It’s definitely too late to put your tortoise into brumation, and it seems that you have a male from the tail length. However, a plastron picture could help us tell for sureI am so glad that I found this forum, and SO GLAD that I found this thread! My new (rescued) tortoise has this exact thing going on with his/her shell. (I am not sure if he/she is male or female yet, so forgive the waffling, please.) At least I can stop stressing about that...and continue with my search for information on possibly letting her/him hibernate before Spring returns to New Hampshire! Thank you!View attachment 285358
Another NH Tortoise Keeper!I am so glad that I found this forum, and SO GLAD that I found this thread! My new (rescued) tortoise has this exact thing going on with his/her shell. (I am not sure if he/she is male or female yet, so forgive the waffling, please.) At least I can stop stressing about that...and continue with my search for information on possibly letting her/him hibernate before Spring returns to New Hampshire! Thank you!View attachment 285358
Hi and welcome!I am so glad that I found this forum, and SO GLAD that I found this thread! My new (rescued) tortoise has this exact thing going on with his/her shell. (I am not sure if he/she is male or female yet, so forgive the waffling, please.) At least I can stop stressing about that...and continue with my search for information on possibly letting her/him hibernate before Spring returns to New Hampshire! Thank you!View attachment 285358
Wow! Some thought provoking stuff there! I am in the same position...mine came from an original owner who was, almost, being willfully ignorant. I don't know if she/he is is super healthy...probably not! OK! Hibernating is off the table this year. I will slowly bring the lights back up, and get back to feeding more. Maybe I just dodged a bullet...
We sure do get attached to these little ones. So sorry for for you and your sweet tort. Thank you for sharing this with us.