In what is a strange coincidence I have had a few worried people in the past several weeks contact me and ask about what they described as 'weird circles' or 'water marks' or even 'white squiggles' on the shells of their young tortoises. In one case I got photos showing these things pretty well.
Here are some examples...
They are most evident on the plastron but can ever appear on the larger legs scales...
But they come and go as the tortoise grows. In these next two photos taken a couple of weeks apart you can see that the rings have spread out and faded just in that short period of time. Eventually they fade away and blend into the shell...
So the question arises, what are they? Why do they appear? Here is my answer----I don't know. I would guess that it has something to do with layers of keratin (or other shell material) being laid down as the young tortoise is growing but that is just speculation on my part.
But I do know that I have seen these things come and go in many species of turtle and tortoise that I have raised over the years. It seems to be a quite natural, and most importantly, harmless part of the growing process.
Here are some examples...
They are most evident on the plastron but can ever appear on the larger legs scales...
But they come and go as the tortoise grows. In these next two photos taken a couple of weeks apart you can see that the rings have spread out and faded just in that short period of time. Eventually they fade away and blend into the shell...
So the question arises, what are they? Why do they appear? Here is my answer----I don't know. I would guess that it has something to do with layers of keratin (or other shell material) being laid down as the young tortoise is growing but that is just speculation on my part.
But I do know that I have seen these things come and go in many species of turtle and tortoise that I have raised over the years. It seems to be a quite natural, and most importantly, harmless part of the growing process.