How to Care for Tortoise Shell?

How to care for tortoise shell? You can have your sulcata tortoise get used to you by just carrying them around while they’re still young, just keep them around the house or with other same species so that your pet can be socialized. How to care for tortoise shell? If your pet is socialized, it can make them less shy when being touched or viewed. How to care for tortoise shell? Some hatchlings will be quite skittish at first which is why you need to also be careful in handling them so that they won’t get traumatize by the experience otherwise they could hate being around with people or be wary to being touched.

Sensitive Shells

How to care for tortoise shell? Handling your tortoise while they are still hatchlings or juveniles is a great training for them because it teaches them how to socialize and become tamed when being touched. Although, tortoises and turtles in general are non – threatening animals, they can still become aggressive if they aren’t tamed properly. One of the best ways in taming them is through proper handling.

Tips on How to Care for Tortoise Shell

How to care for tortoise shell? Picking up a tortoise is fairly easy when they’re young, you just simply have to grab the bottom and top art of their shell just right in the center using your fingers so that they won’t be able to push you off or slide off.

Tip #1

Once your tortoise is calm and assuming that they’re properly socialized, you can let them walk around your palms but don’t raise them up too high as they could slip out and fall especially when they get older and stronger. Properly hold their shells and apply a tight grip on the center top and bottom. Never hold the side of the shells because their rear legs can easily push your finger and they could fall off.

Tip #2

How to care for tortoise shell? When your tortoise gets a bit larger and heavier, you should start holding both sides of the top and bottom shell using your hands to provide support. Sometimes juvenile tortoises will push you off using their feet, so you just need to have a slightly tight grip over them but of course, not to the point of squeezing them too hard.

Tip #3

Make sure to wash your hands after holding your tortoises because they can potentially have salmonella. It’s also a good practice to wash your hands before holding them, and try not to touch their face, eyes, mouths or legs too much.

Tip #4

Once your pet sulcata reaches maturity and has become full grown, you obviously won’t be able to simply hold them even with your hands; it will totally require some heavy lifting on your part. Just make sure to handle them carefully, try not to put them on their backs and support the shell with both hands. If you think you can’t lift them up because they’re too heavy, it’s probably best to let someone help you so that you won’t risk dropping your tortoise and possibly damaging their shell.

Shedding Shells

How to care for tortoise shell? Many people are confused when someone tells them to bathe or groom their tortoises, for the most part, it looks like they don’t really need a bath since they don’t shed, they are used to being dirty since they’re constantly walking in the ground, grazing the grass and they can still be considered wild animals – and wild animals don’t take a bath!

There’s another tortoise misconception out there that if you bought a particular commercial product for your pet’s shell it could make it shiny and or could give the shell some sort of nutrients. That’s not true and most of the time these products are harmful since they have chemical content.

Top Shell vs. Bottom Shell

How to care for tortoise shell? The carapace (top shell) and plastron (bottom shell) of your tortoise is composed of tissues, pores, keratin, and nerves, it requires sunlight and oxygen to keep them healthy so if you apply wax, oils or other commercial products it can accumulate and clog your tortoise’s pores which can eventually lead to problems. So if you want to keep your tortoise’s shell “shiny” and keep them clean, all they need is a clean water, container, and good old tooth brush. Of course, you may need to adjust the brush as they get bigger.

Keeping It Clean

How to care for tortoise shell? Young or juvenile sulcata tortoises are quite easy to clean because you can still handle them, but once they reach their full size, you may need to rethink how you’re going to clean them up or decide on how you’re going to house them. Usually you just need to provide a small water lagoon in your yard or garden where your tortoise can easily access and soak in thereby naturally cleaning themselves up.

Bathing a tortoise is not a necessity because they’re simply used to getting dirty, but again, since you took on the responsibility of keeping one, it’s your job to make sure that they are clean and receive occasionally bathing for health’s sake and to also prevent spreading of dirt around the house or its enclosure – the best part is, it’s completely safe to do so.

Cleaning Scutes Tips

Tip #1

How to care for tortoise shell? Place your tortoise in the tub and allow it to hydrate himself for about 10 minutes to 20 minutes, after which you can replace the water. Fill the container again with clean water that is no deeper than the tortoise’s plastron and just about a few centimeters deep above its top shell.

Once you do, you should again allow your pet to rehydrate and replace their water stores. While your tortoise is doing that, you can now prepare your bathing tools like a toothbrush. Keep in mind that you don’t need to put any kind of soap, detergent, oils, shampoo or other cleaning materials that has chemical content. Just a fresh clean water and toothbrush will do. Your main objective here is to just simply clean out the shell and their legs, they’re not supposed to smell good or even look good like other household pets.

Tip #2

Once you’ve prepared your brush, just gently brush their top shell particularly the areas where dirt can often build up as well as the sides. Make sure to clean their scutes and you can also slightly clean their head, legs, neck and tail using cotton buds. When brushing their body parts that are not covered with scales or shells, make sure to gently rub it because these areas could be sensitive. Clean up their claws thoroughly since this is one of the dirtiest parts of your tortoise’s body.

How to care for tortoise shell? After cleaning the top and side of the shells, you can gently flip them over to clean the bottom shell or the plastron. Pay attention to the dirt between their scutes and rub it carefully.  Once you’re done removing the dirt, you can now rinse them with water. Don’t use any unnecessary product (unless recommended by your vet) because it can be fatal for some tortoise. These products can mix with water and your tortoise can ingest it.

Tip #3

How to care for tortoise shell? Tortoises don’t really shed skin but sometimes you can see their paper thin scutes peeling off like fragments, it’s quite normal and you can aid in removing that whenever you are brushing them up because it can allow for a much healthier shell.

After you have rinsed them off, take them out of the water, and dry them up using a soft towel or cloth. Gently do this at least once or twice a week or even once a month (it’s entirely up to you) so that your tortoise can be nice and clean.

Tip #4

How to care for tortoise shell? If you are properly following the husbandry tips and feeding your pet with a healthy diet, their shell will naturally shine by itself without the need for any product. The main advantage of bathing your tortoise is that, it gives an opportunity for owners to thoroughly examine or check their pet if there’ll be any sign of illness, shell rot, injury or even abrasion.

Tip #5

How to care for tortoise shell? Occasional cleaning will make your tortoise feel neat, happy and healthy. This procedure will also maintain their skin and avoid the rotting of their shells.