Red Hard Shell
Red footed tortoise hatchling w/soft shell?
My friends RFT is almost a year old and not well.Seemed to be doing fine but it started having a hard time moving around – come to find out his little shell is soft.
My friend seemed to be doing almost everything right. Humidity around 80% ,high temps,heat lamp.Diet is good and supplimented with d3.
The one thing he didnt have but now does is a uv light.
My question is…… Will this cause permanent damage? Is there anything additional he should be doing to help?
What are the calcium levels like and is there any pyramiding?
He should have had the UV light from the beginning. Granted, red foot tortoise hatchlings do hide a lot, so they wouldn’t be exposed to much UV other then when they are out of hiding to eat. Also, does he place the tortoise into warm water on a daily basis?
What greens does he feed? Does he feed fruit at the same time?
I feed my tortoise according to this guide …
http://www.redfoots.com/ydiet.htm
Tortoises will have a tendency to eat the foods they like better, so if you want your tortoise to eat enough greens, you have to feed them just greens or they will pick the fruit out and eat mostly that.
What temp is it on the cool side versus the basking side? Does he have sphagnum moss kept moist for the tort to bury itself in to stay humid?
That site is a great one to read through to make sure your husbandry is right on.
Because the shell is already soft and the tortoise is already having issues, it would be best to bring it to an experienced reptile vet.
I doubt that it was the lack of a UV light alone that caused the problem, though I would certainly consider it a contributing factor. Chances are there are problems with your friends husbandry in terms of diet, temperature and humidity also.
Soft shell is normally the tortoise equivalent of metabolic bone disease, but, if the shell is discolored at all or in any other way unusual, particularly on the underside, you will want to bring it to a vet to check for the possibility of some kind of shell rot or fungal issue…
HTC Wildfire Red Metallic Hard Shell Case 70H00344-01M