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So......I seem to be adopting turtles left and right. Anyway, long story, but this shall be the last of my collection. I just adopted a male ornate today to mate with my female. The mating started instantly....like in less than a minute of putting him in the pen.

Anyway, I am slightly concerned about what appears to be scabbing or scars from blistering on the top of his head. Has anyone seen this before? It looks like it's healing, or has healed and just scarred, but it looks quite wierd and different from anything I've ever seen. I'll post pics as soon as I find my camera.....

Here are some pics.

The wrinkly head I was talking about:

Yay cute turtles!! I don't really know anything about tortoises other than that's a cute one

hehe, thanks. he's really a cute fella. incredibly active too.

Yea! Baby boxies! Can't wait to see 'em.

His head looks like it may have an old scar or something. Is it scabby or just wrinkly skin?

Just wrinkly. Doesn't appear scabby. Any idea what may have caused it? I'm hoping it was some kinda physical trauma that's healed and not any sort of disease.

Does anyone know how long it takes a female to lay eggs after mating? We're moving next week and don't want to leave any eggs behind .

An old wound?

Ya, it looks like it could be. I just want to make sure it's not any kind of rot or something. I've not seen anything like this before.

That's why a quarantine period is always a good idea

Maybe a closer shot would help? My 3toed boxie's head went a burgundy colour in that same spot once before and I never figured out what it was. Can you call the place you adopted him from and ask if he's had any problems?

If it's just wrinkled skin, rather than a scab, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I would separate him for at least 90 days though.

Yes, I know.....unfortunately we're in the middle of moving and a quarantine period isn't possible. I'll be able to seperate them in a couple weeks, but at that point it's kinda pointless i think. he acts very healthy. No signs of any problems other than the head issue.

Do you think it's worth seperating them in a couple weeks even if they have to be together now?

That is a beautiful Ornate Box turtle

RunninWideOpen wrote:Yes, I know.....unfortunately we're in the middle of moving and a quarantine period isn't possible. I'll be able to seperate them in a couple weeks, but at that point it's kinda pointless i think. he acts very healthy. No signs of any problems other than the head issue.

Do you think it's worth seperating them in a couple weeks even if they have to be together now?

It certainly couldnt hurt (I know I'm a bit late on this)

How close is the UV light to the tortoise? Reason why I ask is because it took me a few times to get the distance of the UVB bulb to my Sheba's basking dock correct. For a while there, she was getting a little sun burn on the top of her head that looks very much like that tort's head. It looked like loose wrinkly skin and was slightly red.

Just wanted to follow up and let ya'll know that my vet said the blistering on Sid's head is almost definitely from direct contact with a heat lamp. Wherever he had escaped from, the people must have had the lamp too low and he hit it. It's healed and no problem now though.

Also, both ornates do have hook worm, which they are now being treated for. He said no need to quarantine since they've both got it now. Just don't let them around the other turts.

Thanks for the advice!