Herman shell growth help!

[BibbidiBobbidi]

I've got a 4 year old Herman who I've had for two years.
The past couple of months her shell has been growing deformed at the back. I've taken her to an exotics vet who was no help at all. He didn't know what was wrong with her and said to go back in a few months to see if there's any changes!

I have booked her in with another vet on Tuesday to see if they're any better.

She lives in a tortoise table. The substrate I use is a topsoil/sand mix. I've got a 5% UVB strip bulb and a heat bulb attached to a thermostat.
Diet is a mixture of weeds that I can find and a bit of salad (only if I haven't gone out and picked anything) but she did have a few weeks of pellets through the winter.

I am currently in the process of building her an outdoor enclosure and she has had a few days out there, I do live in England so sunny days are rare!

Any suggestions as to what's happening and how I can fix it?

Thank you!

 

[teresaf]

@Yvonne G would be good for this question. I'm of the opinion though that he's being raised very dry. No soakings? Soaking definition: daily put tort in warm(95-100f) shallow water for 20-30 min.

Your basking lamp isn't too low is it? Measure temp at shell hight right under it. It shouldn't be higher than 100f

However, his problem is more than just the pyramiding that is present. MBD(Metabolic Bone Disease). You didn't mention calcium supplements. I use this pictured below. Just sprinkle over food twice a week and make sure he gets D3 from sun or lighting in order to process it. The damage that is done is irreversible unfortunately but changes now stop future damage...

 

[BibbidiBobbidi]

Thank you for replying!
I soak her once a week, she has calcium drops in her drinking water & nutrobal on her food at least once a week.
I'm not sure whether her UVB bulb isn't strong enough.

 

[teresaf]

Thank you for replying!
I soak her once a week, she has calcium drops in her drinking water & nutrobal on her food at least once a week.
I'm not sure whether her UVB bulb isn't strong enough.

I edited the post...uvb needs to be within 15 inches(ish) of torts shell and must be replaced every so often. Bulb will still burn but effectiveness of lighting wears off. A couple hours of real sun every couple days work too.

 

[BibbidiBobbidi]

Thank you.

I'll measure the temperature and raise the lamp it if it's not right.

 

[teresaf]

It's the D3 in lighting that allows tort to absorb calcium. I don't know that a coupe drops in soak water is enough.

 

[BibbidiBobbidi]

The drops are in the drinking water and I put nutrobal (calcium & vitamins) on the food. This is why I think it's the UVB bulb that's not strong enough. I'm thinking of upping it to a 12%

 

[BibbidiBobbidi]

I edited the post...uvb needs to be within 15 inches(ish) of torts shell and must be replaced every so often. Bulb will still burn but effectiveness of lighting wears off. A couple hours of real sun every couple days work too.

It's about 10 inches from the base of the table, replaced every 9-12 months. I've just rang my LPS and they've put aside a 10% one which I'm going to pick up later on today.

I feel so guilty that this has happened

 

[Yvonne G]

This is a perfect example of a tortoise being kept indoors (no sunshine), on the wrong substrate, fed an incorrect diet and living in a too small enclosure. She's overweight and her shell is deformed. In my opinion, the only thing that will help this tortoise is good old sunshine and being allowed to graze on weeds and plants. She will never look the way a Hermanni should look, but you can make her more healthy if you correct the way you care for her.

Please read the care sheet and make changes to your husbandry:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

 

[BibbidiBobbidi]

This is a perfect example of a tortoise being kept indoors (no sunshine), on the wrong substrate, fed an incorrect diet and living in a too small enclosure. She's overweight and her shell is deformed. In my opinion, the only thing that will help this tortoise is good old sunshine and being allowed to graze on weeds and plants. She will never look the way a Hermanni should look, but you can make her more healthy if you correct the way you care for her.

Please read the care sheet and make changes to your husbandry:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

Thank you!

I'm in the process of sorting out an outdoor enclosure for her, I've got some plug plants and weeds that I'm going to plant in there for her too.

It's good to know that once I've done that I'll have got things right!

 

[BibbidiBobbidi]

Just so I know, is it MBD?

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, but with calcium and sunshine it can be corrected (but the shell will never look 'normal.')

 

[BibbidiBobbidi]

Yes, but with calcium and sunshine it can be corrected (but the shell will never look 'normal.')

That's lovely thank you.

She will always be owned by me so the cosmetic factor of how she looks won't be an issue, I just want her to be healthy.