It's been a while since we visited this subject. A couple of years ago I would have bet that Ponce (m.e.e.) would have serious problems in the future because his front leg scales were becoming severely "pine-coned". He's been living outdoors full-time for about three years now and those front scales have completely normalized.
Vic Morgan theorized back in 2014 that pine-coning happens only in captivity because our torts don't forage for food and they just get fat, with the extra fat building up between scales and forcing them outwards. I'm now convinced that Vic is right.
In our case, since Ponce moved outside to a fairly decent sized area (50 ft. X 30 ft) he is very active and walks the perimeter many times each day even though food is plentiful. His diet has not changed much, although the quantities have increased as he's grown. The scales now look like they would in the wild.
Anyone else had this experience?
Vic Morgan theorized back in 2014 that pine-coning happens only in captivity because our torts don't forage for food and they just get fat, with the extra fat building up between scales and forcing them outwards. I'm now convinced that Vic is right.
In our case, since Ponce moved outside to a fairly decent sized area (50 ft. X 30 ft) he is very active and walks the perimeter many times each day even though food is plentiful. His diet has not changed much, although the quantities have increased as he's grown. The scales now look like they would in the wild.
Anyone else had this experience?