# Does Mazuri cause pyramiding?



## Tortuga_terrestre (Apr 14, 2010)

Hello Guys and Gals,

So as some of you know may know, I gave my beloved California Desert Tortoise "Fernando" for adoption (Due to his size and limited space). He went to an awesome TFO member (Candy). Anyways I am looking to purchase or adopt a Leopard Tortoise Hatchling. I want to raise this tortoise to have very little to no pyramiding. There is nothing more beautiful than a smooth shell. I was reading the ingridients in Mazuri and It contains Ground CORN. I've learned through the years, that CORN is just a filler and has no nutritional value. They feed pigs CORN to make grow big and fat. Is Mazuri making tortoises grow too fast? Ive seen many tortoises on Mazuri diet with alot of pyramiding. Below are the ingridients:

Ground soybean hulls, ground corn, ground oats, dehulled soybean meal, wheat middlings, cane molasses, brewers' dried yeast, soybean oil, wheat germ, dehydrated alfalfa meal, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, DL-methionine, choline chioride, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite, pyri- doxine hydrochloride, D-alpha tocopheryl acetate, cholecalciferol, biotin, calcium pantothenate, ethoxyquin (a preservative), vitamin A acetate, riboflavin, L-lysine, nicotinicacid, thiamine mononitrate, cyanocobalamin, folic acid, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate, sodium selenite. 30% roughage products ground soybean hulls.


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## Meg90 (Apr 14, 2010)

I feed my young Greeks mainly spring mix (and other greens rotated), dusted with Ca at every feeding, and Mazuri at least once to twice a week. With proper environment, humidity etc, I have not had ANY issues with it.

This is my proof:






I do believe it contributes to faster growth. Novalee, the tort in the picture, has put on about 1/4" each month, for the last three or so. She's about 8 1/2 months old now, and 3 3/4". However, she is also STONE SMOOTH. Not a wrinkle or bump in sight on her. Her shell is hard as a rock too. She's heavy, healthy, and loves her mazuri. 

There is more to pyramiding than diet alone.


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## Tom (Apr 15, 2010)

Mazuri is fine. It is used by many top professionals on thousands of babies a year with perfectly smooth shells. Most everyone recommends Mazuri as PART of a mixed diet. Some say 2 or 3 days a week, others say 50% of the diet.

Pyramiding is caused by growth in the absence of sufficient humidity/moisture. NOT PROTEIN. A higher protein/nutrient diet causes them to grow faster. If conditions are right they will grow faster and be smooth. If conditions are wrong they will grow faster and pyramid. You see so many pyramided tortoises because for the last 30 years we have been raising them the wrong way. Its only in the last couple of years that we are figuring this out.

This is not just my opinion. It is shared by Richard Fife, Terry K. and many other prominent tortoise keepers/breeders. As with all new info, not everyone is on board with it yet.

Check this out:
http://www.ivorytortoise.com/information/documents/pyramiding_in_tortoises.html


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