Baby pyramiding reversal?

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WinterDB

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Hey guys. I'm in need of a little help..
So, I bought a baby sully not even a week ago, and when I got him. I noticed there was already quite a bit of pyramiding for a little one. It bothered me quite a bit.. So this is what I've been doing to change it; I've been misting the walls of my enclosure, keeping it very humid. I always keep his mulch quite damp. I take him outside for sun 30 minutes to an hour every day. I soak him twice a day, and he eats grasses, dandelion greens and dandelion flowers, I've given him a little bit of pumpkin in light of my favorite season ^_^
When he's in his enclosure he just sleeps all day. But when I take him outside which is often, he's VERY active. Do you think if I continue what I'm doing that his new growth will even out?
Questions, comments, concerns, anything. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

image-1566669417.png
 

DeanS

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When you soak him...leave him outside in a 1/2 inch of water for an hour or two...that's how I stopped my animals from pyramiding any further.
 

NinjaTortoises

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WinterDB said:
Hey guys. I'm in need of a little help..
So, I bought a baby sully not even a week ago, and when I got him. I noticed there was already quite a bit of pyramiding for a little one. It bothered me quite a bit.. So this is what I've been doing to change it; I've been misting the walls of my enclosure, keeping it very humid. I always keep his mulch quite damp. I take him outside for sun 30 minutes to an hour every day. I soak him twice a day, and he eats grasses, dandelion greens and dandelion flowers, I've given him a little bit of pumpkin in light of my favorite season ^_^
When he's in his enclosure he just sleeps all day. But when I take him outside which is often, he's VERY active. Do you think if I continue what I'm doing that his new growth will even out?
Questions, comments, concerns, anything. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Hey that looks just like my tortoises when i bought them! Lol ive been working in the pyramiding, keep doing what your doing and keep asking questions, thats what i did and i feel like im making some progress :) good luck
 

wellington

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Yes, sounds like your doing what is needed to get it to start growing in smooth. Just be sure the high humidity temps don't go below 80. Just incase you didn't know, and I'm saying this because of your thread title. You can't reverse the pyramiding that already happened. But you can stop it from continuing.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I don't believe in soaking babies so often. Once a day is enough if you are misting and doing everything else correctly. But too much soaking could be a bad thing. For one reason it moves the feces thru his system to soon and the nutrients don't all get used.
 

Tom

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Are you using a red bulb for day time? It needs to look like daytime during the day.

What type of mulch are you using?

Does he have a shallow water bowl?

Humid hide?

How big is the enclosure?

What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking spot and night?

You won't be ablep to reverse what pyramiding is already present, but if you get it right, you can prevent future pyramiding.
 

Dizisdalife

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Babies do sleep a lot. My cats were envious of how much nap time the tortoise could get in during a day. I had a similar problem as you. I had inherited a 8 month old that had started to pyramid and I was determined to stop it. First I started to implement some of the things that were suggested to me by forum members. I got it, "keep them hydrated, humid, and hot".

It was soon that I realized that the enclosure needed to be sealed, including the top, or all the humidity would escape. So I sealed the top and found that it got too hot everywhere inside the enclosure. That's when I bought an Temp Gun so that I could accurately set the basking spot temp and monitor the temps around it. That helped, but was not enough. I needed a way to control the cool side and night temps so that they would not get too hot or too cold. A simple thermostat controller worked. I used CHE's for th ambient temp and night time. At that point I was able to get the humidity high and have the right temps for the tortoise. The right temps are important for appetite, digestion, activity, and overall healthy.

I learned how to do this by reading as many threads on the forum as I could and adapting what I learned to my situation. Now, 18 months later, I have a fairly smooth tortoise.

Oh yeah, I took him outside often. He was very active and explored as much area as I gave him. It was like he was a different tortoise when he was outside.
 

WinterDB

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Tom said:
Are you using a red bulb for day time? It needs to look like daytime during the day.

What type of mulch are you using?

Does he have a shallow water bowl?

Humid hide?

How big is the enclosure?

What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking spot and night?

You won't be ablep to reverse what pyramiding is already present, but if you get it right, you can prevent future pyramiding.

I do use a red bulb, but he is next to a window that fills the room with light, is this not good enough?

I'm using cypress mulch.

Yes I do hve a shallow water bowl but I hardly see him in it.

He has two actually, his enclosure is two large bins connected. One has high humidity, one has low. I know this isn't necessary but he seems to really like having two. (This answers the next one too)

Warm side: 95
Cool side:80
Basking:101
Night:75

Yes, that's not exactly what I was trying to convey with the title but it was all I could think of at he moment

Dizisdalife said:
Babies do sleep a lot. My cats were envious of how much nap time the tortoise could get in during a day. I had a similar problem as you. I had inherited a 8 month old that had started to pyramid and I was determined to stop it. First I started to implement some of the things that were suggested to me by forum members. I got it, "keep them hydrated, humid, and hot".

It was soon that I realized that the enclosure needed to be sealed, including the top, or all the humidity would escape. So I sealed the top and found that it got too hot everywhere inside the enclosure. That's when I bought an Temp Gun so that I could accurately set the basking spot temp and monitor the temps around it. That helped, but was not enough. I needed a way to control the cool side and night temps so that they would not get too hot or too cold. A simple thermostat controller worked. I used CHE's for th ambient temp and night time. At that point I was able to get the humidity high and have the right temps for the tortoise. The right temps are important for appetite, digestion, activity, and overall healthy.

I learned how to do this by reading as many threads on the forum as I could and adapting what I learned to my situation. Now, 18 months later, I have a fairly smooth tortoise.

Oh yeah, I took him outside often. He was very active and explored as much area as I gave him. It was like he was a different tortoise when he was outside.

This is great, I need to invest in a temp gun..

maggie3fan said:
I don't believe in soaking babies so often. Once a day is enough if you are misting and doing everything else correctly. But too much soaking could be a bad thing. For one reason it moves the feces thru his system to soon and the nutrients don't all get used.

I'm a bit bothered by the fact that he never passes any urates or poop when he gets soaked.. I've seen him poop a few times outside of soakings, but never seen any urates ever..

Tortus said:
What is that attachment?

Good luck with your baby.

That's a picture of him sleeping. Not related at all, but adorable
 

Tom

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I have found colored bulbs during the day to be problematic. I prefer to use bulbs that simulate day light. At night I like it to be dark, so I use ceramic heating elements. Tortoises can see a greater light spectrum than we do, so if I can see with a red bulb at night, so can they.

Sounds like the rest of your parameters are good. I'd try to keep it a little warmer at night, especially with winter approaching.

One of the things that has been difficult to explain is how multiple clutch mates can be raised exactly the same in the same enclosure and some pyramid more than others. I have observed some behavior cues for this. Whenever I raise multiple tortoises together some use the humid hide box more than others. The ones who choose to use the humid hide box more also grow faster and smoother. I have seen this multiple times, and for me at least, it has moved out of the realm of coincidence. SOOOOO, if your guy is choosing to stay mostly on the humid side, then I think your are fine. If however, he chooses to sleep and hang out on the dry side, I think your pyramiding will continue and worsen. If it were my tortoise, I would not give him the choice. I'd keep him very humid all the time until he got a little bigger.
 

WinterDB

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Thank you so much for your input.. I need some guidance, you know.
 

Tom

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WinterDB said:
Thank you so much for your input.. I need some guidance, you know.

That's great. The more questions you ask, the more we all learn. :D
 
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