What would make a tortoises shell black and blue and cause death?

Question

My son has had his sulcatta for over a year now and his dad was the original owner. He had him for a year beofre we got him. The belly of his shell was soft when we first got him and I looked online and it said calcium difficiency. So I got cal. powder and put it on his food. He ate Romaine lettuce collard greens and dandilion leaves. The only thing different was that we gave him was cherry tomatoes but he loved them and we only gave two in small bites.
When my son went to feed him last night his eyes were sunken in he was not moving. I tried to put him in the tub to see if it would help but he didnt move. When i looked at his belly it was black and blue like a bruise when you bump yourself. What could have caused this?
Prior to this he was pretty mobile and we had no idea that he would be sick. My son is devastated over this.
Does anyone have any info? Thanks.

He was only about the size of an orange....it was not old age. These torts live up to 100+ years. And I dont keep water in the cage so not sure about the rot part. It was like something exploded inside of him....

Answer 1

old age

Answer 2

Sunken eyes often indicates dehydration- a common problem when these tortoises are kept too dry. They need access to a warm, humid hiding place- especially when young.

A black and blue shell is unusual, however.

The diet was also awfully 'wet', while this species needs a lot fo drier, more fiberous materials like Timothy hay, etc.

Sorry I cannot be of more help. You might try asking the folks at the tortoise forum of http://www.turtleforum.com

Answer 3

I am sorry about your and sons loss, however that is a condition that you should take up with a person in a retail fish store that has turtles .It sounds like toxic shock of some kind but without a examination no one can tell

Answer 4

Shell rot from being too wet? Just a possibility.