She looks healthy but has big ridges

Boiddude

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She's about 10 years old and has been inside till about a month ago. I feed her the tropical grass pellets 3 days then a bowl of mixed greens and back to 2 or 3 days of pellets. She's had a UV light off and on her whole life. I'm just wondering if I should be worried about her ridges.

I can't seem to upload a picture on here. ??
 

wellington

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At the bottom of the box you type your post in it says attach file. Click on that and follow the prompts.
In the mean time what kind of tortoise is she and enclose pictures of her set up and equipment or give a run down of what you use.
 

Yvonne G

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I think the ridges have to do with a rain forest species, that has evolved living in humid, warm conditions, being kept more like a desert tortoise. . . but I may be all wet because I don't know what species we're talkin' about here.
 

Boiddude

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At the bottom of the box you type your post in it says attach file. Click on that and follow the prompts.
In the mean time what kind of tortoise is she and enclose pictures of her set up and equipment or give a run down of what you use.
She's a leopard tortoise. Maybe it just doesn't work on a phone browser because I tried to attach but it won't upload. Her enclosure has changed dramatically. She was in a hundred gallon aquarium and has now been moved outdoors to a 5'x4' raised wooden box. I'm afraid to have her on the ground due to ant issues I'm constantly having and after having lost 2 to ants already.
 

Boiddude

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Her picture. Her head is partially wet that's why she looks odd.
 

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Yvonne G

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The tortoise is very dry. The ridges are just growth lines. If you give the tortoise more moisture in its living conditions it helps the shell grow smoothly.
 

Boiddude

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She has a big water dish she's in quite a bit. I'm in AZ so not sure how I'd bring up her humidity and still have her outdoors. Her enclosure is under a patio and in shade till late afternoon for an hour or 2.
 

Boiddude

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Honestly I've never been worried about her ridges till I got on here. I really meant her pyramidding not ridges. I'm reading that they feel pyramiding and health are related.
 

Boiddude

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This is her enclosure.
 

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Yvonne G

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This is her enclosure.
Yes, it's too dry and empty. Change the substrate to something you can moisten and add a couple of potted plants. Young tortoises never live out in the open like that. The plants help bring up humidity. And give her a safer feel.
 

wellington

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If that is sand she is on get rid of it and never use it. It causes impaction. Put her on coconut coir with orchid bark on top. Then get the coir wet. She also needs bigger then a 5x4 enclosure. A russian tort that stays much smaller then a leopard needs bigger then a 5x4.
Lots of people in AZ and TX anx other places that have fire ants but still keep their tortoises on the ground. There are safe ways to combat them. Food grade diatomaceous earth is one way that helps. Others may have more ways.
Yes your tort is pyramided because of being raised too dry from the start. Get the humidity up by adding the wet substrate and keeping it wet will help to stop it. Also if you could build her a humid hide for her to sleep in at night, that you lock her into. That should be 4x4 feet and look at Tom's night box threads for how to build it.
 

Boiddude

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If that is sand she is on get rid of it and never use it. It causes impaction. Put her on coconut coir with orchid bark on top. Then get the coir wet. She also needs bigger then a 5x4 enclosure. A russian tort that stays much smaller then a leopard needs bigger then a 5x4.
Lots of people in AZ and TX anx other places that have fire ants but still keep their tortoises on the ground. There are safe ways to combat them. Food grade diatomaceous earth is one way that helps. Others may have more ways.
Yes your tort is pyramided because of being raised too dry from the start. Get the humidity up by adding the wet substrate and keeping it wet will help to stop it. Also if you could build her a humid hide for her to sleep in at night, that you lock her into. That should be 4x4 feet and look at Tom's night box threads for how to build it.
It's actually a mixture of the coconut fiber and a little bit of sand. It's calcium based sand not regular sand. When she gets big enough the ideas to let her be in my backyard but right now she gets bullied too much by my dogs.
 

wellington

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Yes any sand get rid of. It causes impaction.
As for dogs, even as an adult she should never be where dogs can get too her. She will become their chew toy and get seriously injured or killed.
 

Boiddude

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I know a few people that have very big dogs and the tortoise is the one that chases the dogs around so I'm not worried about that.
 

Mrs.Jennifer

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Please hear this loud and clear: Dogs are dogs. We want them to be greater than their canine instincts call them to be, but we should not expect that. In addition, my trained therapy dog retrieved my tortoise out of its enclosure and brought it to me to garner my attention. Please know that everything is fine, until it’s not.
 

Boiddude

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Yes, it's too dry and empty. Change the substrate to something you can moisten and add a couple of potted plants. Young tortoises never live out in the open like that. The plants help bring up humidity. And give her a safer feel.
Just so you know it does have a lid on half of the enclosure so it's not wide open.
 

Boiddude

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Please hear this loud and clear: Dogs are dogs. We want them to be greater than their canine instincts call them to be, but we should not expect that. In addition, my trained therapy dog retrieved my tortoise out of its enclosure and brought it to me to garner my attention. Please know that everything is fine, until it’s not.
okay then when she gets big enough I'll have to move her to a part of my yard and try to fence it off. The fencing I used before I came up with the box idea they broke into and carried her out to the middle of the yard and I found her upside down. So this way they can't get to her, in the box.
 

Yvonne G

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Just so you know it does have a lid on half of the enclosure so it's not wide open.
You misunderstood. When I said 'wide open' I didn't mean a cover over the enclosure, I meant cover to hide the tortoise from predators. The reason one never sees baby tortoises in wildlife films is because they are never out in the open (like your enclosure is).
 

Lyn W

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This is the caresheet you need to help you put things right with the enclosure and help you make sure you have the right temps, substrate, humidity and diet etc.
Read that carefully and ask as many questions as you like.
As already mentioned sandy substrate can irritate eyes and skin and will cause the gut to become impacted which is very painful and can be fatal for your tort - there are much better options which you can keep moist (not soaking wet) which will help the humidity - the caresheet will tell you about that.
What bubs are you using for basking, uvb etc. and does your tort have a hide in his enclosure?

There are so many sad stories here about people who have lost torts when their usually placid and trusted family dog has been spooked by a tort or decided to play with it and inflicted horrific injuries, so please don't take that chance. Your friends may have been lucky so far but it's probably only a matter of time before that luck runs out.
 

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Other than nutritional issues, injuries from dogs are the #1 health issue tortoises face. Unfortunately, the most common outcome is death or euthanasia. Rarely are the injuries minor enough, the training of the veterinarian up the task and the pocket book of the owner in alignment to make treatment possible. Tortoises are defense-less--they can't outrun a dog and seek cover. Even in a mammal, bite wounds can be extremely serious and difficult to treat, often resulting in extensive debridement (removal) of affected tissue or limbs. In a tort, this is magnified many, many-fold--not only is it extremely difficult (and often impossible) to find someone capable of managing such injuries, but the unique anatomy of a tort often results in such wounds damaging the shell which can take years to heal and further may result in puncture wounds, external exposure and inoculation of soft internal organs with serious bacterial infections. As a result, treatment is often not possible and if attempted is often cost-prohibitive. Listen to the folks here. Until you can provide a secure area from which the tort will not escape and the dogs will not have access, keep the tort indoors (again secure from the dogs) or find it another home.
 

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