New Sulcata Owner with a few questions and concerns

[AdamR]

Hey! My name is Adam and I'm new to the tortoise world. I've kept a couple box turtles in my time and a few sliders but never a large tort. I actually deal mostly with ball pythons and after a long while of searching for my favorite tortoise I settled on a sulcata! Mainly because they are cute, hardy, outgoing, and have fun personalities. So at a recent reptile show I traded a ball python for a small sulcata (about 3-3.5"). I had done research and set up a suitable enclosure for the time being. But...yesterday I read Tom's thread for the first time about keeping the humidity high and how to prevent pyramiding. Now I am worried that my little Shelley's tank isn't good enough!

I have "her" in a 20L tank with timothy hay as a substrate and easy access to a shallow water bowl. She was eating, as I was told by the seller, Nature Zone tortoise food which I also bought from him thinking it was a good choice (after reading the Nutrition portion I have changed my opinion). I have been mixing this with cut up pieces of timothy and some dandelions from outside. I have a hot spot of around 95F and humidity, currently, around 40. "She" gets a 10-15min bath each day and I mist her enclosure several times. Is any of this correct/ incorrect? I will be switching to the substrate Tom posted in his other thread that he got from Lowes just as soon as I can find it!

My other question, before I read Tom's thread I didn't realize pyramiding was such a problem? Does this physically hurt them? Can it be reversed? Does my Shelley show signs of pyramiding? Thanks for all you help! This is a great forum!! I wish I had found this a few weeks ago!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Hi Adam and welcome...Yes, pyramiding IS a major problem. In the wild their carapaces are smooth. There's really no way for us to tell if pyramiding causes pain, but we do know that pyramiding leads to MBD and MBD is painful. I recommend cypress mulch as a good substrate and I keep mine damp. I am not crazed about misting them all day long. I believe in the 4 rules...small tortoises need a lot of exercise, a good and varied diet, about 80% humidity and strong UVB. That's what my experience tells me is necessary to prevent pyramiding and to raise a healthy tortoise. I would get rid of the timothy hay and get some cypress mulch if I were you. Make sure you are feeding a good diet which should be mostly grasses and weeds. If you don't have that now, feed a varied diet from the produce section at the store...
Where are your pictures of your tort? I didn't see them anywhere so I don't know if she's pyramided or not. A 20L tank is alright if she's still a hatchling...HTH

 

[onarock]

Do all pyramid tortoises have MBD? What if they are just slightly pyramid? You say leads to MBD... at what point does this become certain?

Hi Adam and welcome...Yes, pyramiding IS a major problem. In the wild their carapaces are smooth. There's really no way for us to tell if pyramiding causes pain, but we do know that pyramiding leads to MBD and MBD is painful. I recommend cypress mulch as a good substrate and I keep mine damp. I am not crazed about misting them all day long. I believe in the 4 rules...small tortoises need a lot of exercise, a good and varied diet, about 80% humidity and strong UVB. That's what my experience tells me is necessary to prevent pyramiding and to raise a healthy tortoise. I would get rid of the timothy hay and get some cypress mulch if I were you. Make sure you are feeding a good diet which should be mostly grasses and weeds. If you don't have that now, feed a varied diet from the produce section at the store...
Where are your pictures of your tort? I didn't see them anywhere so I don't know if she's pyramided or not. A 20L tank is alright if she's still a hatchling...HTH

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Do all pyramid tortoises have MBD? What if they are just slightly pyramid? You say leads to MBD... at what point does this become certain?

Go pick on somebody else, I'm not going to defend myself to you. What's wrong with you anyway?

Hi Adam and welcome...Yes, pyramiding IS a major problem. In the wild their carapaces are smooth. There's really no way for us to tell if pyramiding causes pain, but we do know that pyramiding leads to MBD and MBD is painful. I recommend cypress mulch as a good substrate and I keep mine damp. I am not crazed about misting them all day long. I believe in the 4 rules...small tortoises need a lot of exercise, a good and varied diet, about 80% humidity and strong UVB. That's what my experience tells me is necessary to prevent pyramiding and to raise a healthy tortoise. I would get rid of the timothy hay and get some cypress mulch if I were you. Make sure you are feeding a good diet which should be mostly grasses and weeds. If you don't have that now, feed a varied diet from the produce section at the store...
Where are your pictures of your tort? I didn't see them anywhere so I don't know if she's pyramided or not. A 20L tank is alright if she's still a hatchling...HTH

 

[onarock]

Whats wrong with me? Whats wrong with you? Im just trying to learn something about pyrmiding and MBD. If you don't have the answers, thats fine, you don't have to answer. If you do... please share. Was I picking on you? Sorry if you see it that way

Do all pyramid tortoises have MBD? What if they are just slightly pyramid? You say leads to MBD... at what point does this become certain?

Go pick on somebody else, I'm not going to defend myself to you. What's wrong with you anyway?

Hi Adam and welcome...Yes, pyramiding IS a major problem. In the wild their carapaces are smooth. There's really no way for us to tell if pyramiding causes pain, but we do know that pyramiding leads to MBD and MBD is painful. I recommend cypress mulch as a good substrate and I keep mine damp. I am not crazed about misting them all day long. I believe in the 4 rules...small tortoises need a lot of exercise, a good and varied diet, about 80% humidity and strong UVB. That's what my experience tells me is necessary to prevent pyramiding and to raise a healthy tortoise. I would get rid of the timothy hay and get some cypress mulch if I were you. Make sure you are feeding a good diet which should be mostly grasses and weeds. If you don't have that now, feed a varied diet from the produce section at the store...
Where are your pictures of your tort? I didn't see them anywhere so I don't know if she's pyramided or not. A 20L tank is alright if she's still a hatchling...HTH

 

[Robert]

I'm sure this isn't making Adam feel very welcome.

Welcome Adam. Good luck. Lots of good advice here. Some strong personalities as well, but all in the name of good tortoise care.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

No, you're not trying to learn anything, you attacked Dean and the exoticdr and now you're trying me, it's not that I don't have the answers, it's that I'm not giving them to you. Leave me alone.

Whats wrong with me? Whats wrong with you? Im just trying to learn something about pyrmiding and MBD. If you don't have the answers, thats fine, you don't have to answer. If you do... please share. Was I picking on you? Sorry if you see it that way

Do all pyramid tortoises have MBD? What if they are just slightly pyramid? You say leads to MBD... at what point does this become certain?

Go pick on somebody else, I'm not going to defend myself to you. What's wrong with you anyway?

Hi Adam and welcome...Yes, pyramiding IS a major problem. In the wild their carapaces are smooth. There's really no way for us to tell if pyramiding causes pain, but we do know that pyramiding leads to MBD and MBD is painful. I recommend cypress mulch as a good substrate and I keep mine damp. I am not crazed about misting them all day long. I believe in the 4 rules...small tortoises need a lot of exercise, a good and varied diet, about 80% humidity and strong UVB. That's what my experience tells me is necessary to prevent pyramiding and to raise a healthy tortoise. I would get rid of the timothy hay and get some cypress mulch if I were you. Make sure you are feeding a good diet which should be mostly grasses and weeds. If you don't have that now, feed a varied diet from the produce section at the store...
Where are your pictures of your tort? I didn't see them anywhere so I don't know if she's pyramided or not. A 20L tank is alright if she's still a hatchling...HTH

 

[AdamR]

Thanks everyone! Lol I can understand a fun discussion all in the name of tortoises!! I apologize, I'm not tech savvy at all and am having trouble getting the files to upload. If you have any advice on this shoot me a pm!

 

[Robert]

Adam: I use photobucket.com. I have an account with them. I upload pics to them and then just copy the image code into my posts.

Others on the forum use tinypic.com. I'm not familiar with it but I believe it doesn't require an account.

 

[Laura]

ok girls.. take this ?? elsewhere.. not sure where it came from.. but doesnt belong here..post a new thread to ask or debate it..but not here. thanks
Welcome Adam. I would get some good gorcery store greens. Spring Mix salad mix is a good start. Timothy hay is usually not eaten well by hatchlings..
Post a pic and we can determine if the shell is in good shape. As for pyrimiding.. go to the sulcata section.. look for apsot of Pyrimiding then and now.. I posted pics of my two smallest.. Dixon had MBD and is severe , Zues did not as far as I know.. but has pretty good towers.. they are smoothing out, but it will never go away.
Timothy hay as a substrate doesnt give enough traction and thier legs can be splayed. Soil is best.. on my list.

 

[onarock]

Did you read the whole Dean thread? I didnt start off attacking Dean, I actually stayed civil and told the OP to caution on the side of Dean (guess you didnt read into that). I only started on Dean when he attacked squamata. Get your facts straight and as far as Doc goes we are having a civil conversation.

No, you're not trying to learn anything, you attacked Dean and the exoticdr and now you're trying me, it's not that I don't have the answers, it's that I'm not giving them to you. Leave me alone.

Whats wrong with me? Whats wrong with you? Im just trying to learn something about pyrmiding and MBD. If you don't have the answers, thats fine, you don't have to answer. If you do... please share. Was I picking on you? Sorry if you see it that way

Do all pyramid tortoises have MBD? What if they are just slightly pyramid? You say leads to MBD... at what point does this become certain?

Go pick on somebody else, I'm not going to defend myself to you. What's wrong with you anyway?

Hi Adam and welcome...Yes, pyramiding IS a major problem. In the wild their carapaces are smooth. There's really no way for us to tell if pyramiding causes pain, but we do know that pyramiding leads to MBD and MBD is painful. I recommend cypress mulch as a good substrate and I keep mine damp. I am not crazed about misting them all day long. I believe in the 4 rules...small tortoises need a lot of exercise, a good and varied diet, about 80% humidity and strong UVB. That's what my experience tells me is necessary to prevent pyramiding and to raise a healthy tortoise. I would get rid of the timothy hay and get some cypress mulch if I were you. Make sure you are feeding a good diet which should be mostly grasses and weeds. If you don't have that now, feed a varied diet from the produce section at the store...
Where are your pictures of your tort? I didn't see them anywhere so I don't know if she's pyramided or not. A 20L tank is alright if she's still a hatchling...HTH

---

Thank you Sir.... We will do that

ok girls.. take this ?? elsewhere.. not sure where it came from.. but doesnt belong here..post a new thread to ask or debate it..but not here. thanks
Welcome Adam. I would get some good gorcery store greens. Spring Mix salad mix is a good start. Timothy hay is usually not eaten well by hatchlings..
Post a pic and we can determine if the shell is in good shape. As for pyrimiding.. go to the sulcata section.. look for apsot of Pyrimiding then and now.. I posted pics of my two smallest.. Dixon had MBD and is severe , Zues did not as far as I know.. but has pretty good towers.. they are smoothing out, but it will never go away.
Timothy hay as a substrate doesnt give enough traction and thier legs can be splayed. Soil is best.. on my list.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi AdamR:

Welcome to the forum!! Did you tell us where you are?

I apologize for all that rambling on your initial thread. We're not usually so argumentative. Maybe Onarock would like to pose his question in a new thread?

 

[onarock]

No, I'm fine Yvonne, thanks.

Sorry to highjack your thread Adam.....Welcome

Hi AdamR:

Welcome to the forum!! Did you tell us where you are?

I apologize for all that rambling on your initial thread. We're not usually so argumentative. Maybe Onarock would like to pose his question in a new thread?

 

[AdamR]

OK!! Finally, after much difficulty I just posted the pics onto another forum I am a member of! Please let me know what you think and if you see signs of pyramiding.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1229187#post1229187

Yvonne, thank you. I am in Fayetteville, AR.

Laura, is Spring Mix a certain brand? I will pick some up tomorrow! I have noticed that she tends to pick around the hay but she does munch on it occasionally. Yes, I have also noticed that she has trouble getting around on the hay which is why I began researching other substrates. Someone pointed me in the direction of this forum and I found all you wonderful people and reliable advice!

Btw, I meant to say earlier that the lights are on a 12hr timer and a Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB bulb is also on that timer. I hope I made a good selection on my tort! If not, I will do what is necessary to help her heal and grow healthy!

 

[Yvonne G]

Here is Adam's cute little sulcata (smooth as a baby's behind!! ):

 

[Robert]

Cute little guy!

 

[Shelly]

There's really no way for us to tell if pyramiding causes pain

A tortoise that is in pain behaves differently than one that is not in pain. I have never seen any evidence that a pyramided tortoise behaves any differently than a smooth one. Based on that, I think it is safe to assume that pyramiding alone does not cause pain.

 

[AdamR]

That is very good to know! Thanks for the compliments everyone! Does she show signs of pyramiding yet?

OMG! Shelly, that clip is hilarious!!! I have a 5yo boxer that is a big baby just like that! I hope I get to see something like that sometime in the future!

 

[Shelly]

That clip is just something I stole off the internet. But Boxers are just great dogs, I have enjoyed every one I have ever met.

 

[Laura]

Spring mix is a type of mix. Its the pre bagged or boxed salads. Santa Barbara Mix is good to if your store carries it.
Avoid the mixes with a lot of spinich.
Weeds from outside are good too. Fresh grass etc. as long as you know it is not sprayed.