concerned about my rf pyramiding

[Phelpie17]

my new red-foot, Eddie, is my first tortoise. well, reptile for that matter. i have only had him a few months, and when i got him he had some mild pyramiding. at the time i wasn't aware that this was bad. i have recently learned how bad it can be.
since Ive had him, i have noticed some growth lines. i'm very concerned about accidentally furthering the pyramiding problem and i'm not entirely sure how to tell if the growth lines I've seen are further pyramiding or if he is smoothing out.
I've done my research on the proper feeding for red-foots and am follow to the best of my ability. i keep his heat and humidity at the proper levels. and although only in a 30 gal tank i have started on a much larger enclosure already.
so how can i tell if his growth lines are healthy or abnormal?

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

I would get different bedding like cypress mulch (which I guess can be hard to find depending on where you live) with a mix of sphagnum peat moss. Or if you cant find cypress mulch just go sphagnum peat moss or if you want just go cypress mulch I think it does the same job with a mix and it looks nicer. Also try to give her soaks a few times a week.

 

[Kristina]

With that repti-bark stuff, there is no way your humidity can be perfect. That stuff is icky. Over time it will stain your tortoise, and it will mold from being wet too. I agree with the above suggestions, let me just also add that plain organic topsoil works extremely well too.

I would also suggest misting at least once daily. What humidity readings are you getting? My Cherryhead enclosure is at 80-90% constantly.

 

[DesertGrandma]

I don't know how to tell if the growth lines are normal or not. I will be curious to hear what the experts are saying too.

 

[Madkins007]

It is difficult to look at growth lines and declare them good or bad. We want smooth, steady, healthy growth which is driven primarily by a properly balanced diet but is also affected by environment and other cares.

Your little guy is pretty bumpy, but it is difficult to know what to suggest without more information. How long is the tortoise (and weight would be nice if available)? What really is the diet, temp, etc.?

You cannot reverse current pyramiding, but you can prevent future problems. Pyramiding seems to be a form of metabolic bone disease and seems to have its roots in how the bones develop after hatching. The theory from Andy Highfield (tortoisetrust.org) seems to suggest that the bone density in hatchlings is low, and if that is not addressed with proper diet, sunshine/UVB, etc., then the developing scutes will deform the soft bone of the carapace. Overly high humidity and misting seems to help, but that mostly makes the scutes so soft they do not 'pull' on the shell without addressing the underlying bone density issues.

Once the pyramids start, the smart thing to do seems to be to address both issues- ensure proper diet and cares for proper bone development, and boost humidity/misting to ease the pressure of the scutes against the bone.

 

[terryo]

Mark...how old does the tort have to be when we can stop worrying about pryamiding?

 

[Phelpie17]

i try to keep his humidity above 70%. sometimes it will dip a little below.
i am working on getting a auto-mister or humidifier of some kind to help keep it consistent and higher humidity.
his main diet is red romaine mixed with some zoo med natural forest tortoise food that is guaranteed no pyramiding. also i give him small amounts of strawberries. also a mix of yellow squash and cucumber. I've tried to give him crickets and worms before because i read that they need small amounts of protein and i don't like the idea of feeding him cat food and cook beef as i have read others do, but he wont eat the crickets or the worms.
his basking area is around 95. and the cooler areas between 70-80.

by the way i like the idea of changing his substrate.

 

[ChiKat]

Mark...how old does the tort have to be when we can stop worrying about pryamiding?

That's what I want to know!! I've been much more lax about the humidity in Nelson's enclosure. I mist his carapace but very rarely his substrate anymore...and he's getting a little bumpier

 

[Madkins007]

I dunno.

I had some two year olds that only started to pyramid when I put them outside, although I would have sworn they had good conditions. I think this has more to do with how well the bones develop than age. Offer good and proper levels of key nutrients and solid cares so you get good bone development, and I would suspect that the risks start to decline at about 1-2 years.

If the bones don't harden/densify when they are young, I wonder if they would ever harden correctly?