Shell deformity

[knighterson]

Pickles has a small area on one of his scutes that there is some kind of obvious problem going on. He had it when I bought him, and at the time I wasn't 'tort educated' enough to identify it as a potential problem. The area is hard to the touch, but looks flaky. He's 9 months now, you can see he had started to pyramid when we got him, but has been kept in 70-80% humidity for TDS last 7 months or so. After following the guidelines found on the forum religiously for the last 7 months, I think I have been doing everything possible to ensure he is being kept in good conditions. I'm also attaching some pics of the 4x8x26" enclosure I built a couple of weeks ago. Any ideas on his shell, comments on enclosure?

 

[Dizisdalife]

I have no idea what to do about the shell problem. He otherwise looks really good. The enclosure looks fantastic. You seem to have some building skills. I hope somebody will come along with some insight into this shell problem.

 

[Tom]

You occasionally see little problem like that with the shell. I don't have an answer either, but my guess would be some sort of mechanical injury in his past. The location on the shell is a clue. If it were over heating or excessive dryness from heat lamps it would be on the top, not the side. Seems like he might have been chewed by a dog, or possibly hit by a door while walking on the floor. Just guessing here.Throwing out some possibilities. In any case it doesn't appear to be a big deal or something that will cause a problem long term.

In your pic of the enclosure, is that a water bowl in the middle? The gray faux rock rectangular thing? Those scare me. THey can tip over in them and they are just awkward for a small tortoise. I prefer the terra cotta plant saucers sunk into the substrate for water. Looks like a great enclosure though.

 

[JoesMum]

It looks like old shell damage to me. Maybe he was dropped or fell off something? If it's hard and it's not sore, it's nothing to worry about. In time the flakes will rub off naturally.

 

[knighterson]

Thanks for the replies. Here's a pic from the day I got him, if anything it appears to me that the flakiness is better now than it was then. I meant to ask awhile ago, just wanted your opinions, thanks.

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And Tom, thanks for the water bowl advice. I initially bought it because it wasn't very deep and it's a walk-in type, but never thought about tipping. He's bigger and heavier now, so I really should change that out.

 

[JoesMum]

He was and still is one cute little guy