Pyramiding

[Carina and Stu]

Hi everyone,

My tortoise, Disco Stu, seems to have some pyramiding. He (not entirely sure if he is in fact a boy!) is a little over 2 years old and I have had him for just over 1 and a half years. I keep him in a large rabbit cage indoors and let him outside when it gets warmer. His indoor closure has UV light, heat bulb, temp 35 directly under the heat bulb which he seems to love, and 20 in the cooler end. The substrate I use at the moment is aspen bedding which he likes to burrow in. I tried using soil/ sand mix once but he kept eating it . I do use calcium on his food to help with growth and he has a bowl of water in there, just in case he decides to have a drink (only tends to drink his bath water though!)

What can I do to improve his environment? Ideally when he is older and I have my own house and garden I will build him the most beautiful place outside but unfortunately for now I have to make do with what I have...
Do I need to improve the humidity?

Please help! I will try to post some pictures on here....

Carina and Stu

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Arh sorry can't seem to post any photos - it says the file is too large...

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, you DO need to improve the humidity. Aspen is too dry and will mold if you moisten it. So you need to find some sort of substrate that you can moisten.

 

[Carina and Stu]

Yes, you DO need to improve the humidity. Aspen is too dry and will mold if you moisten it. So you need to find some sort of substrate that you can moisten.

Thanks, Yvonne. What do you recommend?

 

[Yvonne G]

I like to use cypress mulch, but if you live on the West Coast of the US its hard to find. My second choice is the fine grade of orchid bark.

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I just realized that Stu is a Hermann's tortoise. Quite a few folks use the aspen bedding for Hermann's tortoises. In this case, maybe you could try a humid hide. You can hot-glue-gun a sponge to the ceiling of his hiding place, then keep the sponge moist. It works best if you have two hides and sponges. You can be soaking one while he's using the other one.

 

[Carina and Stu]

Hey, yeah that sounds like a good idea, thanks.
Any kind of sponge? Might look at the cypress mulch as well.

I live in the UK!

 

[Carina and Stu]

Here's Stu...

 

[Chelsea]

I think I may have to try the humid hide idea. I have 3 Hermanns and they're all pyramiding slightly (I've only had them for 6 weeks, they're 18 months and 3yrs old). Stu looks so much like my little one Mexico Very cute!

 

[GBtortoises]

I have raised several smooth Hermann's tortoises (and other Mediterranean tortoise species) on a substrate mixture of 65% organic potting soil, 20% coconut coir and the rest ground up sphagnum and leaf litter. I keep it about 5cm deep for tortoises up to 3.8cm long, 7.6cm deep for tortoises up to 6.3cm long. I spray it twice, sometime three times daily, soaking it well at night. About once a week I soak the whole substrate and stir it up well.

20c is too cool of a daytime ambient temperature. That is fine for a night time temperature, even as cold as 15c is fine as long as ambient daytime temperatures are in the 23-28.5c range.

If he was consuming the substrate on a regular basis then it is likely that he was lacking in either minerals, calcium, fiber or all three. I do not coat their food with calcium either but instead keep it available at all times in a seperate, shallow bowl (and container lid) for them to consume when they need it. I also have timothy hay available for them to graze on at all times for additional fiber intake. Most young tortoises will not consume very much, if any hay unless they are fiber deficient at which time they will often consume large amounts of hay and other dry weeds.

I believe that you absolutely do need to increase not only the humidity level in the air, but more importantly, the moisture in the substrate. Both need to be present for a tortoise to remain well hydrated and active.