Joseph H

Please advise what I can do on my tortoises shell it’s peeling or chipping off. It’s been like that a couple years should we fiberglass it any ideas. Previous owner said it happened from trying to go underneath the fence in a cow pasture.

Sam

The treatment depends on how active that site is now.

it looks like some of the old parts of the shell may actually be flaking off or coming apart if that is the case, 

you can help it along a little by removing parts of the shell that are really not attached to anything 

I am wondering if that lighter part of the shell can just slip out.

If it does, you will see new growth under it.  starts coming in as a bone color then the normal shell color.

However, depending on how old the injury is, it might complicate that plan.

if that's an old injury and the shell has been stable like that for years most likely you dont have to do anything.

If it rains a lot and that section doesn't dry out,  then you can get a fungus in there which continues to eat away at the shell.

In that case again I would debrid (remove the dead, non supportive shell), and you could epoxy and fiberglass resin that injury 

When doing so,  try not to glue over the seams in between the plates.

That initial injury is not from a fungus infection though, that injury is probably from a heat lamp.

if the heat lamp is too low it will kill the tissues directly under that part of the shell.
but it takes a long time for the shell to reveal the damage, 8 to 12 months is not unusual.

It can also happen because the Hut, house or shelter they go into at night keeps scraping that part of his shell.

so now it is an abrasion injury.