14 month leo pyramiding

[buckey]

View attachment 10568Hello, I am Buckey and I live in North Mississippi.
I traded 2 Bearded Dragons for a 14 month old Leopard Tortoise. I built a 8ft by 8ft 2 by 12 outdoor enclosure for the daytime. It has plenty of shade and a hide house. I have edible plants and grass in his area. It comes inside at night. My question is... It has some pyramiding what do I need to do to stop it so it doesnt get any worse? I have red that keeping them moist will stop it. But I have also red that keeping moist isnt good for Leopards. I have also red "The End Of Pyramiding 2" and "Hydration vs Humidity" Still confused on what to do.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Providing a good diet and when inside keeping the humidity around 80% should get you on the right track, you will get more help with this but good luck...

 

[ascott]

Hi....I believe that;

Good diet (varied)
Good hydration
Micro climates within enclosure (dry/moist/sunny/shady)
Slow and steady growth

All play a viable role in a healthy...smooth...thriving tortoise ....

 

[Laura]

very high dome... nice.
Does he have a humid hide? do you soak?
What is the diet?

 

[buckey]

very high dome... nice.
Does he have a humid hide? do you soak?
What is the diet?

I soak him twice a week for 30 mins.
He is eating the grass in the yard and I have petunias and violets growing in his enclosure so far.
Will be adding a humid hide in the morning.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[Neal]

Hello,

I'm glad to see you are keeping him outside during the day. That is by far one of the best things you can do for a tortoise of any age.

The tortoise has very nice coloring. I can't see the extent of the pyramiding in the picture, but it looks about average. In my opinion, at that size, he's not going to benefit too much from a humid hide as far as the pyramiding continuing. I would recommend keeping a water dish inside his enclosure that's deep enough for him to soak in. I would also force soak him at least every other day at that size.

 

[Tom]

This was written for baby sulcatas, but I house my leopards exactly the same way. It will not have as much of an effect on a 14 month old, but it won't hurt either. And I agree with Neal. Outside time, good.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies#axzz1UkVsB09N

 

[buckey]

Thanks everyone for the help so far. Here is a better pic of the pyramiding and his outdoor habitat. This weekend I am thinking about adding another 8ft to the length. I want to have more plants and a maybe some kind of shrub.

 

[wrmitchell22]

He is a gorgeous little tort If you can add a few more plants for a natural shadey area that would be great also and continue soaking him I don't have a Leopard, but I use Toms care sheet as a guide for my Sulcata. Do I see a sulcata in the bottom of the 2nd pic?

 

[buckey]

Thanks wr and al. Yes that is a sulcata. He is 15yrs old.

 

[Countrymouse]

Good job on researching requirements for your tortoise!!
Your care seems to be really good, although you don't mention specifics re. diet. I agree that housing your leopard tortoise outside when possible is excellent.
I'm a bit nervous about humidity requirements for these guys as I've heard conflicitng information from almost no humidity, to a fair amount of it.
I keep my youngster in a dry habitat, but do offer drinking water and soak every couple of days. He get outside for 3 - 4 hrs. a day, but spends all of his outdoor time in his hide, so I'm not sure if there's any advantage in putting him outside.
One thing that I don't notice anybody commenting on thus far, is that the Leopard tortoise is one species that exibits pyramidding even in it's natural habitat. This would seem to indicate that certain individuals MAY experience pyramidding under even the most ideal conditions.
Would love to hear thoughts from other Leopard owners on this.

Hello, I am Buckey and I live in North Mississippi.
I traded 2 Bearded Dragons for a 14 month old Leopard Tortoise. I built a 8ft by 8ft 2 by 12 outdoor enclosure for the daytime. It has plenty of shade and a hide house. I have edible plants and grass in his area. It comes inside at night. My question is... It has some pyramiding what do I need to do to stop it so it doesnt get any worse? I have red that keeping them moist will stop it. But I have also red that keeping moist isnt good for Leopards. I have also red "The End Of Pyramiding 2" and "Hydration vs Humidity" Still confused on what to do.

 

[Neal]

Good job on researching requirements for your tortoise!!
Your care seems to be really good, although you don't mention specifics re. diet. I agree that housing your leopard tortoise outside when possible is excellent.
I'm a bit nervous about humidity requirements for these guys as I've heard conflicitng information from almost no humidity, to a fair amount of it.
I keep my youngster in a dry habitat, but do offer drinking water and soak every couple of days. He get outside for 3 - 4 hrs. a day, but spends all of his outdoor time in his hide, so I'm not sure if there's any advantage in putting him outside.
One thing that I don't notice anybody commenting on thus far, is that the Leopard tortoise is one species that exibits pyramidding even in it's natural habitat. This would seem to indicate that certain individuals MAY experience pyramidding under even the most ideal conditions.
Would love to hear thoughts from other Leopard owners on this.

I have said often that I don't think pyramiding in and of itself debilitates the tortoise at all, and debate-ably isn't an indication of improper husbandry or bad health.

You are right, this does happen in the wild. Not as much with the south African variety it seems, but the east African type of leopards appear to be more prone to pyramiding, even in the wild. Why it happens, who can say conclusively. For the time being all we have is anecdotal information.

 

[tczar]

I think he looks great, cant wait to get one, looking for a baby now.

 

[Countrymouse]

Thank you for your reply, I am enjoying this thread.
I find that it seems more difficult to acquire researched info. on Leopards than it is for Redfoots etc. For that reason, I avoided getting a Leopard Tortoise for years, even though I'd ALWAYS wanted one.
I have two Redfoots, one of which I've owned for almost 27 yrs., the other I just recently purchased as a hatchling.
I then had one of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities to purchase a 12 mos.old Leopard Tortoise at a great price.
He/she has a bit of pyramidding and I'm exploring all avenues to see if I can "nip it in the bud".
After finding this site, I'm intrigued at the info. re. high humidity, most other literature indicates the opposite. Your experience makes a good argument for increased humidity, but I'm trying to relate that to the secies "natural" environment. Am I correct in saying they don't burrow, so wouldn't experience humid conditions there.... what would be the humidity source in the wild?
I'm not a "nay sayer" just trying to understand why increased humidity would have positive results for a species indigenous to arid environments.
I'm one of those people that drives everyone else crazy because I always have to know WHY before accepting anything.

Good job on researching requirements for your tortoise!!
Your care seems to be really good, although you don't mention specifics re. diet. I agree that housing your leopard tortoise outside when possible is excellent.
I'm a bit nervous about humidity requirements for these guys as I've heard conflicitng information from almost no humidity, to a fair amount of it.
I keep my youngster in a dry habitat, but do offer drinking water and soak every couple of days. He get outside for 3 - 4 hrs. a day, but spends all of his outdoor time in his hide, so I'm not sure if there's any advantage in putting him outside.
One thing that I don't notice anybody commenting on thus far, is that the Leopard tortoise is one species that exibits pyramidding even in it's natural habitat. This would seem to indicate that certain individuals MAY experience pyramidding under even the most ideal conditions.
Would love to hear thoughts from other Leopard owners on this.

I have said often that I don't think pyramiding in and of itself debilitates the tortoise at all, and debate-ably isn't an indication of improper husbandry or bad health.

You are right, this does happen in the wild. Not as much with the south African variety it seems, but the east African type of leopards appear to be more prone to pyramiding, even in the wild. Why it happens, who can say conclusively. For the time being all we have is anecdotal information.

 

[tyler0912]

Welcome.