Shell growth and pyramiding

RedHeadMama

New Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
10
So I've had Lily the Redfoot for about six months and she is laying down new shell every week. We keep her in an aquarium at the moment (first tortoise table we built was a disastrous failure, going to build another when the kids are back in school) so as to maximize her humidity (it runs 75-80% most days, 60%ish nights). She gets 1/2 dose of calcium twice a week and reptivite twice a week; every other day eats some Mazuri, mixed greens, dandilions, fruits and vegetables, the occasional crickets (her tankmates), and on non-feeding days gets a good long warm soak. She spends time outside maybe three days a week, more when it's humid enough, so she gets clover and bugs/worms, roses/rose leaves, hibiscus, etc. then.

My concern is, she had some minor pyramiding and uneven shell from her previous homes (the last one had her for a year and she didn't grow at all in that time), and the new shell she's accumulating with us although it's pretty smooth seems to be raised above the last shell she grew (see pictures below). Is this normal or something to be concerned about? I don't want to set her up for health problems since she seems to be getting on so well.

Thanks! IMG_0433.JPG IMG_0434.JPG IMG_0435.JPG
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
She doesn't look bad at all. As she grow she will look smoother and eventually you probably won't notice any pyramiding at all.
The bigger problem is the tort bring in an aquarium that most likely is way too small. If they can't get enough exercise, they will not grow their leg muscles properly and will not be able to walk properly. I had to rehab a leopard with this same situation, too small of an enclosure and couldn't walk. I large puppy exercise pen for daily outside time will do for now and then bring her back in at night for sleeping in the aquarium. The torts don't care about looks, but they do about space.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
That's old pyramiding and it's surrounded by quick, healthy growth.
It will never look perfectly smooth. But that is within the realm of normal.
Please be advised that I've kept a few crickets living with animals that eat crickets and once the crickets reproduced and ate the animal that was supposed to eat them. A Jackson's Chameleon.
I would not let crickets stay in that aquarium with your tortoise. They stink. They bite. The reproduce and they escape, chirp and keep you awake.
This is my herd. You can see different degrees of pyramiding and a few that are smooth.
They all live in tropical, steamy Florida. But the pyramiding that they arrived with will never go away.
 

Attachments

  • 20170705_150105.jpg
    20170705_150105.jpg
    4.5 MB · Views: 24
Top