Peeling Shell

Question
Our 5 year old African Sulcata has one pyramid shell in the middle of its back coming off. It looks like the flaky layer biscuits. Is this normal?  We may be over feeding her Romaine and fruits.  We have stopped that.  She looks like she has grown out of that piece of shell.  I can see a white/yellowish under the shell that has come up.  What is the next move on our part.

Answer
Romaine and fruit? Unusual diet choice for a Sulcata.

In general, if the shell underneath looks good (dry, not pitted, solid, no odor, etc. and either looks like shell or almost a bone material), then we generally ignore flaking other than trying to figure out the cause and correcting it in the future. Flaking shell is not normal and may indicate shell rot, stress, etc.

Some good reference sites for this species would include-
- http://www.sulcata-station.org
- http://www.africantortoise.com

or the forums at http://www.tortoiseforum.org