marginated tortoise

Question
I have a 3 year old marginated tortoise that lives in a vivarium. She has developed a red/purple patch on the top of her shell, does anybody know what it could be?

Answer
Hi Nikki, I would be concerned that it is a sign of infection commonly known as "shell rot". These infections can cause bleeding under the surface of the scutes. I would definitely recommend that your vet take a look before anything more serious developes. These infections can sometimes begin through an injury, with tortoises butting or biting each others shell. If she is alone is there somewhere in the vivarium that she hits or rubs that part of her shell with?

There is an article on shell rot here from the Tortoise Trust site as well as some photos of a Russian tortoise with some shell bleeding caused by infection.

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/shellrot.html

http://russiantortoise.org/images/shell%20scar%203.jpg

http://russiantortoise.org/images/shell%20scar%202.jpg