White lines on my Eastern Hermann's tortoise?

Reagan

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Hello,
I recently got my 6 month old Eastern Hermann's tortoise about 5 days ago and I have noticed that he/she has these white lines on her shell. I'm wondering if that's just because she growing or if her humidity is low. He/She is always drinking or playing in her water dish. She also has some dry skin on her nose is that normal?

Picture IMG_0906.JPG
 

Yvonne G

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That's because the shell is dry. It's probably just hard water stain.

Moisten the substrate and cover the habitat to keep the warm, moist air inside. Dry skin and peeling in spots is normal.
 

Tom

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That looks like hard water stains to me too.

I use either collected rain water or distilled water to spray my tortoises after a soak and throughout the day. It prevents this. In time, the mineral deposits will fade away.

Don't use distilled for soaking or drinking, only for spraying and rinsing the carapace.
 

Raymo2477

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Also try a different substrate. I've found the bark harder to keep moist. I use top soil/ecco earth with cypress mulch on top to keep it humid.
 

firewire

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Does applying a regular (weekly?) thin coat of coconut oil have any benefit? Seems like I read that somewhere it is beneficial, but have never validated it. It's readily available if it does have any intrinsic value to sparingly applying it to the shell.

d89cdf30-b08c-4996-a33e-6fc06aba03cb_1.62bf5131a5ac3d61a59db2958e26affe.jpeg
 

JoesMum

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Does applying a regular (weekly?) thin coat of coconut oil have any benefit? Seems like I read that somewhere it is beneficial, but have never validated it. It's readily available if it does have any intrinsic value to sparingly applying it to the shell.

d89cdf30-b08c-4996-a33e-6fc06aba03cb_1.62bf5131a5ac3d61a59db2958e26affe.jpeg
No.

The shell is porous. It has to breathe. With oils you risk clogging those pores.

Shells aren't supposed to be shiny.

A tortoise frequently looks tatty as it sheds skin, but that doesn't need moisturiser either. All animals shed: snakes do it tidily all in one go, humans do it in tiny bits that become house dust and tortoises do it in untidy patches that rub off as they bumble around.

What's needed is proper hydration and humidity not potions or oils.
 

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