Pyramiding/shell health

Wskjensen

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Oct 5, 2018
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Los Angeles
I have a 9 year old 50ish pound sulcata with 20ish inch carpace. I reccently adopted him and I want to make sure his shell is healthy. There are some interesting "squigally" grooves and one scute is lower, while the others are larger/more raised up. I currently feed him grass, timothy hay, turnip greens, cactus pads, chicory, mulberry, hibiscus, mazuri pellets, and calcium powder with occasional treats like red bell pepper, squash, prickly pear, and watermelon. He mostly eats grass and timothy hay that I cut into peices, soak, and place in various greens like a burrito because he is picky with the hay. Although most his life I suspect he ate a combination of whatever vegetables and fruits the past owner threw out. I live in socal in a suburb of LA where it is sunny and warm and with the coming winter months he has a ceramic heat lamp and a warming mat to sleep under in his little turtle house. It can get to 45 F some nights but warms back up in the day. I have tested the temp of his shell with a thermometer gun and it is no more than upper 90's when under this lamp and it is 10 or so inches above him, and low wattage. I was just wondering if I am on the right track husbandry wise and if he has any problems that need attention based on the strange growth lines on his shell. Also will he continue to pyramid with my routine or will it likely smooth out a bit with his lower scute catching up? 20181009_144049.jpg 20181009_144038.jpg Thanks.
 

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Tom

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New growth will likely come in smoother. I like to humidify their night house with some buckets of tubs of water. This helps.

You need to replace the CHE with a radiant heat panel ASAP. The CHE will slow burn the top of the carapace and slowly will the top of the shell. I use these: http://www.reptilebasics.com/80-watt-radiant-heat-panel

You can run it on the same thermostat as the CHE and mat.

What type of mat?

Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
 

Wolfpackin

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May 28, 2018
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Hard to tell but on the left side of the carapace, maybe #3 scute?, has damage. It almost looks sunken and cracked on the edges...
Is that the "lower" scute you are referring to?
 
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