07-10-2017, 05:30 PM | #1 |
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Egg
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Fading colour on shell
Hi my tortoises shell colour looks like they are fading.Hermanns and Horsefield are the lamps too hot ..?? Diet ??
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10-10-2017, 04:56 PM | #2 |
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can be diet - not enough Vit D - some rescue tortoises are similar , near white if not enough sunlight and they fade and others are a lovely rich colour due to sunlight/vit D - or they can be older. Hermanns are a lighter colour anyway but Horsfields should be a gorgeous olive dark colour like caramel or dark chocolate. if they are not then they need extra natural light as UVA&B are synthetic. Too much probably wont do it as they can only absorb so much anyway, C- but can dry them out excessively and is not natural CB
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Horsfields, Spur Thighed, & Marginata |
10-10-2017, 10:09 PM | #3 |
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Egg
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Hi thankyou..My horsefield is a yellow colour and Germans are darker..ive a mega ray that does both and any sunlight and they are in garden..my temps are 32-35 .I've started using nutrobal too
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13-10-2017, 10:48 AM | #4 |
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thanks Pippa, personally I would turn it down to 26 - 30 tops for the Horsfield (even my babies are less around 25 , for 6 hours a day) , and no longer than 8 hours a long - torts can't absorbed massive 'rays' as in UV and metabolise it all into vit D so it can be wasted (bit like us with Vitamin C - a body can absorb only so much).
Horsfields should be a beautiful olive green on their shells and if too light its an indicator they are not getting enough Vit D which is UV A&B combined..at odds with above but if you are zapping them at high temps Horsfields will burrow more and create a vicious circle .....CB
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Horsfields, Spur Thighed, & Marginata |
13-10-2017, 11:26 AM | #5 |
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Just as a visual example - when I say babies I mean my two little 11 month olds ...nice dark shells
And you can spot the most recent rescued Horsfield in here if you look (she came to me some years ago now but it take years to get colour back into shells- and some have arrived white almost - though it does depend on location / country / species etc ). ie hotter the country the lighter the shell, even if born quite dark.
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Horsfields, Spur Thighed, & Marginata |
13-10-2017, 04:09 PM | #6 |
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Egg
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Hi thankyou ..my female came very pale but male gorgeous olive colour she's yellowy..she lived in a Viv with a house bulb..just notice she looked like I had a scrubbing brush on her...she sits under light all day and only walks off when its turned off ..will move it higherhigher and monitor temps..always learning lol
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