Pyramiding

[kingskettle]

I don't know if this photo is going to appear but if it does what I am asking about is this. Both my 6 year old Leopards are treated exactly the same but the larger of the two has started to show signs of pyramiding. After reading Toms thread, I have managed to locate some coir from a pet shop and soaked it and dried it out a bit til it's moist and it's now in their hide under a CE lamp. Naturally,they're not wanting to go in their hide now after a first reccy but I expect they'll soon change their minds! Both are soaked every morning and every evening in warm water which I pour onto them until their baths are the right depth. They go outside after they've bathed and drank and peed, into a large grass pen. They don't seem to each much of this grass but sometimes I feed them weeds and flowers in there in the morning but sometimes I don't and just leave them in there til around 7pm when they come in and have their second bath and then I give them a feed of weeds and flowers. What I want to know is what am I doing wrong to make the pyramiding start,especially as the other tortoise seems ok. I've had them for 8 months now.

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This might be the same photo as the one on my first post about pyramiding because I can't seem to be able to transfer the next picture from photobucket----however it may be a pic of Julie! Her shell isn't at all like Frankels.

Val

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Yep, it's the same photo. Sorry about that. I do a right click, click on paste and the same photo img code comes up every time. I don't know how to get it to show the img code I want. Anybody tell this computer idiot how to do that????

 

[Neal]

Very nice leopard. At that size, you didn't do anything to contribute to the pyramiding. It's been growing like that since it was a hatchling...however, that is not bad pyramiding at all, whoever had that tortoise before you did a very good job! There are some tortoises that do pyramid "naturally", such as the Sri Lanka star, and certain type of leopard tortoises seem to pyramid naturally as well. I think the best thing you could do for a tortoise that size, to help it grow as smooth as possible, is to keep it well hydrated and give it plenty of sunshine and room to exercise.

 

[kingskettle]

Thanks for your reply. I wish I could get the other photo up as Julie's shell is pretty good. They both get all you have advised except now they will have damp coir in their cave-----hope I don't make them ill doing that.

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This should be Julie this time----hopefully. Same age as Frankel but smaller----755gms as opposed to Frankel's 1370gms

 

[Tom]

The pattern for pyramiding, or not, is set within the first few weeks and months after hatching. That boat sailed along time ago for you. Having the humid hide at this point won't hurt anything and might help the new growth to come in smoother. They key is that with humidity, you can never let them get cool. So that hide needs to stay at least 80F (26C) degrees 24/7. In my experience the trick to preventing pyramiding is to simulate the hot, humid, African rainy season for babies, instead of the typical advice which is to simulate a dry desiccating desert. As they get larger and larger, major environmental changes, like dry to humid for example, will have less of an impact on their shell growth. It is those first few weeks that has the most impact and sets the pattern of growth for the rest of their lives. It is very difficult and time consuming to break that pattern once it is set for pyramiding. This is why I stress to people who are looking to buy a new baby, that the source you buy from makes ALL the difference in the world.

I agree with Neal's assessment that those are both very nice looking leopards. Your Spanish environment seems to suit them well.

 

[DesertGrandma]

Your leopards are very pretty. Don't look very bumpy at all to me.

 

[kingskettle]

Thankyou for your comments. I don't feel guilty now that I haven't been doing right by my babes!

 

[Jacob]

Julie Looks Great, The other two arnt bad at all

 

[kingskettle]

Thanks Jacob.

 

[austinl01]

The pattern for pyramiding, or not, is set within the first few weeks and months after hatching. That boat sailed along time ago for you. Having the humid hide at this point won't hurt anything and might help the new growth to come in smoother. They key is that with humidity, you can never let them get cool. So that hide needs to stay at least 80F (26C) degrees 24/7. In my experience the trick to preventing pyramiding is to simulate the hot, humid, African rainy season for babies, instead of the typical advice which is to simulate a dry desiccating desert. As they get larger and larger, major environmental changes, like dry to humid for example, will have less of an impact on their shell growth. It is those first few weeks that has the most impact and sets the pattern of growth for the rest of their lives. It is very difficult and time consuming to break that pattern once it is set for pyramiding. This is why I stress to people who are looking to buy a new baby, that the source you buy from makes ALL the difference in the world.

I agree with Neal's assessment that those are both very nice looking leopards. Your Spanish environment seems to suit them well.

Thanks for the information. Very well explained.