Stopping those pyramids...and sort of introduction

[GuyC]

sometimes the growth slows down, no clue why. Seems to go in spurts with Binky.

 

[Schatzi011]

Hello, I am really impressed with the difference in your sulcata's shell. There is a stark difference from his previous pyramiding, to his now much smoother shell!

I did my doctorate in ruminant nutrition and you're absolutely right about grasses. Some people think grasses are all the same, but even the protein content can more than double from one type of grass to another, and within the same type of grass, from one season of the year to another. I also soaked my guy a lot more than once per week when he was a baby as well. Now his is 45lbs and I don't soak him at all, but he has water and can take care of that himself.

A side note, for my job I go to the Netherlands a couple times per year. I prefer the weather in Los Angeles, but I do love the culture in the Netherlands (I'm somewhat direct and sarcastic myself, so I get along very well with my colleagues there). The Netherlands is a beautiful country.

 

[Pearly]

Hi there, GuyC and Binky! Welcome from Texas!!! Glad you have decided to join us here. We are a friendly bunch enjoying talking about our torts, exchanging ideas, learning in a process. I keep Redfooted, so very different diet, but other than that lots of similarities in care requirements. I think that "baby, is a baby, is a ... baby"! Redfoot, Sulcata, Aldabra or Russian... Doesn't matter! All need good warm/humid enclosures, good food, daily baths, UVB and lots of TLC! Binky's little bumps will be just enough to make his shell look more interesting. He(she???) is cute as can be! I love Binky's growth chart!!! Now I want to figure out how to do one for my grand-torts (my baby torts belong to my 11 yr old daughter, but guess who spends countless hrs on the forum snd reading all kinds of articles?) again, great to have you here and looking forward to seeing your posts/threads with pictures, lots of pictures

 

[Gillian M]

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So cute! GOD bless.

 

[BrianWI]

A thread on the quality of grasses could be a fun one (or an argument). For some reason, here is the U.S., we don't think about it much. We will plant corn (a giant grass) year after year and rotate beans in once in awhile to fix nitrogen. But for some reason, we never return the minerals and other nutrients to the soil. Other countries do this regularly, all of southeast asia has products for this purpose. Much of our produce is lacking now.

 

[Schatzi011]

BrianWI, I'm not sure what farm you worked on, but they do lots of fertilizing in the U.S. Do you remember a few years ago the huge explosion at a fertilizer plant? There is no way we'd be able to continue our corn production without any fertilizer.

 

[BrianWI]

Fertilizer is NOT minerals. We use tons of anhydrous ammonia. It is nitrogen only.

 

[GuyC]

I think for the general keeper as a rule of thumb the following suffices: the longer the grass had been grown of has been allowed to grow over more time the more fibrous it will be and therefore lower in sugar (it will also look less vibrantly green). The shorter grown, more succulent looking or grown in a short time due to excellent weather conditions, the higher in sugars.
Would you agree?

 

[Kasia]

Fertilizer is NOT minerals. We use tons of anhydrous ammonia. It is nitrogen only.

Your chemistry knowledge is hardly poor

 

[BrianWI]

Grass that is first growth is higher quality, yes. There is usually a stage at which it contains the most nutrition and can be cut "too early". Fast growing grasses are usually high in potassium.

 

[BrianWI]

You can buy products to return minerals to your garden. I may use some this fall for next year as my lawn is basically a very old hay field.

 

[GuyC]

The top two humps seem most stubborn to smooth out, growing pace picked up again.
I'll make detailed photos next time, but then you can see the inbetween scutes growth, smoothing out over time. It's kinda like watching paint dry for me, but scrolling back through the pictures you can see the differences.

 

[Meela21]

Thanks for the lovely messages.

I agree wholeheartedly with your views, and I know bad advice is occasionally given, sometimes out of ignorance, and sometimes out of arrogance.

For those interested I've added the weight chart, which I'll update. I wanted to post some pictures because I've seen the excellent pyramiding prevention/wet keeping series, but I haven't seen a pyramiding halted series (may have missed it?).

So what is and/or how to do pyramid prevention/wet keeping? If you don't mind me asking. .

 

[GuyC]

I'm just following the advice from the forums here, Tom the dogtrainer made some excellent stickies on this, which can be found at the top of the sulcata section.

For me and Binky it means the following: a humid hide box in which he sleeps which is at 99% rel humidity (rest of the enclosure above 80%) and daily morning soaks, combined with low energy high fibrous food and the occasional outside scuffle in the sun.

 

[GuyC]

The weight is nearing 300 grams now and the shell is smoothed out completely between the humps can't believe how effective this has been...however let's face it, his shell looks ridiculous because it's exactly the lighter areas which are raised

 

[Gillian M]

So what is and/or how to do pyramid prevention/wet keeping? If you don't mind me asking. .

Daily soaks in warm water, especially if you live in a country where the climate is dry. I for one do. I live in Jordan, an extremely dry climate here. Therefore, during hot Summer days I give Oli up to three soaks in 24 hours!

 

[BrianWI]

Kinda looks like a hand grenade. As he grows, it will be less apparent.

 

[Yvonne G]

I have one that's now 110lbs. He started out like Binky. But now that he's as big as he is, it doesn't look 'funny' at all. Here he is giving us the stink eye:

 

[GuyC]

http://metro.co.uk/2015/12/08/australias-new-dinosaur-could-be-even-better-than-stegosaurus-5552512

 

[Anyfoot]

The weight is nearing 300 grams now and the shell is smoothed out completely between the humps can't believe how effective this has been...however let's face it, his shell looks ridiculous because it's exactly the lighter areas which are raised

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Would you be able to get a side view x-ray so we can see how the bone structure is developing.