Shell Health Question

[margosha]

I am planning on adopting this little guy in a couple weeks and am wondering if his shell shows any reason for concern. I’ve just never seen scutes overlap like that. When I asked the breeder about them, he said it’s normal growth coming in. But of course I wanted to be thorough and confirm with the experts on here.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I think it looks like the scutes are lifting a bit, not sure what caused it. I will tag some other people to have a look @zovick @Tom @Markw84

 

[zovick]

I am planning on adopting this little guy in a couple weeks and am wondering if his shell shows any reason for concern. I’ve just never seen scutes overlap like that. When I asked the breeder about them, he said it’s normal growth coming in. But of course I wanted to be thorough and confirm with the experts on here.

The scutes are not normally separated and lifted around the borders the way this tortoise's scutes are. However, it appears that this has been a long-standing situation and it should not have any effect on the overall health of the tortoise.

I doubt that the person who has it presently is its breeder, but if he/she truly is the breeder, ask if it has been kept under a heat lamp for a lomg part of its life. That could account for the scute situation.

Once you get the tortoise, you can take some steps to hydrate the tortoise and to moisturize the shell which will improve its overall condition.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

The scutes are not normally separated and lifted around the borders the way this tortoise's scutes are. However, it appears that this has been a long-standing situation and it should not have any effect on the overall health of the tortoise.

I doubt that the person who has it presently is its breeder, but if he/she truly is the breeder, ask if it has been kept under a heat lamp for a lomg part of its life. That could account for the scute situation.

Once you get the tortoise, you can take some steps to hydrate the tortoise and to moisturize the shell which will improve its overall condition.

My own tortoise actually has something similar, but not so bad (or wide spread). I posted about it on a similar thread a while back. I would guess that it is due to being housed dry, under a infrared light

Here on post #9 https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/flaking-shell.221154/#post-2159287

Don't know if related, but he has a overall weird, asymmetrical scute pattern, post #7 https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/split-scutes.220771/#post-2156613

 

[margosha]

The scutes are not normally separated and lifted around the borders the way this tortoise's scutes are. However, it appears that this has been a long-standing situation and it should not have any effect on the overall health of the tortoise.

I doubt that the person who has it presently is its breeder, but if he/she truly is the breeder, ask if it has been kept under a heat lamp for a lomg part of its life. That could account for the scute situation.

Once you get the tortoise, you can take some steps to hydrate the tortoise and to moisturize the shell which will improve its overall condition.

Ok will do! So do you think this is just cosmetic? I’m just concerned about any underlying issues.

 

[margosha]

My own tortoise actually has something similar, but not so bad (or wide spread). I posted about it on a similar thread a while back. I would guess that it is due to being housed dry, under a infrared light

Here on post #9 https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/flaking-shell.221154/#post-2159287

Don't know if related, but he has a overall weird, asymmetrical scute pattern, post #7 https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/split-scutes.220771/#post-2156613

That is quite similar! Is this something that can be reversed at all?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

That is quite similar! Is this something that can be reversed at all?

I don't think so, but with proper hydration you can make his shell so much better. It looks really dry in the pictures.