My baby desert tortoise Tortimer is about to be a year old. His shell is getting better but it is pretty soft. Is this possibly shell rot? I've read up about it but I'm not sure. I've been giving him dandelion leaves, spinach, and grass. Help!
Tortoises shell is Soft?
- Thread starter kodyxs
- Start date
- Status
1st-Does he ever get outside into the real sunshine?
Do you have any artificial UV lighting for him while indoors?
2nd- What calcium rich foods do you feed?
Offer any cuttlebone or supplements?
At 1 yr the shell should not be soft.
My thoughts would be he doesn't get enough UV for his D3 needs which in turn affects calcium absorption which dominos to a soft shell.
Heather
Sent from my Android TFO app
Do you have any artificial UV lighting for him while indoors?
2nd- What calcium rich foods do you feed?
Offer any cuttlebone or supplements?
At 1 yr the shell should not be soft.
My thoughts would be he doesn't get enough UV for his D3 needs which in turn affects calcium absorption which dominos to a soft shell.
Heather
Sent from my Android TFO app
May we see a pic of his face and a side view of him?
He seems kind of flat, although i'm not familiar with desert species so maybe this is just how they are supposed to look. What do you mean by light and dark uvb? He needs a noncoil uvb light. Either the tube kind or an mvb lamp which provides heat and uvb. Get him outside as much as weather permits. Make sure to dust food 2 times a week with calcium supplement. Its very important. Also keep in mind regular bulbs do not have uvb in them they only provide heat
kodyxs said:
This is what is confusing. I have NEVER heard of a "night" UV bulb. I don't believe there is such a thing.
A night heat bulb, yes. But a night UV bulb??? This would be a new one to me.
Giving calcium to your tortoise wont do any good if they dont have adequate UV access (from the sun or a good artificial source) to make D3.
Could your UV bulbs be bad? How old are they?
Hi, and welcome!
Also, you might be feeding too much spinach. Spinach is one of those foods that is good for you, but also binds calcium to it and the calcium is worked through the system and out. So your tortoise might not be getting the calcium it needs to make the shell hard.
A soft shell has nothing to do with shell rot, but rather, has to do with calcium and vitamin d3.
Also, you might be feeding too much spinach. Spinach is one of those foods that is good for you, but also binds calcium to it and the calcium is worked through the system and out. So your tortoise might not be getting the calcium it needs to make the shell hard.
A soft shell has nothing to do with shell rot, but rather, has to do with calcium and vitamin d3.
Tortimer is very cute! I agree with the good advice above: add calcium to the routine, get him outside often and vary up the diet. You may want to add some cactus pads, which are a good source of calcium. What part of the world do you live in? Do you have outdoor space to grow things yourself? If so, you might consider planting a weed mix, grape vines, mulberry, hibiscus.
thanks for the advice.- Status
