Red marks on shell

[popopop]

I discovered these red marks underneath my tortoises’ shell. What could this be? Is it normal or should I be concerned

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

This doesn’t look normal no, whilst a pink hue can be a sign of newer growth taking place, these dark bruised looking areas could be a sign of something more concerning like sepsis. Has he had a fall or anything recently?
If we could get some housing info from you that’d be great, not all these are relevant but the more info we have on his over all care the better, hopefully we can figure out what might be going on

Is he kept indoors or outdoors?

If indoors..
What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have measuring temp&humidity?
What’s his diet been like with you?

A photo of the full set up(s) would be wonderful! Welcome to the forum, sorry it’s under these circumstances

 

[popopop]

This doesn’t look normal no, whilst a pink hue can be a sign of newer growth taking place, these dark bruised looking areas could be a sign of something more concerning like sepsis. Has he had a fall or anything recently?
If we could get some housing info from you that’d be great, not all these are relevant but the more info we have on his over all care the better, hopefully we can figure out what might be going on

Is he kept indoors or outdoors?

If indoors..
What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have measuring temp&humidity?
What’s his diet been like with you?

A photo of the full set up(s) would be wonderful! Welcome to the forum, sorry it’s under these circumstances

Hello, thank you for replying.

She is kept indoors but has no enclosure, she walks around my room. I have specific temp to give you but my room is kept warm bcs i dont use ac most of the time and i live where the climate is hot. She has a water bowl on standby and she mostly eats bok choy, lettuce, carrots, cucumber, herbs, and occasionally fruits that tortoises are allowed to eat. She hasn’t fallen recently but sometimes i put her on the couch living room where she occasionally falls but it has never seemed to be an issue.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello, thank you for replying.

She is kept indoors but has no enclosure, she walks around my room. I have specific temp to give you but my room is kept warm bcs i dont use ac most of the time and i live where the climate is hot. She has a water bowl on standby and she mostly eats bok choy, lettuce, carrots, cucumber, herbs, and occasionally fruits that tortoises are allowed to eat. She hasn’t fallen recently but sometimes i put her on the couch living room where she occasionally falls but it has never seemed to be an issue.

Please don’t take any of what I’m about to say as offensive, I promise I just want the best for you and your tortoise

I’m afraid to tell you that keeping her this way is inevitably going to cause health problems one way or another, the floors of our home are not appropriate living conditions for tortoises, they aren’t domesticated animals, they’re captive reptiles that can only thrive in an environment that best mimics their own. The floors of our homes is much too cool regardless of climate, heat rises, there’s no way for her to access an appropriate basking temperature, which can then interfere with digestion. There’s so many potential hazards and the floor makes for very stressful living conditions.
If wanting to keep her indoors, she really needs an appropriate indoor set up. It sounds nice you have a good climate for an outdoor enclosure, in the height of your summer, she’d need A LOT of access to areas of deep shade.
A bit of grated carrot is ok as a treat, cucumber doesn’t have any nutritional value, it’s good as an occasional hydration boost. I wouldn’t feed her fruit, but if you’re going to, ones lower in sugar on rare occasion.

A drop from the couch is enough to cause some kind of internal injury, it only takes one hard fallhow has she been acting? Lethargic or usual self? Is she eating normally? Pooping normal?

I can provide you some links that covers indoor and outdoor set ups, and a food link for diet improvements.

In terms of immediate care, do you have access to a good reptile vet? If this doesn’t go away or worsens, she’s going to need investigation

 

[popopop]

Please don’t take any of what I’m about to say as offensive, I promise I just want the best for you and your tortoise

I’m afraid to tell you that keeping her this way is inevitably going to cause health problems one way or another, the floors of our home are not appropriate living conditions for tortoises, they aren’t domesticated animals, they’re captive reptiles that can only thrive in an environment that best mimics their own. The floors of our homes is much too cool regardless of climate, heat rises, there’s no way for her to access an appropriate basking temperature, which can then interfere with digestion. There’s so many potential hazards and the floor makes for very stressful living conditions.
If wanting to keep her indoors, she really needs an appropriate indoor set up. It sounds nice you have a good climate for an outdoor enclosure, in the height of your summer, she’d need A LOT of access to areas of deep shade.
A bit of grated carrot is ok as a treat, cucumber doesn’t have any nutritional value, it’s good as an occasional hydration boost. I wouldn’t feed her fruit, but if you’re going to, ones lower in sugar on rare occasion.

A drop from the couch is enough to cause some kind of internal injury, it only takes one hard fallhow has she been acting? Lethargic or usual self? Is she eating normally? Pooping normal?

I can provide you some links that covers indoor and outdoor set ups, and a food link for diet improvements.

In terms of immediate care, do you have access to a good reptile vet? If this doesn’t go away or worsens, she’s going to need investigation

Thank you for the honest advice. We have an appointment tomorrow for a checkup with a reptile vet, so we are just waiting on that. For her enclosure I plan on buying materials for it such as substrate and a good lamp tomorrow after the appointment. I am prioritizing both as we now have an enclosure available.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you for the honest advice. We have an appointment tomorrow for a checkup with a reptile vet, so we are just waiting on that. For her enclosure I plan on buying materials for it such as substrate and a good lamp tomorrow after the appointment. I am prioritizing both as we now have an enclosure available.

That’s great, just be aware very few vets know up to date housing information, so don’t be surprised if some things they advise contradicts here, I’d post about it here for members to look at.
Don’t let them medicate without further tests and weighing, avoid vitamin injections.

Hopefully you’ll find these really helpful to go over

A great one for new comers

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Toms care guide

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? 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. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

I know this days Herman’s and Russians, but information still applies for a Greek. It covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, I’d double check bulb types), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but still sizeable, the bigger the better, no more free roaming), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, go as big as possible

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one here is important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

I hope they help! Please feel free to ask any further questions, I know it’s a lot to go over, but we can break things down and help step by step

 

[COmtnLady]

@zovick

 

[popopop]

That’s great, just be aware very few vets know up to date housing information, so don’t be surprised if some things they advise contradicts here, I’d post about it here for members to look at.
Don’t let them medicate without further tests and weighing, avoid vitamin injections.

Hopefully you’ll find these really helpful to go over

A great one for new comers

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Toms care guide

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? 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. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

I know this days Herman’s and Russians, but information still applies for a Greek. It covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, I’d double check bulb types), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but still sizeable, the bigger the better, no more free roaming), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, go as big as possible

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one here is important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

I hope they help! Please feel free to ask any further questions, I know it’s a lot to go over, but we can break things down and help step by step

Thank you! The vet said it could be hemorrhages from falling and prescribed pain medication to be taken for 3 days. I asked if it could be sepsis and he said that we aren’t sure yet and to take the meds and see if she gets better. If not, i’ll be sure to take her back to the vet. We are buying things for her enclosure later so thank you for all the help!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you! The vet said it could be hemorrhages from falling and prescribed pain medication to be taken for 3 days. I asked if it could be sepsis and he said that we aren’t sure yet and to take the meds and see if she gets better. If not, i’ll be sure to take her back to the vet. We are buying things for her enclosure later so thank you for all the help!

She’ll be in my thoughts, really hope she’s ok, thanks for the update

 

[zovick]

@zovick

Looks like the situation is under control at the moment. There is not much I can add.