JohnnyDigester

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haven’t posted in years, thought i’d share my success story with my original 2 rescues that were in horrible shape…. before and after, hope this lets people know there is hope for these guys, just takes years of proper care. although they have both grown in size and are walking correctly now, the one appears to have an odd growing shell as it is not symmetrical with the other side, hope he survives and makes it. the last photo of the big guy is another story, he’s a rescue as well, he’s my largest and there for a size comparison. :) enjoyC178D1AD-B620-461F-815B-4302A2E81E0F.jpeg9AC500DD-20F0-49F0-9487-E417235A6312.jpegB31ED824-6F79-42C6-BD81-82E07577AA5B.jpegBD0272C8-B5C7-4FD1-B87B-FFF8B4827629.jpeg9FF00070-9AF8-432D-B5C9-93AF19595FAF.jpeg9629AD78-E17F-4EAF-8763-4BBBB122840C.jpeg648423B7-E3F0-45E8-B6F1-8FE7AAC4217A.jpeg17FB210C-1771-4E85-B759-545F2A7CFC20.jpeg208A0C4B-A95D-40FD-ACF5-09FC02D13F27.jpegB5713567-B684-4637-8FEC-B8D75ACF03E1.jpeg
 

Markw84

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@JohnnyDigester I am doing a talk at the TTPG conference this year on pyramiding. May I use a few of your pictures? They show a perfect example of extreme pyramiding with MBD and no growth. Then what happens if conditions corrected after older, but still small, and bone can start to grow.

Thank you!
 

JohnnyDigester

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Amazing job! Kinda shocked at how well you corrected their health. That’s like one of the best success stories I’ve seen.
Hey, thanks a bunch, it is really amazing how letting them live their lives outside “as they should” with plenty of sunshine, romaine lettuce a couple times a week and a huge lawn to graze on does for them. :)
 

JohnnyDigester

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@JohnnyDigester I am doing a talk at the TTPG conference this year on pyramiding. May I use a few of your pictures? They show a perfect example of extreme pyramiding with MBD and no growth. Then what happens if conditions corrected after older, but still small, and bone can start to grow.

Thank you!
You can use all my pictures if you’d like, i’d be honored. Thank you. The 2 small ones in the pics i believe there are 2 pics of each tortoise that i posted and then the after pics of course. If you’d like to share the story, my ex wife had a friend that rescued these 2 tortoises and they were kept in a small 10 gallon fish tank… inside… newspaper lining in the tank and with no lights… no wonder they were so messed up, probably fed them dog food too… i remember them being soft and squishy when i got them. i always wanted a tortoise and i couldn’t say no so i took them in. they were immediately placed outside to graze on the backyard lawn, st. augustine grass. I built them a house that week and locked them up every night in that house i made along with a heat source to keep them somewhat warm during the night. this was all back in 2014 or so if i remember right, may have a post from 2017 that tells the story too i forget. but anyway they have been doing good since, only issue is the one isn’t growing symmetrical, i do not think it will correct on its own but i may be wrong, only time will tell. that was the one that was in worse shape when i got them, it couldn’t even walk with its back legs, it just drug them along, very sad… but today it walks just fine. when i fed them i would supplement with calcium powder but have since stopped since the one had a urates stone it was able to pass after taking it to the vet… maybe i overdid it with the calcium knowing they needed it desperately, but now they get everything they need from nature, grow them cactus pads and romaine lettuce or buy depending on the season and they graze the rest of the time outside 24/7 along with a heat source during the winter months, they go to bed by themselves, only check on them in the cold months to make sure they made it in. anyway that’s all i really did, along with soaking them a few times a week back then. i am always open to better and new techniques, just sharing what i did, i have to give “tom” the sulcata guy on here credit, i found him and his work and applied it the best i could and it really paid off, this forum is what i give credit to when it comes to these 2 tortoises success. any other questions plz feel free to ask and by all means use whatever pics you’d like, i can even take new ones if you want just let me know. thanks so much for your support. :)
 

Sarah2020

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haven’t posted in years, thought i’d share my success story with my original 2 rescues that were in horrible shape…. before and after, hope this lets people know there is hope for these guys, just takes years of proper care. although they have both grown in size and are walking correctly now, the one appears to have an odd growing shell as it is not symmetrical with the other side, hope he survives and makes it. the last photo of the big guy is another story, he’s a rescue as well, he’s my largest and there for a size comparison. :) enjoyView attachment 333869View attachment 333870View attachment 333871View attachment 333872View attachment 333873View attachment 333874View attachment 333875View attachment 333876View attachment 333877View attachment 333878
That is incredible! You have saved it and provided the correct habitat. It is a win win for both of you. Thanks for sharing as it helps to show good tortoise care pays off. ??
 

Hippytort

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Excellent success story Johnny D. When I saw your post I knew we were in for a success story but WOW, didn't expect it to be so dramatic!
Seeing the first pictures, I would have bet these guys would not make it. Goes to show how important proper care is!
Great job!
 

Tim Carlisle

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Wow bud. I would never have believed it had I not seen it. FANTASTIC job!!! This should inspire a lot of folks who are looking to rescue a sulcata that's in not-so-great shape. May I share your story?
 

JohnnyDigester

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Wow bud. I would never have believed it had I not seen it. FANTASTIC job!!! This should inspire a lot of folks who are looking to rescue a sulcata that's in not-so-great shape. May I share your story?
Yes you can share whatever you’d like, thanks so much.
 

JohnnyDigester

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Excellent success story Johnny D. When I saw your post I knew we were in for a success story but WOW, didn't expect it to be so dramatic!
Seeing the first pictures, I would have bet these guys would not make it. Goes to show how important proper care is!
Great job!
Thank you so much, agreed, proper care is a must and these creatures were meant to be “outside”…. i am just glad that they did make it, they bring me so much joy and happiness.
 

Sonnenblume

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Thank you so much, agreed, proper care is a must and these creatures were meant to be “outside”…. i am just glad that they did make it, they bring me so much joy and happiness.
Over what time frame did this change? I took in a red foot that has severe MBD and I am wondering if he/she can ever really get "better", especially when it comes to how his shell looks. Will they grow to their "normal" size, you think?
 

JohnnyDigester

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Over what time frame did this change? I took in a red foot that has severe MBD and I am wondering if he/she can ever really get "better", especially when it comes to how his shell looks. Will they grow to their "normal" size, you think?
I don’t really remember what year i got the 2 sulfatas let’s say it was around 2011-2013, outside care, lots of sun, proper food, and soakings, i’d say they started to grow within 6 months to a year as there growth was stunted. it honestly just takes “years” they are slow growers to begin with and you can’t rush anything honestly. the shell will always have a deformed looked to it depending on how bad the damage was. as you can see the one has pointy tops on her shell, that will never go away but will smooth out in time as they grow, just depends how long the bad care went on, the sooner you try the better the outcome will be id say. i don’t think it will stop them from growing to their normal size but again it depends on how much damage was done and the amount of time it was done for. you should post some pics of your red foot, i’d love to see them. also would say even with doing the proper care it depends how bad they were kept, one of them grew out of it if that makes sense, the other is growing funny and deformed but she or he is still kickin and doing great, it’s all a crap shoot unfortunately but worth it to try and save them and give them the life they deserve regardless of what the outcome is, as long as you try and do the right care, that’s all you can really do, nature is going to do what it wants in the end. hope that helps, and please post the pics of your red foot, maybe someone else can comment? best of luck!
 

TaylorTortoise

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haven’t posted in years, thought i’d share my success story with my original 2 rescues that were in horrible shape…. before and after, hope this lets people know there is hope for these guys, just takes years of proper care. although they have both grown in size and are walking correctly now, the one appears to have an odd growing shell as it is not symmetrical with the other side, hope he survives and makes it. the last photo of the big guy is another story, he’s a rescue as well, he’s my largest and there for a size comparison. :) enjoyView attachment 333869View attachment 333870View attachment 333871View attachment 333872View attachment 333873View attachment 333874View attachment 333875View attachment 333876View attachment 333877View attachment 333878
The first to the last pic is that the guy in the first picture showing extreme pyramiding?
 

TaylorTortoise

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the one that looks younger of course in the very first pic now looks bigger and more fully grown and pyramiding isnt as harsh as first two pics.
 

JohnnyDigester

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the one that looks younger of course in the very first pic now looks bigger and more fully grown and pyramiding isnt as harsh as first two pics.
let me reorder the pics to tell a better story of the one that recovered and is growing normally??
 

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JohnnyDigester

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let me reorder the pics to tell a better story of the one that recovered and is growing normally??
here’s the other tort recovered but not growing normally as you’ll see the shell is not growing symmetrically. got both of these guys together back in 2011 or so.
 

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