Sulcata mom, very worried

[DesertMom]

Hello, my name is Michelle from Texas. I have a baby sulcata that will turn a year old beginning of November. I have been so obsessed over his care making sure his environment is perfect at all times. So when his neck started peeling, I started researching. I thought he was just shedding that skin but now I am afraid I have waited to long to take him to the vet. The skin on his legs has started coming off too now. I dropped him of at the vet this morning to get checked. I have no idea what I did wrong! I keep his pen with a temperature range from 80-100 with humidity around 70% in the pen and closer to 90% in his hide. His substrate is 50% coconut coir and 50% ecoearth bark. He has water at all times that gets changed daily as well as a cuttle bone. His good is changed daily. He always gets zoomed grassland tortoise diet in one food dish and fresh grass, weeds, prickly pear cactus, hibiscus leaves/flowers in another dish. Im just heart broken, and any advice would be welcome.

 

[Markw84]

I really cannot see what you are talking about. I do not see anything that looks wrong with the skin of the legs and neck. Are you talking about the different coloring? The skin is normally lighter and quite thinner on parts where it can be retracted and protected inside the shell. This is also the thin skin where Vitamin D3 synthesis takes place as good blood supplied cells are close to the surface and UVB is not blocked by thicker scales. Those areas are more obviously visible when the tortoise is shedding that part of it's skin.

Perhaps you can point out what it is that you are seeing and concerned about.

 

[DesertMom]

When i adopted him his legs and the skin leading into his shell by his neck had more of a brown scaly look. Over the last few weeks, it has turned into this lighter scaleless look. I was looking at my two adult sulcatas that i have also adopted and they have that brown scaly look over their skin. So I assumed because all of a sudden that brown scaly look was gone on my baby, something happened. I wish i had a clear photo of his legs before this happened so I could show the drastic change in color/texture. It never occured to me to take these types of photos.

 

[Markw84]

that skin looks normal to me. And the shell is growing nice and smooth with no pyramiding. Looks like all is well and you're doing a great job from what I see.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Mark here. Looks like maybe the portion of the skin that has been stained by the substrate is wearing away and being replenished.

I don't see any problem.

 

[Yvonne G]

Tortoise skin does peel a bit and shed as he grows. It's not uncommon to see little bits of skin peeling away. Just ignore it. Soaks help it to come off.

 

[DesertMom]

Thank yall so much! Ive been so worried! I got so use to how he looked that when that started to change i just knew i did something wrong. I feel better knowing this is normal!

 

[Gillian M]

Hi Michelle, and a very warm welcome to the forum!

Your tort looks well and simply gorgeous. GOD bless.

Do not worry, please. And just ask any question when in doubt.

 

[DesertMom]

Update: i just got my little guy back from the vet. He has a mild case of vitamin a overdose. The vet says he has seen much worse and he expects full recovery. He has given me an ointment to put on the areas of skin that have lost the chunky skin spots. We are trying to figure out where he is getting all the vitamin a because i never give him produce. He is also running a test on his stool to see if he has a parasite because for his age he is very small. It could be that gentically he is just a smaller tortoise so growth rate would be less or he could have a parasite that is hindering growth.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
He looks great to me.