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I hatched this guy out last August, and he has spent most of the time until May of this year living indoors. Now he lives in a pen, sometimes by himself, sometimes with an older sib or the adults. The pen has a substrate of clay soil with some sand. He has a hide box area with a brick floor where he can dry out, but tends to burrow under the bricks and stay in a humid area in the sandy soil at night. I live in Missouri so it is generally humid.

I've noticed over the last few weeks that his scutes have developed these curly white lines, as seen in photo below. I've never seen this in any other tortoise of mine, although there is some hint of it in his 3yr old sibling who has spent the last two seasons (spring/summer/fall) living outdoors. One adult is showing some kind of shell damage that is either a dry rot or trauma, but it is not serious and looks nothing like this. The shell on this youngster is firm with no holes, flaking or peeling.

Is this disease, or the result of excess humidity, or is it nothing to worry about?

P.S. - it doesn't wash off :->

My 4 year old CB Russian has a few of these on his shell, mostly towards the back. It seems to be just a pattern in the shell. Of all the tortoises I keep, his shell is the smoothest with practically no pyramiding.

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Dear Brad, I just inspected (closely) my group of five 2.5 year olds and one 9 month old. The 9 month and 2 of the elders have those little "hieoroglyphic" lines, perhaps not quite as prominent as in your photo. The 3 that exhibit are toward the greener end of color range, the darker specimens do not exhibit it. I am inclined to not worry about it, as it is evidenced in the area of rapid new growth and they look perfect in every way. I wouldn't be surprised if "snake people" would call it a new phase and charge extra for them (lol). You are a keen observer!

gfgfg

Such a deal! Orders yours now...I only have 3 available at this low introductory price! 5k each or take the trio for 14k!

hey brad and vic,

though not to the extent of your "extreme hierglyphic," i see this pattern in a few of my CBs as well. i decided a couple of years ago not to worry about it. the torts seem fine in every other way, including an 11-y.o. male and a 10-y.o. female.

matt

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By any chance have you changed the calcium availability in the last few months. Although this is a cool/extreme example this is a classic example of what I call calicification of the keritin(sp?) layer of the shell.

Not a disease and nothing to worry about.

>>I hatched this guy out last August, and he has spent most of the time until May of this year living indoors. Now he lives in a pen, sometimes by himself, sometimes with an older sib or the adults. The pen has a substrate of clay soil with some sand. He has a hide box area with a brick floor where he can dry out, but tends to burrow under the bricks and stay in a humid area in the sandy soil at night. I live in Missouri so it is generally humid.
>>
>>I've noticed over the last few weeks that his scutes have developed these curly white lines, as seen in photo below. I've never seen this in any other tortoise of mine, although there is some hint of it in his 3yr old sibling who has spent the last two seasons (spring/summer/fall) living outdoors. One adult is showing some kind of shell damage that is either a dry rot or trauma, but it is not serious and looks nothing like this. The shell on this youngster is firm with no holes, flaking or peeling.
>>
>>Is this disease, or the result of excess humidity, or is it nothing to worry about?
>>
>>P.S. - it doesn't wash off :->
>>
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Not to worry. This is a condition that one often sees in rapidly growing tortoises. It appears in the newest areas of growth and certainly has something to do with the formation of the keratin in the carapace and plastron.
As long as you are providing a good diet with calcium and other nutrients (in addition to sunlight) the animal sould be fine. In fact, thses markings disappear later in life.

Thanks for the input. It seems I have nothing to worry about.

EJ - the tort has received the same basic diet as always - weeds and greens and a touch of pellets - but is probably getting a little less direct calcium supplementation now than before.

When he was staying indoors I regularly dusted the food. Now that he's outside, I provide cuttlebone for gnawing and rarely dust the food.

How long have you been feeding the pellets? If you've been feeding it all along, have you increased the frequency.

It could also be the increase in seasonal temperatures.

>>Thanks for the input. It seems I have nothing to worry about.
>>
>>EJ - the tort has received the same basic diet as always - weeds and greens and a touch of pellets - but is probably getting a little less direct calcium supplementation now than before.
>>
>>When he was staying indoors I regularly dusted the food. Now that he's outside, I provide cuttlebone for gnawing and rarely dust the food.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I wrote to someone who has this hatchling's sibs - and she sees the same squiggles. She keeps her torts indoors. I don't know what their diet is like. Based on the reports of others finding the same pattern on their russians, I have a feeling that it's a run-of-the-mill thing.

This tort has recieved very, very few pellets. Maybe once every 4-6 weeks I throw some calcium powder on a few tiny pellets, soak them and feed them to her.

This is only the second hatchling that I've kept past 2 months of age, so I probably just missed this stage of development. The older sib has a few faint squiggles, but after 3 yrs they may just have faded. I'll observe this tort to see what happens.

he's going on two years of age, and i've noticed similar, whitish "squiggles" in the yellow of his plastron. not nearly as much as your russian has, though! glad to hear that everyone thinks it's normal (i'd assumed as much, since mine seems pretty healthy otherwise).