How are we doing now

[fluffybubble66]

When I first got Tom 2 years ago he hadn't had the best start and i didn't know as much as I should so he had some rapid growth and pyramiding. I'm hoping its stopped now but is there any way to tell if I have it under control now? I'm bathing every few days. Humidy around 60, temps 30 hot end 24 cold end. Soil and coco choir with edible bedding in a moss hide. Uv amazonian tube on 12 hours off 12 hours. Heather on a thermostat and ambient light on 12 off 12. Terracotta water bowl, slate to feed on. Shell sized portion of weeds and mixed salad leaves every day with Cucumber for his nutrobol once a week. Are we doing OK now?

 

[Tom]

When I first got Tom 2 years ago he hadn't had the best start and i didn't know as much as I should so he had some rapid growth and pyramiding. I'm hoping its stopped now but is there any way to tell if I have it under control now? I'm bathing every few days. Humidy around 60, temps 30 hot end 24 cold end. Soil and coco choir with edible bedding in a moss hide. Uv amazonian tube on 12 hours off 12 hours. Heather on a thermostat and ambient light on 12 off 12. Terracotta water bowl, slate to feed on. Shell sized portion of weeds and mixed salad leaves every day with Cucumber for his nutrobol once a week. Are we doing OK now?

Well.. you asked, and I believe honesty is the best policy, so in answer to your question, I have to say: "Not so good."

I will leave the threads with the correct care info and temps at the bottom of this reply, but I'll also go down the list and point out the problems I see. This is intended to help you and your tortoise. It is in no way an insult or attack. We are friendly here and just want to help people and their tortoises, but if no one tells you what is wrong, you can't fix it.
1. Rapid growth is fine. I don't care about the speed of growth. What matters is the quality of growth. Pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. It is not caused by rapid growth. Are you using a tortoise table, or other open topped enclosure? There is no way to maintain the correct growing conditions for a baby with an open topped enclosure. It lets all the necessary heat and humidity right up and out. That is like trying to heat your home in winter with no roof on it. Its impossible. You need a viv.
2. I would soak every day if you are trying to stop pyramiding in progress.
3. Humidity needs to be over 80% if you are trying to stop pyramiding. This species doesn't normally need it that high, but stopping pyramiding is difficult and requires higher humidity.
4. Basking temperature directly under the bulb needs to be around 36-37C. 24C is fine for ambient. Overnight low of 18-20C is good.
5. Soil should never be used for tortoise substrate. No sand either. Coco coir is fine but it needs to be kept damp and firmly hand packed. You need 3-4 inches of it after hand packing it down.
6. Edible bedding and moss should never be used. Moss will be eaten and it can cause impaction.
7. The UV tube should only be on for 3-4 hours. 6 hours tops. 12 hours is unnatural and unnecessary. It doesn't happen that way outside anywhere in the world. Your basking bulb and your ambient lighting should be on for 12 hours a day.
8. I would put the slate under the basking bulb, and get a second terra cotta saucer for food. It keeps the food out of the substrate and the substrate out of the food a little better.
9. Shell sized portions are probably not enough. Tortoises are grazers and need to be able to graze freely all day. Use more weeds and less grocery store greens.

Here is that care info I mentioned earlier. There is a heating/lighting breakdown and a temperate species care sheet near the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome! You have just got excellent advice from Tom. We would all like to see your little tortoise do well so please try to follow it. Thanks!

 

[fluffybubble66]

Thanks for the comments. Perhaps i didnt make it clear, hes 3 and hes had rhe pyramiding and rapid growth for a while and i am trying to stop it from getting worse and tbh it didnt look like it was worsening but i thought id check in to see if others could spot anything new i should be worried about. What's concerning though is I posted here originally when i identified the issues and I was told that a 3 year old needed humidity of around 60% which I did and I was told moss would help with the hunidity which tbf it did. I was told to bath every few days which im doing. I was also told on to mix the choir I was originally using on its own with soil and now I'm bieng told to go back to what I was originally doing?
I was told the uv was a replacement for daylight as Tom isn't near a windows so it should be on in daylight hours now I'm bieng told a few hours. Tom is in a viv as I was told that was the best way to maintain heat. In summary I did everything I was told last time and now I'm bieng told something completely different again. I'm trying to do ny best here but with all the conflicting advice it's very difficult to keep up!

 

[Yvonne G]

How confusing for you. I have no idea who responded to your original post, but bear in mind, anyone can respond to posts on here - brand new members, members with incorrect knowledge, experienced members. I suggest you follow Tom's advice, and also read the care sheets he linked for you. Your three year old needed a humid environment to stop the pyramiding.

 

[_The_Beast_]

What's concerning though is I posted here originally when i identified the issues and I was told that a 3 year old needed humidity of around 60% which I did and I was told moss would help with the hunidity which tbf it did. I was told to bath every few days which im doing. I was also told on to mix the choir I was originally using on its own with soil and now I'm bieng told to go back to what I was originally doing?
I was told the uv was a replacement for daylight as Tom isn't near a windows so it should be on in daylight hours now I'm bieng told a few hours. Tom is in a viv as I was told that was the best way to maintain heat. In summary I did everything I was told last time and now I'm bieng told something completely different again. I'm trying to do ny best here but with all the conflicting advice it's very difficult to keep up!

It's really difficult to find good, clear guidance on proper tort care on the internet. This forum, and the care sheets in particular, are a really great resource.

I'm curious, when you say you posted previously, do you mean you posted previously on this forum or another forum? If another forum, do you recall which one? In your previous posts on this forum from May 2023, it looks like you received very similar advice to what Tom shared above, as Tom also replied to your earlier posts.

I appreciate the frustrated feeling of struggling to get things as perfect as possible for your tort and you clearly care a lot about them. Care recommendations do evolve over time as our knowledge of these little dudes evolves. I'm glad you came back here to check in on your torts care. Thank you for sharing the pics as well! I have a Russian too and I love seeing how their shell patterns develop as they grow. Mine is just four months old now and I'm working to ensure that the pyramiding my hatchling came with doesn't get any worse. One month in and the new growth is much smoother!