Why is my tortoises shell peeling?
Tortoise shedding is a perfectly normal and healthy process. As a tortoise grows older, they shed the skin and shell to grow bigger. If your tortoise’s shell is injured, which may include damaged or lost scutes, it will also shed its shell to heal.
Is it OK to Peel dead skin off a tortoise?
Never try to peel any flaking skin off your tortoise. Many new tortoise keepers tend to panic whenever they see dead skin peeling off of their pets. As a result, they may end up peeling these pieces of dead skin themselves, which usually causes more harm to the tortoise, despite their keepers meaning well.
Are there any problems with the shell of a tortoise?
Tortoise And Turtle Shells, And Potential Problems 1 More about the shell. The shell of the turtle and tortoise consists of two parts: The dorsal or top of the shell, which is called the carapace, and the ventral 2 Shell rot. 3 SCUD. 4 Shell shedding. 5 Pyramiding of the shell. 6 Metabolic bone disease. …
What to do if a tortoise has a turtle injury?
There is nothing worse than sealing a wound which still contains an active infection. With most tortoise and turtle injuries, it is advisable to maintain full access to the wound area until it is evident that all is well. The physical repair to the shell can then be undertaken in safety.
Is it possible to repair a tortoise’s carapace?
Tortoises can recover from some pretty spectacular damage given good care. Really severe carapace damage can sometimes be repaired using special medical grade plastics and epoxy cements – ordinary fibreglass material is not usually suitable and should not be used.
Never try to peel any flaking skin off your tortoise. Many new tortoise keepers tend to panic whenever they see dead skin peeling off of their pets. As a result, they may end up peeling these pieces of dead skin themselves, which usually causes more harm to the tortoise, despite their keepers meaning well.
What happens to the dead bone in a tortoise’s shell?
That dead bone will be a barrier to not let anything into the shell while it heals. New keratin is formed under the completely dead bone. After the new keratin layer is laid down, new bone will grow under that keratin layer.
Why does my tortoise have pale growth lines?
– Shell is soft, overly flexible: Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD). Very soft shells may need a vet’s help. – Pale growth lines: New growth lines are sometimes pale for a couple days. Also, some Red-foots develop ‘mottling’ or pale growth as they grow. See the ‘ Cherry-heads ‘ page for examples.
How does a cracked shell on a tortoise heal?
The healing process is pretty much the same on injuries to the shell, too, even though the scutes don’t normally shed. If your tortoise has a cracked shell, it will heal from the inside-out, pushing away any old scale matter on the shell to give way to healthier bones and scales.
