Is My RT Pyramiding?

[p-lizzle]

I took Aioki outside and was filming him roam around. When I was going back to edit the footage, I noticed his shell looked a bit lumpy. I wasn't sure if this was normal or the start of pyramiding.

I've been doing everything I can to make sure he's in the best condition (and I've only had him for 2 weeks come Sunday) I keep his enclosure at 85-90 Fahrenheit for his basking spot, 75-80 on the cool side, and 50% humidity.

For food, I usually give him a mix of collard greens and dandelion greens(with repti-calcium on it), and he has a little succulent in his enclosure that he eats off of every now and again, and whenever we go outside he'll usually eat a little grass and dandelions that I have in my garden (we've owned this house for 16 years and have never used pesticides in the garden so I just let him do him).

He gets 1-2 hours outside a day, weather permitting, and will get more when his outdoor enclosure is finished (I just follow him closely while he wanders the backyard, literally I just crawl behind him for an hour I'm a helicopter mum)

Am I doing everything right to prevent pyramiding? And if he is pyramiding, is there a way to reverse it?

 

[Jennifer M]

Some of the more experienced keepers will probably chime in soon. What's the age and size of Aioki?

 

[Korall]

Hard to tell.
I have heard that bumpy shells are common among russians although I do not know for sure.

 

[WithLisa]

Yes, he's very slightly pyramided, but that's definitely not a health issue.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Lisa. What is there now grew that way years ago. There is nothing anyone can do about it now. You can offer a humid hide and soak him a few times a week to ensure that any new growth comes in smoother.

Your tortoise needs a lot more variety in the diet. A LOT more. Collards and dandelions are a good thing to add as apart of a varied diet, but neither should be a daily staple. Broadleaf weeds should make up the bulk of the daily diet with some leaves, flowers and succulents making up the majority of the rest.

I wrote this for sulcatas, so just skip all the text and scroll down to the food list:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole more heavily, but use lots of variety. Add in some mustard greens, turnip greens, cilantro, carrot tops, celery tops, water cress, squash leaves, etc… Don't be surprised if your tortoise ignores these new foods at first. It will likely take time, effort, and a little hunger to get him or her to branch out and expand his/her dietary horizons.