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I do not keep tortoises, but I do enjoy reading and topics relating to reptile husbandry in general and came across this topic on http://www.tortoisetrustforum.org/ showing pictures of the shells of a wild tortoise vs a captive tortoise in cross section (cut in half) as well as from the inside.
I am astounded at the massive damage/deterioration/por growth of the captive tortoise's shell. I always say it's easy to keep any reptile alive, but to give them a comfortable life of good quality is the tricky part.
http://www.tortoisetrustforum.org/phpbb3_live/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9987
I am quoting the post below so you don't need to follow the link, scary stuff:
Tortoise Trust wrote:I am posting these because they illustrate so very well why getting diet (and UVB) right is so absolutely critical. What you are seeing here are tortoise carapaces from the inside. These are tortoises that died as a result of illness, or predator attack, incidentally - none were harmed just to obtain this data.
In these two examples, one is a wild T. graeca. The other was a pet, raised from a hatchling in captivity.
Compare. Look specifically at the bone structure.
Wild tortoise, carapace
Captive raised, carapace
Wild tortoise, plastron
Captive raised, plastron
Wild tortoise, bridge section
Captive raided, bridge section
The weights (per sq. cm) of the bone are also very different. The density is not the same. This is what is really happening when we talk about 'MBD' or metabolic bone disease. It is not always very obvious externally, but if you are getting very high growth rates, this is very likely what is happening inside.
