Sulcata Slow Growth Concern

[FredTV]

I have had my baby sulcate for a little over 4 months. When I first bought (more like rescued) him from a pet store he was pretty small but already had some minor pyramiding (shown in the first two pictures at the pet store). If I remember correctly the pet store employees said their tortoises were around 3 or so months which would make my hatchling about 7 months old. He is still relatively small and is still the size of the palm of my hand. The areas in between his scoots show growth but he still seems so small. I feed him a varied diet of weeds and grasses with the occasional cucumber and carrots. I try my best to soak him in warm water once a day for about 30 min. I still see a bit of pyramiding trying to form and I just need some wise input. His enclosure is very well heated and humid also.

 

[Pawciorc]

HI,
Comparing the last picture to the petshop ones you can easily see the new dark growth. I do not think you have to worry about. Tortoises do not grow as fast as cats or dogs. Get yourself an accurate scale and check his/her weight once or twice a month. It will give you better indication of torts development.

 

[JoesMum]

HI,
Comparing the last picture to the petshop ones you can easily see the new dark growth. I do not think you have to worry about. Tortoises do not grow as fast as cats or dogs. Get yourself an accurate scale and check his/her weight once or twice a month. It will give you better indication of torts development.

I agree. Better slow and smooth than fast and pyramidded

 

[Tom]

Stopping pyramiding in progress is much harder than preventing pyramiding in the first place. Long daily soaks, shell spraying several times a day, a humid closed chamber enclosure, and a humid hide will all help.

I would add some Mazuri to your diet rotation. Once or twice a week.

 

[FredTV]

Stopping pyramiding in progress is much harder than preventing pyramiding in the first place. Long daily soaks, shell spraying several times a day, a humid closed chamber enclosure, and a humid hide will all help.

I would add some Mazuri to your diet rotation. Once or twice a week.

The Mazuri, my tort will not touch anything in pellet form. How do I go about that?

 

[Sara G.]

Which Mazuri are you trying?
I think most people have success with the regular stuff, not the LS.

And try soaking it in water and mushing it up over his regular food. That way he has to eat it to get to the other stuff.

 

[Tom]

The Mazuri, my tort will not touch anything in pellet form. How do I go about that?

Get "regular" or "original" Mazuri. Don't get "Mazuri LS".

Soak one pellet in a little water and then mash it all up with the days greens. Gradually add more over weeks and months.

Most tortoises love the stuff, and its a good food too.

 

[jockma]

This is all due to word-of-mouth so there isn't any actual scientific information regarding this, but I read about others reducing/halting pyramiding by mounting heat lamps higher and this did seem to help with my RF's pyramiding.

The idea is that pyramiding gets worse with heat lamps mounted lower because the heat isn't spread out as evenly, so it dries out the pyramided scutes and causes the pyramiding to worsen. Getting smooth NEW growth was extremely easy for me with proper humidity, getting the existing pyramiding to stop pyramiding was much harder.

 

[kalei01]

Get "regular" or "original" Mazuri. Don't get "Mazuri LS".

Soak one pellet in a little water and then mash it all up with the days greens. Gradually add more over weeks and months.

Most tortoises love the stuff, and its a good food too.

I also got a question on my sulcata when I let him outside he walks all over the place and eats and walks some more and so on but in enclosure mostly sleeps he is supposedly 3 months old 58 grams and 2.5 inches guessing on size did weigh him any ways since I introduced zoomed gourmet blend for grassland tortoises he is not as interested in the spring mix from store but eats a good portion of the zoomed as well as picked weeds from outside I keep his enclosure betweven 85-90 during day with 60-70% humidity and have thermostats set for 78 at night and about same humidity I just want to make sure I am nothe doing anything wrong before anything happens he does get soaks every other day

 

[Tom]

I also got a question on my sulcata when I let him outside he walks all over the place and eats and walks some more and so on but in enclosure mostly sleeps he is supposedly 3 months old 58 grams and 2.5 inches guessing on size did weigh him any ways since I introduced zoomed gourmet blend for grassland tortoises he is not as interested in the spring mix from store but eats a good portion of the zoomed as well as picked weeds from outside I keep his enclosure betweven 85-90 during day with 60-70% humidity and have thermostats set for 78 at night and about same humidity I just want to make sure I am nothe doing anything wrong before anything happens he does get soaks every other day

Sounds pretty close, but what is the basking temperature directly under the bulb?

I would go a little more humid, and just a little warmer at night until he gets a little bigger. Set the thermostat for 80ish.

 

[kalei01]

ok

Sounds pretty close, but what is the basking temperature directly under the bulb?

I would go a little more humid, and just a little warmer at night until he gets a little bigger. Set the thermostat for 80ish.

okay I will make the change

 

[kalei01]

ok

okay I will make the change

not sure what the basking temp is

 

[Stuart S.]

The Mazuri, my tort will not touch anything in pellet form. How do I go about that?

Just to reiterate what others have already said, stay away from the Mazuri LS and the Small Tortoise, neither worked for my little guy, I had to do some digging until I finally came across the original pellets and when soaked in water they work like a charm.

 

[kalei01]

after reading about Mazuri Tortoise food and comparing it to ZooMeds grassland tortoise gourmet food I feel it is better than Mazuri it comes with freeze dried sweet potatoes and carrots with dried flowers as well that can be rehydrated before feeding

 

[teresaf]

Perhaps but they absolutely love the original Mazuri. and it doesn't really matter but I really don't think you're little 3 or 7 month old is really that young. Pet stores don't want you to know that they're selling an older animal so they'll say it's a baby tugging on your Heartstrings. judging by the amount of pyramiding I would say it was a couple years old. Still a baby but not a new hatchling. Judging by your first pictures I believe it would be incredibly hard to get that much pyramiding on a three month old baby.

 

[teresaf]

I think the best way of getting rid of the pyramiding is keeping the humidity really high when the temperature above 80 in the cool area Of his habitat. it's already well known that the button humidity/temp detectors that hang on the walls are very unreliable and inconsistent. especially in high humidity applications. you can find off of Amazon a digital temperatu/humidity detector that comes with a 3 ft cord with a probe at the end. you just put the probe into the terrarium at the right height and the mechanical part will stay dry and is proven to be very correct and reliable. They cost $12

 

[Tom]

after reading about Mazuri Tortoise food and comparing it to ZooMeds grassland tortoise gourmet food I feel it is better than Mazuri it comes with freeze dried sweet potatoes and carrots with dried flowers as well that can be rehydrated before feeding

No one is ever impressed with the ingredients list of Mazuri. Everyone is impressed with the results from feeding it to their tortoise though… Just sayin'…

I wouldn't use the "Gourmet" stuff anyway. Carrots and sweet potato aren't great for a sulcata anyway. Buy the regular ZooMed Grassland food next time.

 

[Big Charlie]

I also got a question on my sulcata when I let him outside he walks all over the place and eats and walks some more and so on but in enclosure mostly sleeps he is supposedly 3 months old 58 grams and 2.5 inches guessing on size did weigh him any ways since I introduced zoomed gourmet blend for grassland tortoises he is not as interested in the spring mix from store but eats a good portion of the zoomed as well as picked weeds from outside I keep his enclosure betweven 85-90 during day with 60-70% humidity and have thermostats set for 78 at night and about same humidity I just want to make sure I am nothe doing anything wrong before anything happens he does get soaks every other day

The weeds are better for him than spring mix. My 18 year old sulcata walks all over of the place, eats, and walks some more, pretty much for hours when it is warm. That is natural for them, being grazers. He lives entirely on the things growing in our yard, mostly grass and weeds.

 

[kalei01]

No one is ever impressed with the ingredients list of Mazuri. Everyone is impressed with the results from feeding it to their tortoise though… Just sayin'…

I wouldn't use the "Gourmet" stuff anyway. Carrots and sweet potato aren't great for a sulcata anyway. Buy the regular ZooMed Grassland food next time.

it also includes dandelion greens and other vital greens for tortoises

 

[kalei01]

Zoo med benefits

• Blend of carrots, sweet potato, and hibiscus flower petals that your tortoise would naturally eat in the wild
• Natural food includes essential vitamins and minerals
• Also includes sun cured Timothy Hay, Escarole, Endive, and Dandelion greens to provide a fiber rich diet tortoises' need
• Contains no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
• Made in the USA!