Hello
When we got our Shelly a 4 year old Med Spur about 6 month ago we noticed that she has slight pyramiding of her shell ,which we put down to her receiving the wrong diet ,but in spite of her now receiving the correct diet ie weeds ect there does not seem any improvement ? in fact I feel it has gone a little bit worse ,but my wife feels it is no worse .
Can anybody advise us what we need to do ect.
Bob and Win
Hi Bob,
Although some disagree, it's widely thought that pyramiding is not just down to diet. Alongside feeding the right amount of food, I find that having a humid hide works well to stop pyramiding, as this replicates the humid environment of the bushes that tortoises would hide under in the wild.
I accomplish this by having a damp sponge attatched to the top of the hides I use, and spraying the substrate. I also provide a dry hide, which is barely, if ever, used by the tortoises. Since I have started doing this the new growth of the tortoises has been much more smooth and steady.
Old pyramiding won't get better but if you get the right balance of food and a humid hide, the new growth will be smooth and the pyramiding will become less and less obvious. Also be sure that the tortoise is getting the right amount of calcium.
Josh
how many times do you spray josh.
I spray the substrate very lightly at night in their hide areas. When I used sand and soil I felt I had to water it at least daily as you could a plant, otherwise it got *too* dry and irritated the torts.
(07-12-2009 08:19 PM)tortoise_dude Wrote: [ -> ]I spray the substrate very lightly at night in their hide areas. When I used sand and soil I felt I had to water it at least daily as you could a plant, otherwise it got *too* dry and irritated the torts.
i find that 2.so using more soil than sand.
I now only use top soil, I found that the sand irritated to much.
i only use soil as well, found and irritated their eyes!!
mine has bad pyramiding but i think its not as much now, hopefullly im doing something right