shell growth

[lawlessangel76]

hi everyone,my male sulcata is 9 and his shell doesn't cover his tail,on google it says that should happen between 3-4 years old,yes he's pyramided,but my brother took had him for the first 2 years and didn't do a very good job,now I'm starting to worry,is something wrong with him,he hasn't been weighed by a vet but my husband says he's about 30-35 lbs,that seems very light for a 9 year old,he has a huge yard of grass & weeds and he gets hibiscus,he's not a big fan of water,so I have to squirt him with the hose everyday,of course he walks away and when I put him in his pool,he walks out within 5 minutes,is that why his shell hasn't grown over his tail,plz don't beat up on me,I already get that from sulcata groups on Facebook and I'm already trying to fix my brother's mistakes,here are some pics

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

We don't beat people up here, that is not the way to go to improve a life of an tortoise. I think it is possible that in this case, his care earlier in his life has caused stunted growth.

I am going to tag some sulcata people, @wellington @Tom @Maggie3fan

 

[lawlessangel76]

We don't beat people up here, that is not the way to go to improve a life of an tortoise. I think it is possible that in this case, his care earlier in his life has caused stunted growth.

I am going to tag some sulcata people, @wellington @Tom @Maggie3fan

thank you for your kind words🐢

 

[wellington]

I really don't have a definite answer. My best guess would be the care he had by your brother. I don't think it's a big deal, I can't think of any reason it would be a problem. It looks like the very last top scutes, at the back is very small. That may have a connection to the tail scute not being longer.
He does seem light for his age, but not in that bad of shape for his past care, compared to many others we have seen.
Don't listen to those other groups,they don't have a clue about the proper way to raise a tortoise. Most of those groups promote the old, outdated, wrong way.
See what the others say and @Yvonne G or @Markw84
Welcome to the forum.

 

[Markw84]

Welcome to the forum!

First of all, it looks to me that your tortoise is female. Hard to be sure from the pictures you did post, but certainly looks female. A picture from the front - showing gulars, and bottom, showing anal scutes, and of hte tail would confirm. But if indeed your tortoise is around 30 lbs and 9 years old, it must be female from what I do see. Anals, tail and supracaudal all say female from the pictures here. That will account for some of the smaller size question.

The gap covering the rear is larger than normal. Being female is some of that. Most of that is from the way it was raised. There appears to be some metabolic bone disease it had dealt with. The sunken look around the 4th vertebral and 4th costals is from pressure of the rear leg/hip attachements pulling down on the shell structure that is too weak to maintain proper shape if the bone is too weak. This also then often leads to the shrunken look of the 4th vertebral and surrounding area not growing and expanding as fast as other areas.

Your tortoise does look like it is walking normally. So although a bit deformed from past care, it looks like it probably is doing well now. With the proper care you are now giving it should be fine and live a normal life from here on. Just be sure to continue to now provide ample access to sunshine and good diet with ample calcium and mineral balance. Opuntia pads, mulberry leaves, cuttlebone/calcium powder, Mazuri diet a few times a week, etc, etc.

 

[Tom]

hi everyone,my male sulcata is 9 and his shell doesn't cover his tail,on google it says that should happen between 3-4 years old,yes he's pyramided,but my brother took had him for the first 2 years and didn't do a very good job,now I'm starting to worry,is something wrong with him,he hasn't been weighed by a vet but my husband says he's about 30-35 lbs,that seems very light for a 9 year old,he has a huge yard of grass & weeds and he gets hibiscus,he's not a big fan of water,so I have to squirt him with the hoView attachment 377271View attachment 377272se everyday,of course he walks away and when I put him in his pool,he walks out within 5 minutes,is that why his shell hasn't grown over his tail,plz don't beat up on me,I already get that from sulcata groups on Facebook and I'm already trying to fix my brother's mistakes,here are some pics

FB is a terrible place to go for tortoise info. I've heard nothing but bad about it, so I'm glad you found your way here.

I agree with Mark about the MBD, but not about the sex. The tail off to the side in the one pic sure looks like a big male tail to me.

MDB comes from poor diet, lack of UV, lack of calcium or lack of D3. If the tortoise was housed indoors, fed lettuce, and not given enough UV or calcium, it would cause something like this. Now that he is outdoors getting sunshine and eating weeds and grasses, the damage has been stopped. The tortoise is probably healthy and fine now, and should live a long healthy life in spite of the cosmetic damage.

 

[lawlessangel76]

here are some better pics of his plastron & tail,anal scutes,gular,the long tail held to the side and the "V" shaped opening screams male,but flat plastron,gular scream girl..I'm so confused

 

[lawlessangel76]

FB is a terrible place to go for tortoise info. I've heard nothing but bad about it, so I'm glad you found your way here.

I agree with Mark about the MBD, but not about the sex. The tail off to the side in the one pic sure looks like a big male tail to me.

MDB comes from poor diet, lack of UV, lack of calcium or lack of D3. If the tortoise was housed indoors, fed lettuce, and not given enough UV or calcium, it would cause something like this. Now that he is outdoors getting sunshine and eating weeds and grasses, the damage has been stopped. The tortoise is probably healthy and fine now, and should live a long healthy life in spite of the cosmetic damage.

yes he was kept inside for the 1st 2 years,my brother thought he was cool looking and bought him,like most 20 year olds,he chose to go out and party and not really pay attention to newyear,I only had turtles at the time,no torts,but when I baby sat for him,he never mentioned him soaking and I only saw 1 light,I'm guessing a heat light,newyear was always clean,I never saw poop laying around the tote,water was clean & full,he kept newyear on repti-bark,I've learned a lot about tortoises and I was always told to use coco coir & organic soil mixed together as their substrate,my brother isn't bad,his priorities were just screwed up,anyways newyear gets cactus pads,grass,weeds,hibiscus,he has cuttlebones all over the yard,we don't have any dandelions or clover in our yard,but I do buy dandelion greens from whole foods market,he can't stand mazuri,everytime he walks up and sees it on his slate,he turns right back around..there could be strawberries & watermelon mixed in,he don't care..won't touch it! same with hay and I have tried every little trick,cut it,soak it,mix with fruit,mix with greens,that was another thing he fed newyear romaine,bell peppers,mustard & turnip greens,kale,collards..i do to,but once a week,not every day,I don't have access to mullberry leaves,that's another thing,I guess since he never soaked him,he doesn't really like water and he has water dishes everywhere,but I never see him drink,he will stay out in the rain,of course I don't let him stay in it if it's cold outside,but he will not soak in his pool,I've made him mud baths..NOTHING! but during the cooler months he will soak in the bathtub for about an hour,he stays in the house so it's easy since he's not that heavy and he loves the temp of the water to be about 103° so maybe he doesn't hate water🤷‍♀️,so I have some other pics of his plastron,gular,tail and the tail and "V" opening scream guy,but the gular and flat plastron scream girl🙄🙄🙄