Shell colour
- Thread starter B.griff
- Start date
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Is it just in that spot or does it go the whole way round? Is it something that’s only appeared recently?
Also do you house your two tortoises together?
Don’t suppose you’d mind sharing a photo of your enclosure(s)?
Hello sorry its taken me so long to reply back to you, thankyou for tour msg. The colour goes all the way round, to be honest me and my son who deals with them most never noticed it only my husband. They are eating, moving & drinking etc. Yes they have the run of the house together & they have a hutch with a light for warmth.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
No worries thanks for getting back, I’m inclined to say by your description that it’s just his colouring, do they both have it? Obviously still keep an eye, make sure it’s not darkening/spreading, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.
Few things I want to give you a heads up on though to avoid further issues, they really shouldn’t be allowed to free roam the home, obvious hazards aside, the stress of living on indoor floors can really take its toll on them over time, they aren’t domesticated like dogs or cats, they’re captive, therefore thrive in a place that best mimics their natural environment, we’ve had countless members who have let their tortoises free roam, resulting in some pretty dire situations
it’s hard to pick up on a stressed tortoise sometimes, but being somewhere unnatural really does cause them nothing but stress over time. With that out the way, I do also want to warn that tortoise of any species should NEVER be housed in pairs under any circumstances, they’re incredibly territorial, behaviours that look cute to us really aren’t, following one another and sleeping huddled up is all bullying the the tortoise world, you’ll eventually see more extreme signs of aggression. Anyone who tells you pairs are fine, have no idea what they’re talking about.
Small groups are ok when there’s lots of land and the correct male to female ratio. Pair dynamics just don’t work for tortoises, it’s not natural for them, and they don’t have the reasoning to understand the other tortoise isn’t a rival. One can actually stunt the other
Again I hope you don’t mind my saying all this, we’ve just seen this situation play out many times unfortunately, sometimes it can be years till something goes wrong.
Separate secure enclosures would be the goal here, I think you’ll hopefully find this thread I made below useful for the indoor side of things, I know it says Russians and hermans but care is quite similar. I cover correct equipment(lighting&heating, including the correct uv), levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a 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 one is also really good to familiarise with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I also encourage double checking any new purchase on the forum
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
Would be great if you give them a read and let me know what you think! Always happy to answer any further questions
