Skin getting darker

[Ocothran]

Hi everyone I am a new sulcata owner and purchased him/her around a month ago. Unfortunately I’m afraid I am doing something very wrong because their skin is much much darker than when I got them I am very worried and would appreciate any information! I have him in a 20 gallon tank with a heat lamp and uvb bulb I have on about 10 hours of the day, keep his humidity no less than70% and am feeding him spring mix. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

 

[kellygirl64]

Hi everyone I am a new sulcata owner and purchased him/her around a month ago. Unfortunately I’m afraid I am doing something very wrong because their skin is much much darker than when I got them I am very worried and would appreciate any information! I have him in a 20 gallon tank with a heat lamp and uvb bulb I have on about 10 hours of the day, keep his humidity no less than70% and am feeding him spring mix. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Hi !! I'm a new owner too and I'd like to hear the responses. My tort has his lower mouth very dark and it looks weird. Your tort is very cute. Good luck with it !!

 

[wellington]

The substrate is probably turning his skin darker.
As for suggestions on care. 20 gallons is too small, he should be in a closed chamber with humidity at 80%, temps no lower then 80 with basking at 95-100 and uvb gets blocked by the screen.
Please look at the caresheets in the sulcata section and read the closed chamber thread.

 

[wellington]

Hi !! I'm a new owner too and I'd like to hear the responses. My tort has his lower mouth very dark and it looks weird. Your tort is very cute. Good luck with it !!

Discolored mouth is usually the food or due to him eating poop. Yes, they will eat their own poop and even poop of other animals.

 

[Ocothran]

Hi !! I'm a new owner too and I'd like to hear the responses. My tort has his lower mouth very dark and it looks weird. Your tort is very cute. Good luck with it !!

Thank you! I’m glad to hear im not the only one experiencing this lol

 

[kellygirl64]

Discolored mouth is usually the food or due to him eating poop. Yes, they will eat their own poop and even poop of other animals.

Hmmm, hard to click 'like' on that. I'm usually up on poop patrol unless he goes more than I'm aware of, is this 'safe' for him to do ? Thanks for telling me !!

 

[Ocothran]

Discolored mouth is usually the food or due to him eating poop. Yes, they will eat their own poop and even poop of other animals.

You don’t think it’s anything to be concerned with?

 

[kellygirl64]

Thank you! I’m glad to hear im not the only one experiencing this lol

My reply was not what I was expecting, but I had suspected yours was due to the colored ground.

 

[Ocothran]

The substrate is probably turning his skin darker.
As for suggestions on care. 20 gallons is too small, he should be in a closed chamber with humidity at 80%, temps no lower then 80 with basking at 95-100 and uvb gets blocked by the screen.
Please look at the caresheets in the sulcata section and read the closed chamber thread.

Should I switch him to something bigger right away? And would you recommend a different substrate?

 

[Ocothran]

My reply was not what I was expecting, but I had suspected yours was due to the colored ground.

I never would have thought of that. Do you know how that would turn the top of his head that dark if he’s just walking on it?

 

[kellygirl64]

I never would have thought of that. Do you know how that would turn the top of his head that dark if he’s just walking on it?

The folks here are really great at best advice and you should, if you can, read all the care sheets. The sheets are really full of great info, I am so glad they have them here. I suspect your tort tries to burrow or pushes around the ground cover n it rubs off on him. But that's just off the top of my head. You can pinch some of the stuff between your fingers n see if moving it around in your hand leaves any dust or discoloration. That might help you decide if that might be a part of it. Honestly, though, the care sheets and cage setups are tops, if you even just want to increase your knowledge. Best wishes.

 

[Ocothran]

The folks here are really great at best advice and you should, if you can, read all the care sheets. The sheets are really full of great info, I am so glad they have them here. I suspect your tort tries to burrow or pushes around the ground cover n it rubs off on him. But that's just off the top of my head. You can pinch some of the stuff between your fingers n see if moving it around in your hand leaves any dust or discoloration. That might help you decide if that might be a part of it. Honestly, though, the care sheets and cage setups are tops, if you even just want to increase your knowledge. Best wishes.

Thank you!!

 

[wellington]

Should I switch him to something bigger right away? And would you recommend a different substrate?

You don't have to change the substrate and yes, the head will change too is the substrate is changing the color.
you probably have some time to still use the 20, specially it looks to be a 20 long. But it won't last long.

 

[Coco Channell]

This really helped me. I was worried about ET s mouth being discolored Guess they have sensitive skin from dark coconut in bottom of his enclosure