Yes she had a run in with my dog Molly in the beginning that’s the chew marks you’re noticing…that will never happen again I keep them separated always now…..the weird colored lights you noticed are led grow lights for my plants ….I was just holding Milly near them for lighting for the pictures.I see some shell damage there and I can't remember your tortoise's history. Did she have a run-in with a dog? It will take months of growth to see a noticeable reduction in pyramiding once a tortoise is moved into a large closed chamber with the correct temperatures and humidity.
Just some helpful tips: Heat mats should not be used under small tortoises in indoor set ups, though large "pig blanket" style ones are fine for larger tortoises in outdoor type housing situations.
Also, the color in your pics seems purple-ish. Colored bulbs shouldn't be used over tortoises day or night.
I'll leave this here for review in case anyone reading would like to see it:
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
- Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
- Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
I have tried basking bulbs but she won’t go near them she seems to just like to go into her hide box most the day. She will come out to eat and comes out when she wants her bath….she has actually developed a routine actually…I’m pretty impressed with her about that. As soon as she comes out of her hide box Molly my dog lets me know right away so then I give her her bath. ill post a pic of her set up for you maybe you can help me figure something out heating wise. I live in Maine …I know I never should have gotten a Sulcata living up here but I didn’t know all this at the time I got her…. If I had it to do over I would have gotten a small breed tort…oh well live and learn and I always learn the hard way. Thanks for helping Tom