My girls shell

[Skittles86]

Hi,

First time tortoise owner. I was given a yellow foot tortoise. She was very young when I got her. I have some concerns about her shell development. From pictures I see of other tortoises of her species. Something seems off. Does anyone think I should be concerned and have any advice? Thank you

 

[Quadro]

Hi,

First time tortoise owner. I was given a yellow foot tortoise. She was very young when I got her. I have some concerns about her shell development. From pictures I see of other tortoises of her species. Something seems off. Does anyone think I should be concerned and have any advice? Thank you

Omg what a sweet little baby ! Welcome to the forum . I am no expert it doesn’t look normal to me though , I don’t think the scutes are supposed to sink in like that but hopefully the more experienced will give you some advice.

 

[Skittles86]

Omg what a sweet little baby ! Welcome to the forum . I am no expert it doesn’t look normal to me though , I don’t think the scutes are supposed to sink in like that but hopefully the more experienced will give you some advice.

That's exactly what I thought! I really hope I can get some guidance. I want the best life for my girl. She's the apple of my eye!!!!

 

[Quadro]

That's exactly what I thought! I really hope I can get some guidance. I want the best life for my girl. She's the apple of my eye!!!!

Yes you could probably post more info on lights ,temps ,pics of enclosure ,what your feeding ,how often is she soaked that will also help them in guiding you ?

 

[Skittles86]

Yes you could probably post more info on lights ,temps ,pics of enclosure ,what your feeding ,how often is she soaked that will also help them in guiding you ?

She's kept in a 55 gallon paludarium. She has one t10 lamp which is in the top back on the enclosure and she has another t10 spot light with a ceramic heater on the warmer side. She has a fogger to keep humidity at around 75 and the temperature on the cooler side varies in the 70 degrees and on the warmer side in the 90 degrees (it fluctuates based on the temperature in the house) she has her "pool" which she loves going to soak in and is soaked in warmer water with some pedialyte added every other day. She eats a mix of zoomed forest tortoise food and repcal tortoise food as a staple and then we give her fruits and veggies every other day as well. Everything is dusted with exo terra calcium + d3 powder. She also gets (not sure the name since I placed it in a container from the original bag) protein pellets in small amounts every 2 to 3 weeks. Really hope that helps

 

[Relic]

Mine was like that when younger - the yellow aereolas are slowly filling in.

 

[Skittles86]

Mine was like that when younger - the yellow aereolas are slowly filling in.View attachment 285342

Is there anything that I can do differently to help? Is it health related? I have no idea how old she was when I got her but she fit in the palm of my hand. She's growing well though. I'm just so afraid I'm doing something wrong. But the picture you posted does make me feel a lot better. If it's simply something she well grow out of I will sleep much better at night.

 

[Relic]

Is there anything that I can do differently to help? Is it health related? I have no idea how old she was when I got her but she fit in the palm of my hand. She's growing well though. I'm just so afraid I'm doing something wrong. But the picture you posted does make me feel a lot better. If it's simply something she well grow out of I will sleep much better at night.

Mine was around a year old when acquired - had experienced good husbandry from a knowledgeable keeper. Unsure why the "sunken-in" appearance in each scute, but they are slowly diminishing. And he/she is growing like a weed...

 

[Yvonne G]

A moister environment is needed. One of our original Forum members, Kristina, had this to say about reverse pyramiding:

"The term "reverse pyramiding" typically refers to species such as Redfoots, Yellowfoots, Hingebacks, and Manouria. Reverse pyramiding results from the tortoise being kept too dry. In tortoises such as Sulcatas, Greeks, Desert tortoises and other "grassland" species, being kept too dry results in pyramiding, or the scutes growing in a stacked "pyramid" shape.

In "forest" tortoises, being kept too dry results in the scutes shrinking downward. Because the tortoise is deyhdrated, the scutes almost shrivel downward, loosing the plump, rounded appearance. If the dehydration is chronic, the shell continues to grow this way. If the humidity is corrected, the hardened scutes will remain sunken in, but the new growth will often be above the old growth... Giving the appearance of upside down pyramids. "

I'd also like to add that I think this is a redfooted tortoise, not a yellowfooted. Geochelone carbonaria. There are many, many redfooted tortoises with yellow spots on their legs. You can't go by leg color.

 

[Skittles86]

A moister environment is needed. One of our original Forum members, Kristina, had this to say about reverse pyramiding:

"The term "reverse pyramiding" typically refers to species such as Redfoots, Yellowfoots, Hingebacks, and Manouria. Reverse pyramiding results from the tortoise being kept too dry. In tortoises such as Sulcatas, Greeks, Desert tortoises and other "grassland" species, being kept too dry results in pyramiding, or the scutes growing in a stacked "pyramid" shape.

In "forest" tortoises, being kept too dry results in the scutes shrinking downward. Because the tortoise is deyhdrated, the scutes almost shrivel downward, loosing the plump, rounded appearance. If the dehydration is chronic, the shell continues to grow this way. If the humidity is corrected, the hardened scutes will remain sunken in, but the new growth will often be above the old growth... Giving the appearance of upside down pyramids. "

I'd also like to add that I think this is a redfooted tortoise, not a yellowfooted. Geochelone carbonaria. There are many, many redfooted tortoises with yellow spots on their legs. You can't go by leg color.

I was told she was a yellow foot but again I did not have any experience with tortoises before her. She has a fogger to keep humidity up and also gets soaked and she often goes in her "pool" daily on her own. I add pedialyte to her soaks as well. Is there anything else I should be doing? Should I increase the humidity levels over 75%?