Is my tort starting to pyramid?

kelogz08

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Hello again,

I have had several questions and a bunch of started treads coz everytime i feel there is something off with my tort. I ask questions. So far everybody has been very helpful

I just wanted to have your opinion if my radiated is starting to pyramid. I have noticed that there has been some elevation on his scute and its kinda frustrating coz i have been religious in keeping his enclosure humid at 60-70% in the daytime and 80% at night when the lights are off. I have him a closed chamber all the time. I have 2 T8 uvb lamp fixture across the enclosure placed 10" from the surface. I give him daily soaks for 15-30 minutes, sometimes twice a day if i have the day off. I feed him different green and mazuri diet LS.

Wondering if i am missing something
 

kelogz08

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He loves mazuri diet LS. I would offer him cactus and dandelion, but he would go for the pellets
 

wellington

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LOL, we posted at the same time. Incase you didn't know, you can post the pic in the same post you are typing in.
For a better look though, take a side view. Even pyramided torts don't look quite so pyramided when taking the pic from the top.
 

kelogz08

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But does the diet have something to do with the pyramiding?
 

wellington

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OMG, I think we keep posting at the same time. Too funny.
In the second pic, he does look very slightly pyramided. I would try to raise the day time humidity to 80%. It's not bad and as he grows, if kept humid it may even itself out.
Just an FYI. I am raising a leopard that I hatched. He hatched in 80+ humidity and is being raised in a closed chamber with high humidity, again 80%+ and he still has pyramiding on his very top scutes. I don't know if it's the species that makes some harder to grow smooth or just the particular tort. All we can do is our best. If we do our best to raise them properly, thrn even if they pyramid a little, at least we know they should be healthy, because we raised them to the best we can
 

teresaf

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It's not the diet causing pyramiding. Humidity. I had issues with my torts temp/humidity gauge. It was one of the button type and would read obviously wrong sometimes. It was probably wrong all the time...now I use this one I attached a pic of.
 

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kelogz08

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In a closed chamber using a 75 gallon fish tank, i am using a 25w halogen lamp which gives a basking spot of 96-105 degrees with the other end of the tank being 85-87 degrees. I do not use any night heat because the temp inside the tank is 74-76 degrees. The inside glass panels of the fish tank is always moist and perspiring with water vapor that is why i am sure that the humidity is high. I am using a dial type hygrometer/thermometer. I had a digital once before but they always have the same reading
 

kelogz08

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I also give my tort daily soaks of 15-30 minutes. Sometimes twice per day
 

teresaf

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In a closed chamber using a 75 gallon fish tank, i am using a 25w halogen lamp which gives a basking spot of 96-105 degrees with the other end of the tank being 85-87 degrees. I do not use any night heat because the temp inside the tank is 74-76 degrees. The inside glass panels of the fish tank is always moist and perspiring with water vapor that is why i am sure that the humidity is high. I am using a dial type hygrometer/thermometer. I had a digital once before but they always have the same reading
The dial type are not reliable under high humidity applications because moisture can get into the mechanism and short it out a bit. Compare it with a digital one that has a remote probe that you drop into tank leaving the mechanism outside and you'll see the numbers are different... you're probably right about the humidity being good with it fogging up the glass... you're daytime temps may be a bit high though. Try for 80 cool side and 100 basking. Night should probably be closer to 80. I don't have these torts but high humidity usually requires high heat.
 

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kelogz08

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Thanks. I'll order that hygrometer. I have checked the caresheet of the radiateds and it says that it is ok to have night temps to drop to 70's at night. The tort does have a humid hide where he usually hides and the temp inside is low 80's
 

Tom

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In a closed chamber using a 75 gallon fish tank, i am using a 25w halogen lamp which gives a basking spot of 96-105 degrees with the other end of the tank being 85-87 degrees. I do not use any night heat because the temp inside the tank is 74-76 degrees. The inside glass panels of the fish tank is always moist and perspiring with water vapor that is why i am sure that the humidity is high. I am using a dial type hygrometer/thermometer. I had a digital once before but they always have the same reading

Just a few things I can make an educated guess about:
1. Your tortoise is not "starting" to pyramid. It was already pyramiding a long time ago. The more recent growth that has occurred while the tortoise has been in your care look like it is coming in smoother. This being the case, I would change nothing. You appear to be on the right track.
2. Despite how I just ended number one, I think your night temps are too low. I would use a CHE set on a thermostat and keep the over night low closer to 80 ish.
3. Are your lights on top, or inside the enclosure? If on top, they are creating a chimney effect that is drying out your tortoise.
4. I think 60% humidity is a little too low if pyramiding prevention/reduction is your goal.
5. Water condensation on the glass is a function of the glass being cooler than the ambient air inside the enclosure. It is not necessarily an indicator that conditions are correct. It is an indicator that the room is cooler than the inside of your enclosure.
 

Markw84

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In a closed chamber using a 75 gallon fish tank, i am using a 25w halogen lamp which gives a basking spot of 96-105 degrees with the other end of the tank being 85-87 degrees. I do not use any night heat because the temp inside the tank is 74-76 degrees. The inside glass panels of the fish tank is always moist and perspiring with water vapor that is why i am sure that the humidity is high. I am using a dial type hygrometer/thermometer. I had a digital once before but they always have the same reading
Agree with @Tom 's comments.
I don't like halogen lights for basking and that may be a bit of a problem that could contribute to pyramiding. They give off too much light weighted towards the reds in the spectrum and give off very strong "very near-IR" as their form of heat. I feel the closer the IR emitted is to visible light, the more desiccating it is. (the shorter the wavelength - the more energy the photons carry.) That drying from that type heat, could be leading to a tendency to pyramid. Halogen is fairly unique in giving off more red in it's light, but almost all the IR it emits peaks around 800-900nm. So it is a very desiccating type of heat being generated. We know how desiccating incandescent light is, but it's IR peaks around 1100nm and gradually slopes to 2500nm. I feel that is bad, but halogen's IR peaks at about 900nm and ALL if it is in the 750-1000nm range. So it is ALL very near-IR.
 

kelogz08

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Wow thanks for the scientific explanation. Im still trying to absorb it tho. So, how about using the CHE to heat up the basking area?

@Tom
The lights are inside the chamber attached to the "ceiling" of the enclosure. Making sure that there are no drafts

I am going to order a more reliable hygrometer

Thanks guys for all your help
 
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