Uneven growth

[tortoise_man2]

My tortoise has developed some serious uneven growth in the past few days. Us there any ways to fix it?

 

[tortoise_man2]

If anyone could tell me how to even out her growth that would be great.

 

[abclements]

Are you talking about the smaller growth lines on the left vs the right? I've heard that rubbing olive oil on it for a couple days will really help.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi David:

This happens frequently. I don't really know why, but I doubt is should be something to worry about. If you'll notice, the over-all image of the silhouette of the tortoise stays looking like it is supposed to. It might be that you are feeding a little too much, but the tortoise doesn't look fat. So, ???

 

[tortoise_man2]

I really don't know what is happening, but i never feed her too much. She had been going through a sort of growth spurt lately though...

 

[tortoise_man2]

And thanks for the help, both of you.

 

[biochemnerd808]

My guess is that the other side will probably catch up in time. My male Roz came to me with a huge difference in the width of growth lines - more than 1/4 inch wider on one side.

I think a while back there was a similar thread, and someone suggested that the tortoise might have a favorite way to lie under the heat lamps, resulting in one side of the shell getting dried out more than the other. This would then affect how the shell grows. I don't think anything needs to be rubbed into this shell, since the scutes don't looks stuck. Just frequent soaking (2x per week for 20 mins) and daily misting the shell should do the trick.

 

[tortoise_man2]

Thank you!