White split in tortoise shell

The McCoys

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Hi,

I am new to this forum so apologies if I have posted this in the wrong place. I have a 3 year old Spur Thighed female tortoise, today when I was feeding her I noticed that there is a crack or split in the top of her shell. Does anyone know what can have caused this and what I can do? She originally lived with her sister but was getting bullied so at the start of the year we separated them. She has always been quite timid and has grown much slower than the other tortoise (she is half her size). She eats a varied diet, has cuttlefish in her cage and access to an outdoor run weather permitting. Eventually I will have a proper heated outdoor enclosure for her to live in but as I am selling my house there is no point setting one up here so I only put her outside when the weather is good. The other tortoise is huge and healthy so I assume I am generally looking after them ok.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 

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Maro2Bear

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What does the split look like after you give your tort a good soaking? Maybe soak, then take a few closer up photos & post.

ps - welcome to the Forum ?
 

wellington

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If in fact they are both female the smaller one is likely smaller because the bullying has been going on longer thrn you think. That's one of many things that can happen when bullied.
The white mark you are sure is an actual crack? It looks like it's just a mark from the cuttle bone in the pic.
I would clean it up and put some antibiotic cream on it just incase. Then keep an eye on it so it doesnt get worse.
Likely fell on her back on something hard or tried to jam herself under something that hard a sharp edge? It's hard to say what caused it.
Maybe @Yvonne G has an idea.
 

The McCoys

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What does the split look like after you give your tort a good soaking? Maybe soak, then take a few closer up photos & post.

ps - welcome to the Forum ?
Ok, so after a good soaking it turns out it is not a crack but just a scratch made by the cuttlefish bone. Very embarrassing! Thanks for the help anyway.
 

The McCoys

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Joined
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Location (City and/or State)
Kent
If in fact they are both female the smaller one is likely smaller because the bullying has been going on longer thrn you think. That's one of many things that can happen when bullied.
The white mark you are sure is an actual crack? It looks like it's just a mark from the cuttle bone in the pic.
I would clean it up and put some antibiotic cream on it just incase. Then keep an eye on it so it doesnt get worse.
Likely fell on her back on something hard or tried to jam herself under something that hard a sharp edge? It's hard to say what caused it.
Maybe @Yvonne G has an idea.
You are right, it is a scratch made by the cuttlefish bone. It really did look more sinister and I didn't want to touch it before getting advice. We didn't notice the bullying at first, we just became aware that she buried herself a lot and wrongly assumed she was trying to hibernate. So I imagine the bullying had been going on for a while. She is very happy now on her own. Thanks for the advice.
 

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