Worried about my tortoises shell ...

[Samparker]

HI Guys. I need help.

As you may or not know I wet and bourght 2 Russian Tortoises yesterday. For £180 GBP I got 2 Russian Tortoises and an encosure also some U.S tortoise books worth $15 USD. Cheap right?

Thats what i thaught but he said he has no time for them due to work comitments and that they are just being left alone.. so i had to buy them.

I done standard health checks (runny noses, Crispy eyes and that they are walking about. But as soon as he taken them out of the tank they seem to of frozen and went in theire shell, Baxter (the bigger one) came out within seconds but NO NAME (untill i find one) stayed in her sell all tight. what can i do about this? i am starting to get worried. Baxter on the ther hand is all go.

Now, Baxters shell. attached i have added some photos of his shell, i dont no if it is the start of pyramiding i dont no.. but i am starting to paic, its the white lines on his bumps.

sorry for battering your heads. I am a worried farther

 

[pdrobber]

Russians don't seem to pyramid all that much, even with improper care. The white/lighter lines between scutes are new growth, looks ok.

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looking at the pictures of them on your facebook page, it seems like they do have some pyramiding going on, or something different about their growth...I feel like I've seen similar in others and maybe (not quite sure if I'm remembering correctly) but they were long term captives? where did you get yours? do you know if they were wild caught or captive bred?

again, not quite sure about it, just giving my input.

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growing too fast...that's what I'd heard somewhere is one of the causes of bumpiness

 

[Samparker]

Russians don't seem to pyramid all that much, even with improper care. The white/lighter lines between scutes are new growth, looks ok.

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looking at the pictures of them on your facebook page, it seems like they do have some pyramiding going on, or something different about their growth...I feel like I've seen similar in others and maybe (not quite sure if I'm remembering correctly) but they were long term captives? where did you get yours? do you know if they were wild caught or captive bred?

again, not quite sure about it, just giving my input.

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growing too fast...that's what I'd heard somewhere is one of the causes of bumpiness

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Well I dont no where they are from the person i bourght baxter and Dolly off seamed on edge, i bourght them due to their welfair aswell. How do u treat pyramiing?

 

[dbsneed69]

Did the person you bought them from have proper lighting? Did they give you any idea about the diet they had been provided?

Now that you have them, I'm sure they will be in much better care.

 

[Yvonne G]

You don't "treat" pyramiding. Its a condition, not an affliction. And in your tortoises' case, its purely cosmetic, not harmful. There's nothing you can do for your tortoises now. In order for them to not pyramid, you have to start when they first hatch and keep them slightly moist, in a humid environment. Once the shell starts to grow bumpy, its set and you can't change it.

 

[lynnedit]

Make sure the female is not being intimidated or bullied by the male. Otherwise, some torts are just much shyer and take awhile to warm up. They don't always eat right away. Being out of their enclosure in a wide open space (room in house) can be scary.
Lots of Russian torts have some deformities, but the manage just fine when they start to get good care.
Give them a soak every day for a few days, then 2-3x per week, as they may be dehydrated after being with their previous owner.
Just read the care sheets for them and do your best by them. They will do fine!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Yeah, looks like a little bit of pyramiding. Previous owner may have provided:

- Too low humidity (hard to do with a Russian tortoise, but possible)
- Not enough vitamin D3 (i.e. not enough time outdoors, poor indoor lighting, or lack of diet supplement)
- Not enough calcium (again, lack of diet supplement, or no cuttle bone/calcareous rocks to gnaw on)
- Too much protein in the diet (tortoise may have been given food meant for omnivorous or carnivorous turtles, or even dog or cat food)

To correct the situation, you will need to provide good husbandry (calcium, vitamin D3, low protein, and appropriate humidity). There is a chance the animal has metabolic bone disease (MBD, i.e. weak skeleton), but the beak looks normal, so I doubt it. With a high-protein diet in a tortoise, the kidneys may have some damage, especially if the animal is dehydrated. However, the pyramiding here does not seem severe, so he should be fine, so long as he gets the right kind of care now from you.