Testudoresearch said:I do not feel that it is very satisfactory to advance specific husbandry advice when you cannot adequately explain why a particular method works (or not). Guessing is not the same as explaining. You must be able to present a viable mechanism. That must be credible from both biological and physiological perspectives. In short, it must make scientific sense.
Here we are going to disagree. No it mustn't make sense or be fully explainable for it to be true. See my blue sky reference above. Things are either fact or they are not, someone's ability to scientifically explain every detail of it, or their lack of ability to do so, does not make the thing true or false. It would be NICE if it could be clearly explained, and again, I'm all ears here when you are ready to offer your explanation of "What is the physiology behind pyramiding", and fill in all the missing puzzle pieces.
Here again you wish to discuss various wild climate conditions and yet you dismiss thousands of obvious examples that prove points in both directions of this debate as anecdotal. Here is the thing about anecdotes, stereotypes, personal observations, etc: Sometimes they are accurate and true. Sure there are exceptions, but as another forum member noted, "sometimes the exception proves the rule."
Really Andy? You are now going to tell us that all of these sulcata and leopard tortoises raised in 80% humidity with ideal diets, regular soaks, lots of exercise and sunshine in outdoor enclosures, have "poor bone density - with fibrous lesions and poor mass." This is borderline offensive. Where is your evidence than any of my tortoises have any such thing going on? I'll tell you what. I will put my money where my mouth is: You send me the money to have ANY of my tortoises x-rayed and I will take them to the vet and then post the X-rays right here in public. Here is your chance to prove me wrong. Here is your chance to demonstrate with physical evidence that what you say is true. And if any of my tortoises have poor bone density, fibrous lesions or poor mass, I will eat my words, publicly apologize, and give you back your money. Then I will thank you for the education. What do I get if you are wrong and my tortoises are fine with healthy bone growth? I mean besides some free x-rays?Testudoresearch said:The problem is that you can have what appear to be very smooth tortoises externally, but which internally, have very poor bone mineral density - with fibrous lesions and poor mass.
So again... lets stop talking about what might or might not be happening in wild tortoise climates, and lets talk about pyramiding. Specifically, what causes it and how do we prevent it in our captive enclosures? I have found one way to prevent it, and yes it does prevent it even if the mechanism isn't known to me. If you have another way, I'd like to learn it and see it demonstrated. Please no more debate about who is right or wrong or phantom bone anomalies that you couldn't possibly know exist or not, or who is ignorant of wild conditions.
WHAT CAUSES PYRAMIDING AND WHAT METHOD DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR PREVENTING IT IN LEOPARD TORTOISES AND SULCATAS?