Something I would like to here others opinions on so I can get my own train of thought correct please.
Regarding pyramiding, there are generally 2 thoughts on the subject to stop pyramiding from happening, some say diet, some say hydration.
Actually I think we all agree on the hydration part, methods of hydration can be different from high humidity to forced soaks. For this discussion we don't need to get bogged down with hydration methods.
The diet related to pyramiding gets kicked out so easy "it has nothing to do with pyramiding". I'm struggling to understand why the diet is not part of the pyramiding problem as well as hydration.
I'll ATTEMPT to explain my thoughts on the subject.
In captivity our torts get food fed to them on a plate, I don't mean literally on a plate, they have a good rich food source supplied to them every day, not like in the wild where times can be hard, when times are good in the wild maybe it's still never as good as what we offer 365 days of the yr in captivity. If our torts in captivity are getting more rich foods than what naturally happens in the wild then they must be growing faster in captivity.
Hydration and growth rate must go hand in hand. When it's dry and arid in the wild the growth slows right down, maybe even stop. When it's wet and foods are in abundance they grow faster with good hydration.
If hydration and growth rate have to have a ratio to grow a smooth tortoise then diet must come into it because diet dictates growth rate.
So let's say soaking our torts every day is the ultimate way of hydrating our torts, this soaking method may overcome our overfeeding of rich foods in captivity. Yeah the tort grows fast because of an abundance of rich foods, but we are also keeping up with the fast growth by providing soaks to keep them well hydrated.
If another keeper is very cautious and only feeds their tortoise foods that are not rich(and maybe even limit the amount) then the tort grows very slowly, this keeper may get away with just having good humidity to keep the hydration in line with growth rate.
If I lived in Columbia and had wild hatchling redfoots wandering on my land in their natural habitat, and I started putting piles of rich foods down, like kale,bananas and chicken this must have an impact on their natural hydration to growth ratio, I've just upset the balance by giving them foods to grow too fast in their climate.
Lets say I owned a plot of land in Majorca where hatchling Hermann's wandered on my land and I started putting piles of alfalfa, broccoli, kale, spinach and the odd strawberry down, surely I've just increased their growth rate and taken the growth rate out of their natural growth to hydration ratio.
In both these cases have I just introduced the chance of pyramiding in wild torts?
The worst case would be to offer these foods during the dry season and the best case would be to offer these foods during wet season to the wild hatchlings wandering on my land.
If I picked up these hatchlings on my land and soaked them every day for 15mins, have I just corrected my introducing rich foods so the hydration to growth ratio is back on par.
Thanks.
Regarding pyramiding, there are generally 2 thoughts on the subject to stop pyramiding from happening, some say diet, some say hydration.
Actually I think we all agree on the hydration part, methods of hydration can be different from high humidity to forced soaks. For this discussion we don't need to get bogged down with hydration methods.
The diet related to pyramiding gets kicked out so easy "it has nothing to do with pyramiding". I'm struggling to understand why the diet is not part of the pyramiding problem as well as hydration.
I'll ATTEMPT to explain my thoughts on the subject.
In captivity our torts get food fed to them on a plate, I don't mean literally on a plate, they have a good rich food source supplied to them every day, not like in the wild where times can be hard, when times are good in the wild maybe it's still never as good as what we offer 365 days of the yr in captivity. If our torts in captivity are getting more rich foods than what naturally happens in the wild then they must be growing faster in captivity.
Hydration and growth rate must go hand in hand. When it's dry and arid in the wild the growth slows right down, maybe even stop. When it's wet and foods are in abundance they grow faster with good hydration.
If hydration and growth rate have to have a ratio to grow a smooth tortoise then diet must come into it because diet dictates growth rate.
So let's say soaking our torts every day is the ultimate way of hydrating our torts, this soaking method may overcome our overfeeding of rich foods in captivity. Yeah the tort grows fast because of an abundance of rich foods, but we are also keeping up with the fast growth by providing soaks to keep them well hydrated.
If another keeper is very cautious and only feeds their tortoise foods that are not rich(and maybe even limit the amount) then the tort grows very slowly, this keeper may get away with just having good humidity to keep the hydration in line with growth rate.
If I lived in Columbia and had wild hatchling redfoots wandering on my land in their natural habitat, and I started putting piles of rich foods down, like kale,bananas and chicken this must have an impact on their natural hydration to growth ratio, I've just upset the balance by giving them foods to grow too fast in their climate.
Lets say I owned a plot of land in Majorca where hatchling Hermann's wandered on my land and I started putting piles of alfalfa, broccoli, kale, spinach and the odd strawberry down, surely I've just increased their growth rate and taken the growth rate out of their natural growth to hydration ratio.
In both these cases have I just introduced the chance of pyramiding in wild torts?
The worst case would be to offer these foods during the dry season and the best case would be to offer these foods during wet season to the wild hatchlings wandering on my land.
If I picked up these hatchlings on my land and soaked them every day for 15mins, have I just corrected my introducing rich foods so the hydration to growth ratio is back on par.
Thanks.