Question, Is this normal or should I worry?

[tiffy123]

Hi guys! New tortoise mum here. I've been noticing these weird white marks on Waves' shell. I've had her since April 28, 2020 and I've just noticed it this week. Are these normal? Water spots or should I worry? I hope you guys can help me, it's been bugging me ever since I noticed it. Not soft or smelly. It seems cosmetic but I wanted to be sure.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings. Welcome to the Forum. There are lots of previous posts with this very same question, and yes, those are normal. I believe the consensus is thst no one really knows what causes these, but all such squiggly lines like urs are “normal”.

Since you just joined up, make sure u read all this ino too.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Other info on squiggly lines:

Search results for query: squiggly lines

tortoiseforum.org

 

[tiffy123]

Oh thank you! I've read them, I've been a long time lurker even before I got Waves because my previous email wouldn't work when I tried to register. Fortunately, this one worked=) I saw the previous posts about white spots and other discolouration but it was still bugging me so I decided to ask too. Anyway, thank you so much for answering and helping out newbies like me. I can't wait to read and learn more from you guys.

 

[tiffy123]

Sorry, second post and it's another question. I'm really worried about her and I'm a new tortoise mum. I think I left her outdoors in her soaking tub too long yesterday. She's not lethargic and she's eating normally. The only thing is she won't let me pet her head which leads me to believe she might have gotten sunburnt. I've read here that it's not possible as discussed in other threads. But it's weirdly brown. And her hind legs foot pads are also brown... so I was thinking 1.) sunburn 2.) stain from her enclosure and reptibark.
I'm hoping for some insight and help. Here's a photo of her soaking, sorry I just used a camera phone.

 

[turtlebean]

Aw cute what a little one, I hope she is okay! Do you have any pictures of her head before this that we can compare it too? Also does she normally let you pet her head?

 

[tiffy123]

She used to let me pet it a little bit.. this was her a few days ago. I’m hoping it’s just from reptibark.

 

[Yvonne G]

There's probably nothing to worry about. I've gone off and forgotten soaking tortoises several time in my tortoise-keeping life and nothing bad ever came of it.

 

[tiffy123]

I’m starting to think it is just the reptibark because my fingers were sort of brown too after cleaning her place. whew.. thanks guys!