Shell Rot and Pyramiding?

[redboris]

Hey guys,

This is Boris.
He is awesome.

However, im afraid his shell isn't doing so awesome. His diet is mainly of mixed greens (kale, chervil, romaine, collard) and fruits (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries) and a sprinkle of repti calcium on his salad.

We got him in April at about 2-2.5years old and his shell was in virtually the same condition. We haven't seen much improvement and would value your feedback immensely!

 

[ColorfulTortoise]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

How is Boris's setup? What is the substrate, temps, humidity?

 

[lvstorts]

Hey guys,

This is Boris.
He is awesome.

However, im afraid his shell isn't doing so awesome. His diet is mainly of mixed greens (kale, chervil, romaine, collard) and fruits (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries) and a sprinkle of repti calcium on his salad.

We got him in April at about 2-2.5years old and his shell was in virtually the same condition. We haven't seen much improvement and would value your feedback immensely!


What kind of shell improvments are you looking for? He looks a little dried out by the picture but that's speculation. As ColorfulTortoise asked more info about how you are keeping him will allow many more answers.

A thought: if you are worried about pyrmading, first, it doens't look bad to me and second, my understanding is once pyramided, always pyramid. If kept properly the new growth will be normal but he'll always have the pyramiding.

 

[dannel]

He looks way too dry. What is the humidity?

 

[diaboliqueturtle]

I agree, the pyramiding is minor and from what I can tell, it looks smoother where the new growth is coming in. The existing pyramiding cannot disappear, it happened before she got to you. What you CAN do is make sure that it stops. Raising humidity and keeping her hydrated are the first steps. She would benefit from a daily warm water soak, to drink and go to the bathroom and enclosure and shell misting.

From that picture, I don't see shell rot, can you snap another pic from a different angle? I see a hint of a southerner's pinched in waist, a full frontal plastron pic would confirm it

 

[redboris]

Thanks for the welcome

His substrate is a mixture of cypress mulch, and coconut coir.
We have a Mist King set to go off every 3hrs for 1min.
The temps of his enclosure float between 80-90 and humidity fluctuates from 50-70.
His enclosure does not have a closed ceiling...could the moisture be escaping?
I've attached a picture of his enclosure if it helps.[attachment=32376

Here are some pictures of him right after a bath to show off his trouble spots.
]

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Redboris, and welcome to the Forum!