VitaShell

[Tom]

You know, schmutz. Sploochy stuff. Product. Schmere. Etc...

Its stuff you slather on.

 

[Fernando]

Schmere...that's the stuff they put on bagels right?

 

[HLogic]

Schmear is special-purpose schmutz...

 

[Isa]

I'm lost what's Schmutz?

I was wondering the same thing lol.

 

[Sky2Mina]

Schmutz is german for dirt.
I'm wondering if it's the name of a product to keep the shell clean/healthy?
If so, the product company... failed.

Good luck with the experiment. Always interesting to see the results, even though I don't keep sulcata (and won't for a long long time).

Mina

 

[yagyujubei]

Also yiddish for dirt "oy veh, look at the schmutz on your face"

 

[Balboa]

Good job Tom, I'm interested as well.

Neal convinced me to go ahead and try vitashell. I don't apply it on a regular basis, just once in a while if the shells are looking especially dry.

I've done some thinking on the subject...

With living tissue ON HUMANS we can actually over dry it by applying water. "licking chapped lips", frequent rinsing drying out our hands, etc..

could there be a point where frequent misting actually harms the carapace more than helps? say if the air was so dry that in minutes after misting the carapace was totally dried out again?

vitashell is basically moisturizer, it should help to "replenish" the oils in dead tissues on toirtoises same as humans. Chances are it won't really help much in a "properly" humidified environment (whatever we EVER decide that to be), but may be helpful for those that struggle in that area.

 

[drift2sea]

It is helping me right now with me dropping the humidity to help kill off the shell rot.She is getting not dried out but ill say i little parched in some skin areas.it does help to keep her smooth.

 

[Tom]

could there be a point where frequent misting actually harms the carapace more than helps? say if the air was so dry that in minutes after misting the carapace was totally dried out again?

Good points as usual Balboa. The above quote describes my situation exactly. They are bone dry literally within minutes of me spraying them.

The Vita shell seems to be working fantastically so far. I'll get some pics up ASAP.

 

[Tom]

So after nearly a month, all is going very well. These three are in the same partially covered 40 gallon that last years EOP babies started out in. They hatched at 34-35 grams and are now 51 grams on the one that gets no VitaShell, 55 on the one that gets VitaShell AND water spraying, and 56 on the big fatty that gets VitaShell and NO spraying. At this point I don't think the weights have any relevance. They all grow at different rates. I just note them for fun and to show that they are all gaining weight and growing. They all get daily soaks and an hour or two of sunshine around 5 days a week. They are all dry in these pics. An interesting note is that when I rub their VitaShell on every Sunday, it really fills in the crevices between the scutes. It mostly absorbs within an hour or two and then their shells just feel normal even though they look more "moisturized".

 

[jackrat]

Their shells couldn't look any better,Tom.

 

[drift2sea]

I seen someone replied that the product after a while cakes up and can be scratched off.I clean my torts shell with a soft tooth brush every morning soak.So I'm kind of stripping the old coat off and putting a fresh one as not to create a layer buildup.It's also the amount applied I might add.It doesn't take much to get the job done.I use a qtip to put it on.it does a great his getting in all the fine detail of the carrapace.I wipe off the access Vitashell if any,I usually don't .Then I use a clean qtip to do a last touch up.I finally got the shell back to an excellent healthy glow,She was in poor shape when I got her.I'm laying off the applications it fixed the problem.It says it lasts a week.I want to see the longevity of the product.

 

[evlinLoutries]

So, what's the conclusion Tom?

I just read from the first page, and still makes me a 'lil bit confused..

And, do u ever been applied another oil to ur torts? Such as olive oil or virgin coconut oil maybe?

 

[Tom]

So, what's the conclusion Tom?

I just read from the first page, and still makes me a 'lil bit confused..

And, do u ever been applied another oil to ur torts? Such as olive oil or virgin coconut oil maybe?

We won't have a conclusion for years. I would want to see how they turn out as adults. I would say that after a few months we should have a pretty good idea, though. So far they are growing steadily and smoothly. All appears good.

I have never put anything other than plain water on a tortoises shell prior to this, and even that, I've only been doing for a year or so.

Tell me what you are confused about... I'm happy to try to clarify any of the details.

 

[evlinLoutries]

So, what's the conclusion Tom?

I just read from the first page, and still makes me a 'lil bit confused..

And, do u ever been applied another oil to ur torts? Such as olive oil or virgin coconut oil maybe?

We won't have a conclusion for years. I would want to see how they turn out as adults. I would say that after a few months we should have a pretty good idea, though. So far they are growing steadily and smoothly. All appears good.

I have never put anything other than plain water on a tortoises shell prior to this, and even that, I've only been doing for a year or so.

Tell me what you are confused about... I'm happy to try to clarify any of the details.

so here's the thing, I never use any kind of oil before, and after read some article they say using vita shell will make torts shell grow smoothly..

And in other way, some torts seller tell me to use VCO (virgin coconut oil) because its cheaper then vitashell..

That's the thing,

PS : without using that kind of thing, I have no prob growing my torts, and having no pyramid prob..

Thanks Tom..

Devin,,

 

[Tom]

So, what's the conclusion Tom?

I just read from the first page, and still makes me a 'lil bit confused..

And, do u ever been applied another oil to ur torts? Such as olive oil or virgin coconut oil maybe?

We won't have a conclusion for years. I would want to see how they turn out as adults. I would say that after a few months we should have a pretty good idea, though. So far they are growing steadily and smoothly. All appears good.

I have never put anything other than plain water on a tortoises shell prior to this, and even that, I've only been doing for a year or so.

Tell me what you are confused about... I'm happy to try to clarify any of the details.

so here's the thing, I never use any kind of oil before, and after read some article they say using vita shell will make torts shell grow smoothly..

And in other way, some torts seller tell me to use VCO (virgin coconut oil) because its cheaper then vitashell..

That's the thing,

PS : without using that kind of thing, I have no prob growing my torts, and having no pyramid prob..

Thanks Tom..

Devin,,

I understand what you are saying. You are right, they CAN be raised smoothly with out any "stuff" on their shells. I did it last year. Richard Fife has been doing it for several years, and many forum members have had great success at it too. I don't want to leave anyone out, but Neal, KBaker, Christy P., Vinnie, Livingstone, tczar and MANY OTHERS have some really smooth leopards and sulcatas now. Its quite a feat to pull off here in the US. Our climates here require that we make a lot of adjustments and compensations every year. Some people have frozen winters and all that heating dries out the air. Other's like me, live in desert areas, and its dry ALL the time. Still others live in cold, clammy, rainy areas and they have their own set of problems to deal with. Figuring out pyramiding, and eliminating it, is one thing that many of us on the forum are trying to accomplish. We all want to know the best way to raise our animals. We all want to give them the best possible care. Well for two decades or so, most of the "experts" have failed us. Most of the books that have been written just promote the same wrong information. We have now taken matters into our own hands and most of us are having great success. If anyone is not having great success, they aren't talking about it much.

This experiment is really just to see what the product does in a "conventional" set up with some hatchling tortoises. I've never used ANY product on a tortoises shell prior to this, so I can't comment on coconut oil or any other type.

 

[evlinLoutries]

So, what's the conclusion Tom?

I just read from the first page, and still makes me a 'lil bit confused..

And, do u ever been applied another oil to ur torts? Such as olive oil or virgin coconut oil maybe?

We won't have a conclusion for years. I would want to see how they turn out as adults. I would say that after a few months we should have a pretty good idea, though. So far they are growing steadily and smoothly. All appears good.

I have never put anything other than plain water on a tortoises shell prior to this, and even that, I've only been doing for a year or so.

Tell me what you are confused about... I'm happy to try to clarify any of the details.

so here's the thing, I never use any kind of oil before, and after read some article they say using vita shell will make torts shell grow smoothly..

And in other way, some torts seller tell me to use VCO (virgin coconut oil) because its cheaper then vitashell..

That's the thing,

PS : without using that kind of thing, I have no prob growing my torts, and having no pyramid prob..

Thanks Tom..

Devin,,

I understand what you are saying. You are right, they CAN be raised smoothly with out any "stuff" on their shells. I did it last year. Richard Fife has been doing it for several years, and many forum members have had great success at it too. I don't want to leave anyone out, but Neal, KBaker, Christy P., Vinnie, Livingstone, tczar and MANY OTHERS have some really smooth leopards and sulcatas now. Its quite a feat to pull off here in the US. Our climates here require that we make a lot of adjustments and compensations every year. Some people have frozen winters and all that heating dries out the air. Other's like me, live in desert areas, and its dry ALL the time. Still others live in cold, clammy, rainy areas and they have their own set of problems to deal with. Figuring out pyramiding, and eliminating it, is one thing that many of us on the forum are trying to accomplish. We all want to know the best way to raise our animals. We all want to give them the best possible care. Well for two decades or so, most of the "experts" have failed us. Most of the books that have been written just promote the same wrong information. We have now taken matters into our own hands and most of us are having great success. If anyone is not having great success, they aren't talking about it much.

This experiment is really just to see what the product does in a "conventional" set up with some hatchling tortoises. I've never used ANY product on a tortoises shell prior to this, so I can't comment on coconut oil or any other type.

Hmm, I think I should find out by myself,

But, how do u apllied vitashell to torts shell? Using hands, using a toothbrush or what? And how much?

Maybe, I'm going to do some experiment too, one for vco, and one for vitashell..

 

[Yvonne G]

If it were me, since the shell part is static, I would use a Q-tip and only apply it to the growth lines.

 

[froghaven5]

Hmmmm.... interesting. I've notice OP seems to get dried out pretty quickly and soaking/spraying doesn't seem to last long. I happen to have VCO, so I think I'll give this a try.

 

[spikethebest]

awesome experiment. wish i could be there to watch the magic unfold before my very eyes!