White patches/ spots on tortoise shell

[Chase_Darwin]

I made an account just to ask this question, so I’m not too sure if any additional context is usually given but I’ll be active in the replies if anyone has any questions because I want to get to the bottom of this. TLDR: I noticed these white spots/ patches appear on my Herman’s tortoises shell and I’m concerned.

 

[zovick]

View attachment 392446I made an account just to ask this question, so I’m not too sure if any additional context is usually given but I’ll be active in the replies if anyone has any questions because I want to get to the bottom of this. TLDR: I noticed these white spots/ patches appear on my Herman’s tortoises shell and I’m concerned. View attachment 392444View attachment 392447

It looks like mineral deposits from hard water. When water on the tortoise's shell evaporates (dries), the minerals are left on the shell. You can remove them with vinegar. Warm up some vinegar in a cup, then dip a cloth or a brush in it and scrub off the white areas. This will also work with lemon juice.

To prevent them from happening in the future you would need to soak the tortoise in soft water, reverse osmosis water (RO water), or distilled water.