White lines on my red foot

[mrl05140]

Hello,

I noticed my 10 year old red foot that I obtained this summer to have some peeling of her shell. I am attaching a photo. I got her from a family that did not take proper care of her. She is very small for her age, and she is now growing. She has growth lines under her shell. I noticed this the other day where it looked like it was moss that was attached to her shell. I cleaned the lines with a soft tooth brush, and it comes off to expose white...What can it be?

 

[Alena]

Hello,

I noticed my 10 year old red foot that I obtained this summer to have some peeling of her shell. I am attaching a photo. I got her from a family that did not take proper care of her. She is very small for her age, and she is now growing. She has growth lines under her shell. I noticed this the other day where it looked like it was moss that was attached to her shell. I cleaned the lines with a soft tooth brush, and it comes off to expose white...What can it be?

Is it a cherryhead redfoot tortoise? Just curious. I will leave your question to someone with more experience as far as the shell goes.

 

[mrl05140]

Is it a cherryhead redfoot tortoise? Just curious. I will leave your question to someone with more experience as far as the shell goes.

I'm not entirely sure...this is a picture of her.

 

[Alena]

She is beautiful. I'm no expert ,however; I believe you hit the nail on the head. She appears to be a redfoot tortoise. She looks healthy to me. I'm sure the shell issue can be resolved. Someone will reply to your question soon.

 

[mrl05140]

I noticed this on my red foot...is this normal??

 

[Yvonne G]

That's the new growth area of the shell. New growth occurs between the scutes like that. The tortoise would benefit from an every day soak, with light scrubbing over the shell with a soft bristle brush. When finished you can dry thoroughly then dab on a bit of cold pressed coconut oil on the growth seams. Allow it to soak in for 15 minutes or so, then polish it off with a clean, dry absorbent cloth.

 

[mrl05140]

I noticed peeling and white on the back of my tortoise shell - Is this normal? I got her this summer and she was not taken care of properly for 10 years. She is growing now that I have her in the right environment and there is growth lines under her shell.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

That's new growth and some Redfoots get marbling where the new growth comes in that's white. My Redfoot just started doing it recently too

 

[mrl05140]

That's the new growth area of the shell. New growth occurs between the scutes like that. The tortoise would benefit from an every day soak, with light scrubbing over the shell with a soft bristle brush. When finished you can dry thoroughly then dab on a bit of cold pressed coconut oil on the growth seams. Allow it to soak in for 15 minutes or so, then polish it off with a clean, dry absorbent cloth.

So I shouldn't be concerned?? I am all worked up!

 

[Yvonne G]

No, it's nothing to be concerned about. It's just new growth that's too dry. A little lubrication will help.

 

[mrl05140]

No, it's nothing to be concerned about. It's just new growth that's too dry. A little lubrication will help.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

 

[jsheffield]

I rub a bit of oil into my redfoot's shell once a week, and it takes care of it ...



Jamie

 

[Yvonne G]

@mrl05140 - I'm not talkin' about just rubbing oil on that one growth seam you're concerned about. ALL the growth seems are dry. It's just that the other seams haven't shed off the dry stuff yet. Oil will help them all.

 

[mrl05140]

@mrl05140 - I'm not talkin' about just rubbing oil on that one growth seam you're concerned about. ALL the growth seems are dry. It's just that the other seams haven't shed off the dry stuff yet. Oil will help them all.

Perfect - Thank you very much, I was all worried we'd need a vet visit.

 

[jsheffield]

After reading through this post, I oiled up Darwin after his morning soak ... he looks ready for some greco-roman wrestling!

Jamie

 

[Cathie G]

I'm not entirely sure...this is a picture of her.

View attachment 259850

So beautiful.

 

[mrl05140]

@mrl05140 - I'm not talkin' about just rubbing oil on that one growth seam you're concerned about. ALL the growth seems are dry. It's just that the other seams haven't shed off the dry stuff yet. Oil will help them all.

Here Lucy is today! What do you think?

 

[Cheryl Hills]

She’s beautiful!

 

[Yvonne G]

The application of oil is helping the new growth to be soft and supple and that old, cracked stuff is coming off. Looking good.

 

[mrl05140]

The application of oil is helping the new growth to be soft and supple and that old, cracked stuff is coming off. Looking good.

How often do I do oil?