Question about my Russian Tortoise’s shell

[Farkus618]

Hello, I am new to this forum and had a question about my Russian Tortoise’s shell. He is a 2 year old captive bred Russian Tortoise (we are uncertain of his exact age (between 18-24 months is what we were promised)). He appears to have some scuffs and looks like it’s dry in the ridges of his scutes. He was like this when we got him about a week ago. We just wanted to know if this is normal or any tips to smooth out his shell?

 

[method89]

Unfortunately he looks older than 2 and doesn't look CB he definitely looks wild

 

[Farkus618]

Unfortunately he looks older than 2 and doesn't look CB he definitely looks wild

Really? Yeah we got him from tortoise town and we’re now reading here how horrible they are. We are very scared now about the well being of our little guy. Is anything we can do for him? Or different steps on taking care of him? We’re hoping that if he’s older now that he may have a chance of not being ill

 

[ZenHerper]

Tortoises are very territorial. They are very attached to where they ended up as hatchlings and find moving very stressful.

Tortoises are not social animals -- they do not like to "play" or cuddle.

Wild caught animals suffer greatly from being over-handled, carried & passed around, shown off to friends, and fussed with. Make sure the enclosure is the best, most natural environment you can create; feed a wide variety of appropriate foods; soak daily in lukewarm water; let them rest and get used to things.

Wander over to the Russian subforum for some more in depth reading:

Russian tortoises

www.tortoiseforum.org

Come back here with any follow up questions or to get feedback about your set up.

Welcome!