up question, also related to his shell: I accidentally dropped him from 3-4ft up when he was little (and yes, I felt HORRIBLE ?, still do). This is the only "trauma" this guy has ever experienced, at least in my care, but he appears to have a "scar" of sorts on his shell that has caused a scute or two to grow a little weird. I don't have a picture right now and he has tucked himself into his sleepytime corner for the evening so I don't want to bother him, but I can get a picture later if needed. I was just wondering if I need to be concerned long term about his shell growing with a "scar". It seems to be remodeling well so far, but I wondered if anyone has experience with shell damage like this and if there are any future complications I need to be aware of!
Sorry for the novel, I just realized I wrote a ton. Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Looking forward to hearing you guys' thoughts!