Tortoise shell separating?

[COmtnLady]

I understand but the part I don’t get is how his shell separated like falling off the bone there wasn’t like a gap of time it was like from 1-2 days I suppose but it’s so odd can’t even find similar situations online.
I’ve only had him for a month and I don’t think he’s had bad care in my hands

Tortoises do everything VERY slowly. Yours could have been picked up roughly when it was a couple weeks old, or squashed between things at the breeders, or any of a myriad of other pinching that it is just now showing the damage. A month is no time at all. Some tortoises take that long or longer just to acclimate to a new enclosure.

Monitor it closely. It could be growth, could be damage. Try the suggested creams in post #5 above. At the worst they will do no harm, but if there is a bit of an infection or fungus, doing that will fix it.

It is important that your breeder have a good reputation just to be able to rule out problems from the baby's starting procedures. But, that is water under the bridge at this point.

A Vet won't be able to do anything, you need to be patient and see what manifests.



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[EppsDynasty]

Will you post a pic every time you think it has changed better or worse. Let this community help make sure there isn't anything going on. As said no vet will help but this community will @MaNaAk is right don't be put off keep posting post a pic sat or Sunday and let some fresh eyes see ..... then again in a few days or so.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

These are photos of his enclosure and temps /humidity without soaking it I usually soak it a bit with spray bottle and it stays at 75 humidity for 4 hours before dropping.
I feed him a tort seed mix of weeds and spring mix with the pellets usually add calcium powder every 3 days. he eats every other day while I change his food everyday.
I’m not sure what I did wrong and can’t find any similar info on what’s happening to this guy

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Some good advice above already, there are definitely changes I’d make to help your baby thriveI second the comment about the moss. I’d switch the halogen for a basking FLOOD bulb, the Arcadia brand do themI would also switch out those analog gauges for some digital ones.

Spraying simply won’t maintain the humidity you need for a baby tortoise, it just creates a temporary boost by getting the surface layer wet, it’ll cause temperature fluctuations too. It’s simply impossible to appropriately maintain the ambient humidity needed for a baby with an open top like this, these wooden tortoises houses aren’t efficient unless adaptations are made, even then the material doesn’t always hold up long.

Hopefully these links will be helpful

This covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc), correct levels, importance of a closed chamber for younger tortoises(only way to maintain the humidity you need), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, a diet list and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better! but I’ll add some more ideas below

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

This covers a bunch of different closed chamber options

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

This idea in particular might be useful to you


This one here is really good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Be warned, vets are often given out pretty outdated care information, so don’t be surprised if some of their advice contradicts the info here, always feel free to ask questions on things, that way you can make a completely informed decision on his care. Hope this all helps!

 

[MaNaAk]

@Cathie G has a Little Russian tortoise and she might be able to advise as well.

MaNaAk

 

[Markw84]

I understand but the part I don’t get is how his shell separated like falling off the bone there wasn’t like a gap of time it was like from 1-2 days I suppose but it’s so odd can’t even find similar situations online.
I’ve only had him for a month and I don’t think he’s had bad care in my hands

Please read again my post #7 in this thread. The shell is not separating. A growth seams is being created by the gowth of the underlying bone stretching the scutes apart (totally normal) However, in this case the gowth is almost entirely only along the costal/marginal seam. The gap you see is the the scutes separating, and the new keratin filling in. New keratin takes time to fill in, and as it does, if conditions are too dry or desiccating, the growth is forced more downward - making a valley that starts to form. This is exaggerated in your tortoise because the growth is only happening at the costal/marginal seams instead of distributed between the costal/marginal and the costal/vetebral seams.

Here is a picture for you of a hermann's tortoise that grew as I described. Note the vertebral scutes and the areas between the vertebrals and costals have not grown as much as the lower costals and border between the costals and marginals. Yours is beginning to do this. It does seem Testudo species are most susceptible to this, but have seen sulcatas with this growth pattern. It is a function of improper conditions. It always happens along with pyramiding (and some degree of MBD) and I believe it is from a poor starting diet and/or lack of D3 combined with a period of dry conditions when young that slows growth, then when growth is started again, the growth of the costals becomes the main growth area. Once started, it seems this condition is really hard to reverse.

The best you can do is provide optimum conditions. Although with best intentions you have done what you believe is best, it is unfortunately, not good conditions. Closed chamber, high humidity, warm temperatures is needed the first few years. Unfortunately, your enclosure can never work to provide these conditions.

 

[MaNaAk]

Please read again my post #7 in this thread. The shell is not separating. A growth seams is being created by the gowth of the underlying bone stretching the scutes apart (totally normal) However, in this case the gowth is almost entirely only along the costal/marginal seam. The gap you see is the the scutes separating, and the new keratin filling in. New keratin takes time to fill in, and as it does, if conditions are too dry or desiccating, the growth is forced more downward - making a valley that starts to form. This is exaggerated in your tortoise because the growth is only happening at the costal/marginal seams instead of distributed between the costal/marginal and the costal/vetebral seams.

Here is a picture for you of a hermann's tortoise that grew as I described. Note the vertebral scutes and the areas between the vertebrals and costals have not grown as much as the lower costals and border between the costals and marginals. Yours is beginning to do this. It does seem Testudo species are most susceptible to this, but have seen sulcatas with this growth pattern. It is a function of improper conditions. It always happens along with pyramiding (and some degree of MBD) and I believe it is from a poor starting diet and/or lack of D3 combined with a period of dry conditions when young that slows growth, then when growth is started again, the growth of the costals becomes the main growth area. Once started, it seems this condition is really hard to reverse.

The best you can do is provide optimum conditions. Although with best intentions you have done what you believe is best, it is unfortunately, not good conditions. Closed chamber, high humidity, warm temperatures is needed the first few years. Unfortunately, your enclosure can never work to provide these conditions.

View attachment 397831

I thought that was a growth line as well.

MaNaAk

 

[Cathie G]

Even though I have a Russian I don't know much about raising a baby one. So I wouldn't even try to offer advice. Sapphire was around 4 when I got him. I don't believe for one minute your care has caused what's happening though. It's happened too fast. Finding this site is a first best step to finding out how to help your little one. Welcome But Is there really open slits between the scutes? Or is there white substance forming? It could be just new growth. I really couldn't see with the pictures.

 

[MaNaAk]

I hope @Liltort777 comes back

 

[Cathie G]

Yes.