Pyramiding

[ColinS]

I have built a large outdoor enclosure. I have 3 tortoise. A young Herman’s which I’ve had 2 years and has very slight pyramiding when I got him. Never got worse. I take great care in feeding a varied diet. And I have rescued a pair of Russians which both have bad pyramiding. I’ve seen worse mind you but my question is, male is 10 and female around 14. The enclosure has a heated cold frame. Never goes below 16 degrees Celsius. I have a heat bulb with basking spot which is 34 degrees Celsius. And the cold fram is heated by oil filled radiator which has a built in thermostat. Can the two Horsefield a grow healthy now they’re outdoors mostly. As in outgrow the pyramiding?? The enclosure measurements are 20foot by 4 foot. The cold frame is 4 by 4 foot. So the outdoor bit is about 16foot. So plenty of space. What do people think about the pyramiding

 

[ayrgrn]

Sounds like you're doing a great job. Hermann's naturally pyramid a bit so don't worry about that. The temperature in the cold frame could be increased a bit, the best temp would be 20°C but 16 is fine. As they grow older they may develop new growth lines and the pyramiding may be less noticable but the pyramiding cannot be fully reversed. Hope this helps

 

[ColinS]

Yes I understand that. Just thought with them being relatively young maybe somehow the rest of the body could somehow outgrow the damage already !!

 

[JoesMum]

Can you post photos of the tortoises? Russians shells never grow completely smooth anyhow. Pyramidding is caused by them being raised too dry and won’t go away. It can become less obvious as they grow.

 

[ColinS]

Yes will try get good pictures soon as I get home.

 

[ColinS]

1st pic is the male

 

[ColinS]

Yes it’s mostly a little higher than 20 degrees Celsius. But it never goes below 16 is what I meant.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

1st pic is the male

That looks more like it's caused from MBD previously to me.

 

[ColinS]

That looks more like it's caused from MBD previously to me.

Quite possibly. It doesn’t stop him doing anything. He never stops running ha. Like I said will new growth kind of patch over the pyramiding so it’s less severe?