Old Greek wear and tear on shell...

Moi Hutton

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2020
Messages
31
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Hi everyone,
Since having our adopted Greek he has been happily roaming the garden and climbing and squeezing through very odd places! He has quite a few scrapes on his shell now which aren’t deep but I’m still a bit worried if he’s ok! He loves climbing through two terra-cotta plant pots that are stacked together but this seems to be making these scratches. It seems to stimulate him so I would feel bad taking them away! Ive attached some pictures of his shell to see what you all think.
He’s in his 60s so has lived a long life, I expect some wear and tear but this much?!
Thanks!

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zovick

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
3,388
Hi everyone,
Since having our adopted Greek he has been happily roaming the garden and climbing and squeezing through very odd places! He has quite a few scrapes on his shell now which aren’t deep but I’m still a bit worried if he’s ok! He loves climbing through two terra-cotta plant pots that are stacked together but this seems to be making these scratches. It seems to stimulate him so I would feel bad taking them away! Ive attached some pictures of his shell to see what you all think.
He’s in his 60s so has lived a long life, I expect some wear and tear but this much?!
Thanks!
Those are marks from the tortoise trying to go under, around, and/or in between items which are a bit hard and are scraping the shell, leaving scratches. They are not overly harmful, but over the long term could become deeper and deeper and actually wear away a lot of the scute keratin. The only solution if you want to stop the process is to watch where the tortoise is going that is causing the scratches and remove the sources. IE. move the plant pots to where he cannot come in contact with them, etc.
 

Moi Hutton

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2020
Messages
31
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Thank you! I’d hate them to get deeper and cause damage. I’ll move some pots from the garden. Thanks again!
 
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