Help identifying her breed

[Kimmerfun]

Can someone help me identify what breed of tortoise I have?
I thought she is a desert tortoise but google says sulcata?

I recently adopted from a friend and am learning about pyramiding. Is hers bad?

 

[Tom]

Can someone help me identify what breed of tortoise I have?
I thought she is a desert tortoise but google says sulcata?

I recently adopted from a friend and am learning about pyramiding. Is hers bad?

Hello and welcome!

I've kept both species extensively over the years and I really had to look carefully and think about this one. The shell and neck skin color sure look like a sulcata, but the give away is the nuccal scute and the general shape of the leg scales. You do indeed have a desert tortoise, but it does resemble a sulcata in some ways.

I don't know how to answer your pyramiding question. It has pyramiding, but is it bad? Bad compared to what? I've seen worse, but yes, it is pyramided due to being raised incorrectly in dry conditions. If all else is good, the tortoise can be healthy and live a long fulfilling life, but it does indicate that this tortoise was kept too dry. This means you need to pay particular attention to hydration and soaking now and for a long while. Dehydration complications are probably the number one killer of this species, along with dogs. Most of the care info for this spices is all wrong and if followed will result in a slow miserable death. The same wrong info is repeated everywhere. Here is the correct info, along with a care sheet meant for this species:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

All of your questions are welcome.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Kimmerfun]

Thank you.
Should her humidity levels be between 40-60% as I’ve read online?

Can pyramiding also be from her diet? I don’t believe she has been given much in grasses

 

[Yvonne G]

No, pyramiding isn't caused by diet. . . like Tom told you, it's from having been kept in too dry conditions. In nature baby tortoises stay hidden all the time. This means under bushes, in burrows, someplace where they poop and pee all the time, causing the space around them to be humid and moist.

Being kept under harsh lighting with no shade also contributes.

 

[Kimmerfun]

I was told she is a girl.. do you think that’s accurate ? Her under chin thing makes me wonder. She’s approx 5

 

[Kimmerfun]

 

[RandyTortoise]

View attachment 392576

Yes that is a girl for sure.
Where did you get her and how old is she?

 

[Kimmerfun]

Yes that is a girl for sure.
Where did you get her and how old is she?

A friend has had her and wasn’t spending enough time with her so I adopted her. We had 2 growing up, her pyramiding is bad but I’m hoping I can get her on the right track so no worsening happens.

 

[RandyTortoise]

A friend has had her and wasn’t spending enough time with her so I adopted her. We had 2 growing up, her pyramiding is bad but I’m hoping I can get her on the right track so no worsening happens.

Don’t worry about the pyramiding. Under your care she will be happy and healthy. Sometimes as they grow it lessens and doesn’t get worse. She will be fine and a great addition to your family!