I have a tort that i bought out of the paper 18 months ago , the tortoise was kept in a very small viv ,with his brother, heat bulb resting on his leg , he had several sores on his leg ,had never been outside and didnt have a uv light , my head was saying dont touch these torts but , i couldnt leave them so i bought them , since then have spent several hundered pounds on vet bills , both torts are very active and love there food , but one has always had problems with his shell being very soft and literally breaking off underneath him , i am now very concerned with his underside moving and worried that it will eventually come off all together , my local vet has treated him , and have been giving tort nutrobol and collo-cal d  on his food , and has a uv light source , although he seems happy enough im worried he may be in pain , i am going to take him to a different vet , but cant afford to pay hundereds of more pounds out , i have read that u shouldnt cover shell damage but the shell seems to be rotting . advice please .

Hiya,

I do know of cases where tortoises have a problem absorping calcium.
Some foods contain high levels of oxylates which inhibits the intake of calcium, so you really need to steer clear of these. May I ask what you are feeding your tortoise. Slow growth when calcium levels are low are an absolute must to enable repair rather than your tortoise using vital resources on new shell growth.
May I ask how old you tortoise is and how heavy he/she is please?
What UVB source and heat source has he/she please?
The Nutrobal and Zol-Cal D (I think that's probably what it is) will help
Bathing in Reptoboost will also help, though you need to rinse off your tortoise afterwards.

Here is a link to a good/bad foods for tortoises:-

http://thetortoisetable.org.uk

Best Regards
Darren

Hi darren thankyou for your quick reply , tortoise is 5years old , and i have just weighed him , he is 2lb in weight , he was very big  (i thought when i got him , they both were , although he has now taken over his brother with growth ) has pyramid in shell , was fed by last owner on only pellets ,  now any weeds growing in enclosure , dandilions and curly kale , and cucumber as a treat , i do worry about bathing as bone on bottom of tort moves about alot after bathing and worry that i cant dry properly after , has a combi bulb ,  heat and uv and is in tort table , not viv , he is a lovely tort , really active , but i really cant see any solution , because shell now so bad ,  thanks julia

Hiya,

Have you any photos of the damaged area please?

TC
Darren

Hi darren , will take some im a bit rubish in computer but will try . thankyou

I am new to TPG yet have kept torts over 40 yrs. I have just replied to a post about eye probs, but my advice is equally apt for your beastie. A chronic vitamin D deficiency is indicated here. Cod liver oil gives great results and is cheap and widely available. If necessary force feed favourite greens with 2-3 drops of oil alternate days for a week. Animals cannot metabolise calcium unless sufficient vitamin D available. To wait for natural level boost from UV light can take too long resulting in catastrophic failure. I do hope you are lucky with your tort. Hope advice is useful. Please keep me in formed!

Hi David, welcome to the TPG your valuable experience is much appreciated by us all.

Regards Vivienne

hi every one thankyou for your posts , all advice has been taken on board , i took my tortoise to a tortoise vet on wednesday , vet  was informed about all previous treatments etc , vet looked under tort and said he was very worried about a infection underthe shell and that alot of shell and bone was dead , went on to scaple dead bone off of tortoise , had to keep in to cut away with electric cutter rest of dead bone , at this point i was very worried about poor minty, but vet said as bone dead tort cant feel any pain , , picked up next day half of underside cut off , (vet said tort not in any pain , but half of torts underside is exposed bone , so i hope he cant feel pain , he also was treated for worms , i  treated all torts i have for worms last summer so now i am going to sent off tort samples to see if they all have it , but i am hoping that others will be clear because all kept in separate enclosures , when i get the piccys sorted will post but warning they are not very nice , minty remarkable is very active and eating well . thankyou julia ...

Really good new Julia:-)
Please keep us updated on Minty's progress

TC
Darren

HI just to let you know that minty my poor tort , who had  a very bad problems with his shell , is doing very well , seems to be fine , enjoying the sunshine and has been reunited with his brother in their outdoor enclosure and is lapping up the sunshine , yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee , thanks julia x

Great news Julia. The sun does tend to brighten us all up eh?:-)

TC
Darren