Its been vets several times for blood poisoning antibiotics and was fine but the past week its came back more red than pink, i read it could be the substrate theyre being kept on or could be from letting them roam on the laminate flooring, im still new to owning torts and have done alot of research, i have 2 hermanns 2 yr old and 2 horsfield 1 yr old they all live in the same enclosure as the vet said it was fine if all are CB... already seen several posts on here about not mixing but also read how others have mixed without problems? Someone please shed a lil light please..
Pink/red shell under my hermanns?
- Thread starter AbboLoud
- Start date
The consensus on here that I’ve seen is mixing species is never a good idea. I would strongly recommend separating them anyways, since one has been sick.
If they have been treated for septicemia and you see a resurgence of red/pink discoloration, it only makes sense to assume the cause is septicemia. If the tortoise was otherwise healthy, tested negative for infections but has a slight pink color, perhaps it could be something else...but your tortoise has been septic, so that is likely the cause of the discoloration.
You may need to resume antibiotic treatment. They will not improve without being separated from the other tortoises.
If they have been treated for septicemia and you see a resurgence of red/pink discoloration, it only makes sense to assume the cause is septicemia. If the tortoise was otherwise healthy, tested negative for infections but has a slight pink color, perhaps it could be something else...but your tortoise has been septic, so that is likely the cause of the discoloration.
You may need to resume antibiotic treatment. They will not improve without being separated from the other tortoises.
Thank you for the reply, the vet said the tort was too young to undertake any blood tests not sure why.. im going to upload some pics in the morning of their habitat and a list of foods theyre given which i dont think is the cause as all 4 are eating drinking healthily, one of the horsfields has started having a runny nose i read this could be to do with its lungs so another vet trip for me.. i live in a cold country "uk"
Your tortoises absolutely do need to be seperated, and species should never be mixed.
Do you have any heat sources? A lot of times a red plastron is septicemia, which I believe is caused by the rotting of food in the intestine from lack of heat and not being able to digest it. I could be wrong, though.
They should never be roaming on the floor. It is way too cold, and so, so many bad things happen.
Do you have any heat sources? A lot of times a red plastron is septicemia, which I believe is caused by the rotting of food in the intestine from lack of heat and not being able to digest it. I could be wrong, though.
They should never be roaming on the floor. It is way too cold, and so, so many bad things happen.
Greetings... re: the runny nose. What kind of temps are you keeping your tortoises in? Pretty darn cold down on a laminate floor in the UK unless it’s crawling in and around your Aga 
. Check the temps...could be “part” of the issue at hand here.
You definitely should separate, CB or not, especially since there are some health issues.
Good luck!
. Check the temps...could be “part” of the issue at hand here.You definitely should separate, CB or not, especially since there are some health issues.
Good luck!
Greetings... re: the runny nose. What kind of temps are you keeping your tortoises in? Pretty darn cold down on a laminate floor in the UK unless it’s crawling in and around your Aga
You definitely should separate, CB or not, especially since there are some health issues.
Good luck!
They get let out for 2 hours once every couple of days so theyre not cooped up in their open table
The temp under the basking light is usually around 30-35 degrees Celsius and around 20 on the cool end, ive never checked how cold it gets during the night so in the morning im going to check the temperature.. it use to be around 23/25 but since i had horsfields i read they need more heat so i lowered the lamp more to make up 30/35 under banking light
The heat in basking area is 30/35 during the day time but im going to invest in a seperate habitat for the horsfields and keep both breeds seperate, they get 12 hours of heat daily and only get let out twice a week
Minority2
Well-Known Member
Your tortoises will start to bully, harass, bite, flip-over, and headbutt one another if your enclosure is not large enough to give each tortoise their own plot of space. This forum will generally recommend at an 8 x 4 ft enclosure for each single small species tortoise like the Hermann and Russian. While Hermanns are not as aggressive as Russians, they too can develop these urges if their living conditions, the area they deem as their own, are encroached upon by another tortoise. The bullied tortoises may become too depressed to eat and or come out of hiding.
