Pink bottom of the shell - Western Hermanns

[chamomilla]

Today, when giving a bath to my 5 years old female Western Hermann's, I have noticed strong pink all over the bottom of her shell. She had a longer space in between baths than usually, so I don't know when exactly it started. She is active as usual, eats well, poops every day. Does anyone has experience with this? We have her for just a year and it is our first tortoise so asking for advice of somebody more experienced... Thank you!

 

[TammyJ]

@Yvonne G @zovick

 

[zovick]

Today, when giving a bath to my 5 years old female Western Hermann's, I have noticed strong pink all over the bottom of her shell. She had a longer space in between baths than usually, so I don't know when exactly it started. She is active as usual, eats well, poops every day. Does anyone has experience with this? We have her for just a year and it is our first tortoise so asking for advice of somebody more experienced... Thank you!

The pink areas are areas of heavy vascularization (lots of blood vessels) in the bone due to rapid growth. Your tortoise has nice wide areas of new growth, and these areas are nourished by the blood vessels.

It is not a cause for alarm in this case since your tortoise is active, eating and defecating normally, etc.

In tortoises which are doing very poorly, pink areas on the plastron (bottom shell) can indicate septicemia, a life-threatening condition. In septicemia, the areas are usually a darker shade of pink or red.

It would be a good idea to soak your tortoise daily, by the way. Doing so keeps them in the best of health.

 

[chamomilla]

The pink areas are areas of heavy vascularization (lots of blood vessels) in the bone due to rapid growth. Your tortoise has nice wide areas of new growth, and these areas are nourished by the blood vessels.

It is not a cause for alarm in this case since your tortoise is active, eating and defecating normally, etc.

In tortoises which are doing very poorly, pink areas on the plastron (bottom shell) can indicate septicemia, a life-threatening condition. In septicemia, the areas are usually a darker shade of pink or red.

It would be a good idea to soak your tortoise daily, by the way. Doing so keeps them in the best of health.

Thank you so much for your answer. I started to panic a little bit when I had first noticed the color. But the tortoise seem to be doing really well and we have noticed some pink-red color also on the top of her shell.

 

[zovick]

Thank you so much for your answer. I started to panic a little bit when I had first noticed the color. But the tortoise seem to be doing really well and we have noticed some pink-red color also on the top of her shell.

That sounds good. Hopefully the tortoise will thrive in your care!