Russian Shedding a lot

[JackAttack88]

Hi. I'm fairly new to this site and I'm not even sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but I really need help! I have a male Russian named Jack, and he's about 6 months (I believe so anyway). He's been shedding skin and I read that shedding in small amounts is normal, but he seems to be shedding a lot (though I'm not sure how much "a lot" is.) Is he shedding too much, and how do I help this problem?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to our Forum!

I'm fairly certain that Jack is much older than the 6 months you thought...that is, unless you bought him from a breeder. With the Federal regulation that says turtles and tortoises must be 4" minimum front to back, pet stores, etc. can't sell tortoises under 4". And a 4" russian tortoise is generally around 8 or 10 years of age.

The shedding you are seeing on the tortoise's neck is quite normal. If you give him a bit more moisture in the habitat it helps to stop it.

 

[JackAttack88]

Wow, that is much older. Either way, thank you for the information, I appreciate it

 

[Astall]

I just adopted a russian as well. He had very similar issues. We started soaking 4 times a week to help the dead skin fall off. He was very very dry. Starting to see improvement in just 2 weeks thus far.