Pyramiding...but not?

HermanniChris

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I really do not see an issue with the animal other than a very very slight raise in that area. This can be attributed to the way the area is growing due to the odd scute arrangement. I've seen this several times in these cases. But then again, many grow very smoothly with anomalies in a given area as well.

I like Tom's advice about the lighting so it definitely couldn't hurt to do that.

I certainly would not blame the mazuri. At least not solely. I'll post some photos when I get a chance to show a few things like growing on an 80% diet of mazuri, growing on 80% weeds, growing on 50/50 of both and also some pyramided wild tortoises which clearly grew up on an all natural diet.

Mazuri should not be daily for life though which you already know.
 

StarSapphire22

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Hmmm...thanks for the link Tom. Could I hook that up to my Powersun bulb then? Would it affect UV output? Or is an mvb just as bad as a spot for dessication?

Thanks Chris! So it could be attributed to abnormal scutes, possibly? That's very interesting. Mazuri was fed daily, but I'd say it made up less than 50% of the overall diet. More like 30-40%. And yes, not planning on feeding it forever. Mostly a winter thing/can't get to the store today thing. :)
 

Tom

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You cannot use a dimmer (rheostat) with a mercury vapor bulb. They are self ballasted and they cannot run on lower than normal wattage. They have some MVBs that are configured in a "spot" bulb style and others in a "flood" style. I would only use the flood and on those you have to adjust the height of the fixture to get the right temperature.
 

StarSapphire22

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Ah, okay! I had the powersun from his old enclosure so thought I would check. We'll be going bulb/rheostat shopping next payday then. :)
 

StarSapphire22

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So, money's a bit tight right now and I haven't had a chance to change his bulb or get a rheostat yet, but I wanted to post an update. He's definitely going through a growth spurt and is eating like a cow right now. He's got some new growth that is coming in super black, I love it. It seems like its coming in smoother too. I have been misting him 2-4 times a day, which he hates, but it seems like it might be helping! He's also down to eating Mazuri/weed mush 2x per week (vitamin days). Right now he's eating mostly spring mix on the other days, and some cucumber peels now and then. We'll be working on incorporating more weeds and stuff soon. I need to go plant/seed shopping.

Chris I think you're on to something with the scute abnormalities. It does seem to be only around his 3rd vertebral scute...he is missing his fourth. It seems like it's a combination of light/moisture + scute abnormalities?

Let me know what you guys think.
 

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