Can tortoises get sunburn?

[Merlin M]

I know most animals if skin is exposed to lots of sun get sunburned but do tortoises?

[JoesMum]

Not as far as I'm aware. Their scales protect them.

[Merlin M]

yeah, but they also have thinner skin around their necks and legs, which they expose while basking, which at least appears to be less protected by scales...

I def. haven't heard of them getting sunburned...the idea just popped into my head...

[JoesMum]

Joe has never suffered despite being a garden tortoise in some of our longest hottest summers. In the wild they live in far harsher sun conditions than we get in the UK. I think it's so unlikely as to be near impossible :)

[Merlin M]

I did think it was unlikely, was thinking about how they shed skin and wondering if it could in part be due to UV damage...

[Helen M]

I don't think they'd get burns as such unless exposed to very high temperatures, but they can get overexposure to UV light if they are unable to escape the sun or UV lighting. This would cause MBD if allowed to go unchecked as the D3 produced would start to break down the animals bones. Just highlights the importance of providing sheltered areas both in indoor and outdoor enclosures.

Helen xx

[JoesMum]

Skin shedding is normal part of a reptile's life. They do it as they grow and throughout their lives. Snakes do it all in one go, tortoises do it more gradually.

You shed skin too... it's just not obvious. Most house dust is actually skin cells!

[Merlin M]

I know skin shedding is natural (and I work as a housekeeper in a museum and know far too much about dust) just curious...

and did not know too much D3 causes MBD

[EJ]

You might want to look into your belief about D3 a little further. I don't believe what you're stating is correct.

I don't think they'd get burns as such unless exposed to very high temperatures, but they can get overexposure to UV light if they are unable to escape the sun or UV lighting. This would cause MBD if allowed to go unchecked as the D3 produced would start to break down the animals bones. Just highlights the importance of providing sheltered areas both in indoor and outdoor enclosures.

Helen xx

[Pussygalore]

I think if they are oiled ( used to be a common practise) that the oil can cause burns as it causes the shell to heat up in the sun, its why you should never put anything other than water on their shell.

[Merlin M]

I think if they are oiled ( used to be a common practise) that the oil can cause burns as it causes the shell to heat up in the sun, its why you should never put anything other than water on their shell.

That sounds like wise advice! (not that I had been that I had been planning on oiling them up!)

[Pussygalore]

many people still put olive oil or similar on the shells, maybe because they have been told its ok or just to make them look nice but as the shell is a 2 way heat exchanger and is porous, oil can block the holes and the oil would react on the shell the same as on those people that sit in the sun covered in it. Even worse if the tort sits under its heat lamp I'd imagine if it couldn't get away it could literally fry. My old female Ibera had been oiled with something and it had made her shell almost black it took many months of baths and rain to shift it and it never did go from the crevices in her shell.

[Merlin M]

that is sad! and good words of warning!

[shellonia]

I don't think they'd get burns as such unless exposed to very high temperatures, but they can get overexposure to UV light if they are unable to escape the sun or UV lighting. This would cause MBD if allowed to go unchecked as the D3 produced would start to break down the animals bones. Just highlights the importance of providing sheltered areas both in indoor and outdoor enclosures.

Helen xx

Indeed have experienced this after using an old bulb, now discontinued(Realsun) for a few weeks as I had run out. Young tortoise became increasingly ill and hid all the time.On tests calcium was skyhigh and on Xray she looked like she had osteoarthritis. An awful experience.

[Ozric Jonathan]

Not just an awful experience though - it's evidence that a large excess of uvb is harmful.

For those that can afford it, it's worth having a uvb meter.

[EJ]

I'd love to see where this information originated.


I don't think they'd get burns as such unless exposed to very high temperatures, but they can get overexposure to UV light if they are unable to escape the sun or UV lighting. This would cause MBD if allowed to go unchecked as the D3 produced would start to break down the animals bones. Just highlights the importance of providing sheltered areas both in indoor and outdoor enclosures.

Helen xx

[EJ]

This doesn't make sense unless D3 was added to the diet.

Indeed have experienced this after using an old bulb, now discontinued(Realsun) for a few weeks as I had run out. Young tortoise became increasingly ill and hid all the time.On tests calcium was skyhigh and on Xray she looked like she had osteoarthritis. An awful experience.