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[Neva_evaa]

Hi All!

I have two amazing tortoises. A red footed tortoise named Leni and a Pancake Tortoise named Axel! I have had Leni for about 2.5 years and Axel for 2 Im located currently in New Hampshire. Will be posting some photos soon as I just got a new tank for the boys, but I think Leni may have some pyramiding :| Anyway, HELLO, glad to have found fellow tortoise/turtle lovers!

 

[G-stars]

Hello and welcome.


— Gus

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Your Redfoot does have some pyramiding and the two should be housed separately, not a good idea to house two different species together for lot of reasons.
Btw, if I had to guess by the only pic I see, the RF is showing dominance over the cake.

 

[Neva_evaa]

hey wellington,
What if housing them seperately isnt possible? And Oh yes Leni does dominate, but They get along quite well... And ive found that Leni gets stressed out when Axel isnt around.

i do think the pyramiding is from too much protein and not enough fiber. Any suggestions? I have purchase fiber pellants but Leni isnt a fan so far.

 

[wellington]

Pyramiding is from to dry a habitat. RF need a high humidity, like 80% with the top layer of substrate remaining dry at least most of the time, as they are prone to shell rot. The dominance, is not good for the one being dominent. If you don't have room to seperate, then rehome one. It could cause the one being dominent to become ill, not eat as it should or even death.
Also, tortoises don't need or want company. They would rather be the sole ruler of their domain. Although RF do well in groups, pairs of any species usually never goes good. In your situation, with two different species, it's really not good.

 

[G-stars]

Regarding pyramiding please read this article.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/The-End-Of-Pyramiding.15137/

Sorry but it doesn't make sense. If ones dominating the other they aren't getting along. Actually quite the opposite. Stress can eventually kill a tortoise.

It's nice wise to house different species of tortoises together because each species carries different pathogens. When you house them together these pathogens can get passed on from one to the other.

The domination is causing your pancake stress, and mixing it with other pathogens is not a good mix.


— Gus

 

[wellington]

Here is a good site for RF info. It's one of our members sites. tortoiselibrary.com. Check it out.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

those are entirely different species with different care, i would not house them together.

 

[zenoandthetortoise]

View attachment 100976 Hi All!

I have two amazing tortoises. A red footed tortoise named Leni and a Pancake Tortoise named Axel! I have had Leni for about 2.5 years and Axel for 2 Im located currently in New Hampshire. Will be posting some photos soon as I just got a new tank for the boys, but I think Leni may have some pyramiding :| Anyway, HELLO, glad to have found fellow tortoise/turtle lovers!

Hi and welcome

 

[wellington]

One more thing, do they ever get outside in the summer months? Also, what size tank did you get them? I'm not sure they make one big enough for one RF of that size/age, let alone two tortoises.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome to TFO!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ ,USA . We aren't here to hurt you we try to help those that want it . Because we all love turtles and torts . Have a great tort day !


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[G-stars]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ ,USA . We aren't here to hurt you we try to help those that want it . Because we all love turtles and torts . Have a great tort day !


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

Agreed we are not trying to scare anyone off just want what's best for your tortoises. You don't need to take any of our advice.


— Gus

 

[WillTort2]

Welcome to the forum, you'll find this to be an excellent source of information regarding many species of torts.

Good luck.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Thank you everybody for your support


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[Neva_evaa]

They do go outside in the summer months. I also let them march around my house every so often. I special ordered the tank so it is exceptionally large. I am not positive of the measurements, but I will check today! I think you are correct Wellington, about it not being moist/humid enough. I worry that the pyramiding has gotten a bit worse, do you recommend soaking more often?

 

[tortdad]

Yes soak that guy often. Redfoots are tropical torts. You need 80% humidity or better. I don't let mine drop below 90%. Those torts need different types of food too. These two would really be better off in separate habitats set up special for each of them. You said you can't separate them, why not? If you just got a new tank why can you stick one in the new one and keep the other in the existing one. I assure you the tort is not being stressed when then other is not around. Tortoises are solitary animals, pairs are a bad idea but some species (like Redfoots) do well in a small heard. This heard would need to be all Redfoots and have like 1 male and 3 females or all females.

The pyramiding is permanent but if you get the humidity up the new growth will come in smooth and over a long period of time this will make the pyramiding less noticeable.

Welcome to TFO. I hope you enjoy our site and stick around. There's lots of good info on here and good people.


0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It is sometimes shocking to find out that what you've been doing with your pets has been harmful.I know first hand how that feels. Hang in there. I only have Red Footeds. Two females and a male. They tolerate each other. They are not yet housed together, though. In nature, they all stake their own territories and only search each other out to mate. Another tortoise isn't seen as an old friend or as company. It's seen as a competitor for food or the best areas to live and eat, sleep. My male has pyramiding about on par with yours. Looks like your could be male or female. Need better pictures. You can stop the pyramiding by getting his enclosure humidity up. Way up. I'm not a pancake person, but remove it and get him his own diggs.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Coming to this thread a bit late allowed me to read all the comments, and it sort of sounds like we're picking on you. I hope you don't take it that way. We're a very friendly Forum, and basically we all get along very well. We don't call names or point fingers, however, when it comes to caring for tortoises, we're very outspoken. So, we've given you good advice and our point of view and it's up to you to take it or leave it. Thank you for not arguing back.

Your tortoises are very pretty. I especially love the pattern on the Pancake's carapace.

Re-read the care sheets on each species, and you will see that they require different care and it would be better for each if they had their own territory.

The pyramiding isn't bad on the RF. And yes, it's caused by being in too dry an environment, and not by what the tortoise has been fed. Lovely tortoises!

 

[Neva_evaa]

Yes soak that guy often. Redfoots are tropical torts. You need 80% humidity or better. I don't let mine drop below 90%. Those torts need different types of food too. These two would really be better off in separate habitats set up special for each of them. You said you can't separate them, why not? If you just got a new tank why can you stick one in the new one and keep the other in the existing one. I assure you the tort is not being stressed when then other is not around. Tortoises are solitary animals, pairs are a bad idea but some species (like Redfoots) do well in a small heard. This heard would need to be all Redfoots and have like 1 male and 3 females or all females.

The pyramiding is permanent but if you get the humidity up the new growth will come in smooth and over a long period of time this will make the pyramiding less noticeable.

Welcome to TFO. I hope you enjoy our site and stick around. There's lots of good info on here and good people.


0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)

Yes Its true I still do have the other tank. Frankly, Im a student who lives in an apartment and I dont have the space (or much extra money at the moment). As far as soaking goes, when you say often, do you mean more than say twice a week? Also, how long? I usually let my RF soak for about 15 minutes... too short? I appreciate all the advice.

One more separate question, my Pancake has quite long nails. Should I trim them? He has a rock thing in the tank to scratch, but they are quite long.