mild pyramiding? can't quite tell

naturalman91

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so lately i've been wondering if my tort has mild pyramiding that i've missed because i look at him every day

what does everyone think?

he's 2 as of march 4th his humidity is always in the 80% range normally 85% his thermostat for ambient temps is set at 84F and he's soaked twice a week for 30 mins and alway's have clean free water in his enclosure iggy.jpg
 

lisa127

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It says attachment cannot be found.
 

lisa127

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Now I can see it. I agree with above.
 

Anyfoot

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so lately i've been wondering if my tort has mild pyramiding that i've missed because i look at him every day

what does everyone think?

he's 2 as of march 4th his humidity is always in the 80% range normally 85% his thermostat for ambient temps is set at 84F and he's soaked twice a week for 30 mins and alway's have clean free water in his enclosure View attachment 168543
He looks good to me. If you wanted to be super critical, there is some minor pyramiding.

What sort of diet do you feed?
What is the SCL size?
You said the ambient was 84f. What's the heat source, and does he spend quite a bit of time warming up under the heat source?
 

Anyfoot

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so lately i've been wondering if my tort has mild pyramiding that i've missed because i look at him every day

what does everyone think?

he's 2 as of march 4th his humidity is always in the 80% range normally 85% his thermostat for ambient temps is set at 84F and he's soaked twice a week for 30 mins and alway's have clean free water in his enclosure View attachment 168543
Forgot to ask, how long have you had him?
So many questions, sorry. I'm eager to learn. :D
 

naturalman91

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He looks good to me. If you wanted to be super critical, there is some minor pyramiding.

What sort of diet do you feed?
What is the SCL size?
You said the ambient was 84f. What's the heat source, and does he spend quite a bit of time warming up under the heat source?

i've had him for 2 years march 4th so i count that as his birthday. he was bought from a member here who hatched him either late December/ early January of that same year. i joined here about a month or two before just to double check my knowledge and learn more

right now mostly grocery store greens and fruits but i make sure it's organic. but when it warms up a bit and i can put him in the garden a lot of stuff like tortoise supply broadleaf seed mix and other tort safe weeds

he's 5" and no he's not a basker being as the temp is one he likes.CHE is the heat source along with a normal household bulb if he wanted for basking which gets up to 88 maybe 89 max he seems to just go about his usual activies wandering around drinking from his water dish when he wants and sleeping and eating
 

naturalman91

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Only thing i can think of it down the temps on the thermostat/CHE but if i set it at 81-82 wouldn't it drop below 80 before it kicked back on i mean they generally have a like 2 degree difference before kicking on i just don't wanna risk shell rot/respiratory issues
 

Anyfoot

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Only thing i can think of it down the temps on the thermostat/CHE but if i set it at 81-82 wouldn't it drop below 80 before it kicked back on i mean they generally have a like 2 degree difference before kicking on i just don't wanna risk shell rot/respiratory issues
If you look closely at one scute, you can see he was perfect up to the last growth ring. I tried counting the rings on the right hand side scute. The MINOR pyramiding your talking about happened on I think the 6th ring. His last ring. Remember we are being super super super critical here. I'm obsessed with my juveniles, and how they are growing, you can read the shells.
Let's assume yours has had a steady growth throughout its life. If the pyramiding started on its last 6th ring and he's 2 years old, it would suggest something has changed in the last 6th period of 2 yrs. (Last 4 months).
Check your humidity readings again, have you changed anything?
My viv goes from 88f under the CHE to 82f at cool end. During the day they go everywhere to regulate the body heat. At night they sleep at the cool end away from the heat source. If I set it to what seems to be their ideal of 82f under the CHE , in effect I'm encouraging them to sit under the CHE for the ideal temp. All that said. I have ONE of my water dishes under the CHE too. If they sit under the CHE they are also getting hydrated at the same time.
Also mine sleep in spaghnum moss. In a morning you can see the carapace color is a dull matt color, not shiny.
Just my thoughts on what I've observed on a huge long learning curve so far. Much to learn.
 

naturalman91

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If you look closely at one scute, you can see he was perfect up to the last growth ring. I tried counting the rings on the right hand side scute. The MINOR pyramiding your talking about happened on I think the 6th ring. His last ring. Remember we are being super super super critical here. I'm obsessed with my juveniles, and how they are growing, you can read the shells.
Let's assume yours has had a steady growth throughout its life. If the pyramiding started on its last 6th ring and he's 2 years old, it would suggest something has changed in the last 6th period of 2 yrs. (Last 4 months).
Check your humidity readings again, have you changed anything?
My viv goes from 88f under the CHE to 82f at cool end. During the day they go everywhere to regulate the body heat. At night they sleep at the cool end away from the heat source. If I set it to what seems to be their ideal of 82f under the CHE , in effect I'm encouraging them to sit under the CHE for the ideal temp. All that said. I have ONE of my water dishes under the CHE too. If they sit under the CHE they are also getting hydrated at the same time.
Also mine sleep in spaghnum moss. In a morning you can see the carapace color is a dull matt color, not shiny.
Just my thoughts on what I've observed on a huge long learning curve so far. Much to learn.

well his last enclosure ripped open it was a greenhouse so maybe it had somethign to do with it.

if you look closely you can see a white marking he's almost always had that i've never been able to figure it out what it is its def not growth lines bottom row on the first orange spot to the left

i think i may try also turning his CHE down a little bit if i remember correctly i changed it a couple month's ago because he was sleeping a lot but that could also have been accounted for as winter wind down i know red's don't hibernate but they do sorta slow down
 

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Anyfoot

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well his last enclosure ripped open it was a greenhouse so maybe it had somethign to do with it.

if you look closely you can see a white marking he's almost always had that i've never been able to figure it out what it is its def not growth lines bottom row on the first orange spot to the left

i think i may try also turning his CHE down a little bit if i remember correctly i changed it a couple month's ago because he was sleeping a lot but that could also have been accounted for as winter wind down i know red's don't hibernate but they do sorta slow down
You got me with the white mark. It's not marbling, cause marbling starts at scute boarders, not the areola. Has it always been there, and is it only that one scute?

So there was some changes then.

This tort looks very very good to me. Hope your not down on yourself. But it's good to be super critical of yourself, it's how we perfect ourselves.
 

naturalman91

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You got me with the white mark. It's not marbling, cause marbling starts at scute boarders, not the areola. Has it always been there, and is it only that one scute?

So there was some changes then.

This tort looks very very good to me. Hope your not down on yourself. But it's good to be super critical of yourself, it's how we perfect ourselves.

yeah it's only one scute and i know it's not marbling been like that as long as i can remember

yeah i think im just going to up my soaks to 3 times a week and down the temp a couple degree's i wanna say a brief dip to 79 before jumping back up to 80-81 would be fine it's not long term cold just very quick and brief so yea i think 84 might just be a bit to warm for him or something
 

Anyfoot

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yeah it's only one scute and i know it's not marbling been like that as long as i can remember

yeah i think im just going to up my soaks to 3 times a week and down the temp a couple degree's i wanna say a brief dip to 79 before jumping back up to 80-81 would be fine it's not long term cold just very quick and brief so yea i think 84 might just be a bit to warm for him or something
I'm not saying your temp of 84f is wrong. If you lower the temps you could be encouraging your tort to sit under the heat source constantly, this is bad. Make sure your humidity readings are correct.
Does this tort live alone?
 

Levi the Leopard

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David, you know I don't have redfoots but there is no way I'd ever say your guy has pyramiding. Not even mild pyramiding. Some drier growth maybe? Rough growth would be a stretch but seriously I think your RF looks great with a perfectly normal shell.
 

naturalman91

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I'm not saying your temp of 84f is wrong. If you lower the temps you could be encouraging your tort to sit under the heat source constantly, this is bad. Make sure your humidity readings are correct.
Does this tort live alone?

he's never once just sat under the heating elements his water dish is currently under a heating element but he doesn't just bathe for a long time he comes over sticks his head in and drinks he only sits in it to use the rest room but mostly waits for soaks


David, you know I don't have redfoots but there is no way I'd ever say your guy has pyramiding. Not even mild pyramiding. Some drier growth maybe? Rough growth would be a stretch but seriously I think your RF looks great with a perfectly normal shell.

Yea at this point i'm just seeing what other's think because i notice some mild very mild at that but i wanna figure it out

sidee.jpg

side view where it's a little more noticeable
 

Cheryl Hills

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Ok, now I am getting confused. I understand pyramiding is when the shell does not grow even. It is caused by not enough humidity. But, don't some tortoises shells grow uneven or have high and low spot? Or are they all supposed to be smooth?
 

naturalman91

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Ok, now I am getting confused. I understand pyramiding is when the shell does not grow even. It is caused by not enough humidity. But, don't some tortoises shells grow uneven or have high and low spot? Or are they all supposed to be smooth?

certain species don't have perfectly smooth shells like russian's for example seem to have kinda a natural pyramiding but it's very mild. redfoots should be smooth tho and your right it's caused by not enough humidity but can also be caused by not enough soaking or lack of access to water
 

Anyfoot

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he's never once just sat under the heating elements his water dish is currently under a heating element but he doesn't just bathe for a long time he comes over sticks his head in and drinks he only sits in it to use the rest room but mostly waits for soaks




Yea at this point i'm just seeing what other's think because i notice some mild very mild at that but i wanna figure it out

View attachment 168589

side view where it's a little more noticeable
Check your humidity again, spray the enclosure a bit every morning(this will imitate dew), also if it was me I would have big piles of spagnhum moss for him to sleep in, mine dig right in through the moss into the coir, sometimes you can see the torts. I have areas without moss, they choose to kip in the moss.
BTW mine are the same age as yours.


If you use moss, be sure to soak it in boiling water first. I keep reading that some people have problems with moss, I never have, but I always soak it for 5 mins in boiling water before I use it.
 

Pawciorc

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Seems like last two growth rings show some pyramiding, but nothing to worry about,
 

Gillian M

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I think your tort looks well, and cute too.;) Nothing to worry about.
 

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