# Help! Russian tortoise pyramiding



## Bubbatort (Jul 18, 2014)

First of all thank you to the help I receive everyday whenever I have questions like these. I obviously got poor Bubba from a local petsmarts. His she'll looks like it's getting a bit better. Be honest! Is this his shell in bad shape?! What should I do?


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## dmmj (Jul 18, 2014)

His shell looks bad because of the rough treatment he received in he wild, so overall not bad, but his shell does look like it is flaring a bit along the edges.


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## Bubbatort (Jul 18, 2014)

dmmj said:


> His shell looks bad because of the rough treatment he received in he wild, so overall not bad, but his shell does look like it is flaring a bit along the edges.


So what should I do? I don't want the poor guy to die


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## dmmj (Jul 18, 2014)

He won't die, flaring seems to be pretty common in captive russians. Just provide a good diet, and humidity, oh and sunshine


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## Yvonne G (Jul 19, 2014)

I don't see "pyramiding." Maybe you misunderstand what the word means. This is pyramiding:

http://www.turtlerescues.com/images/Sulcata _Toby.jpg


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## lismar79 (Jul 19, 2014)

I also got my russian from petsmart and her shell looked much like yours. It is startimg to smooth out now.


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## ascott (Jul 21, 2014)

That is a beautiful tortoise with a perfect shell....you have yourself a wild caught tortoise....this tortoise went through some pretty crappy times before being plopped into the pet shop....anything that you do with a wild caught will take extra patience on your part....even moreso than a captive bred/hatched tortoise.

Do you have a yard? If yes, I would SERIOUSLY get to making an outdoor VERY SECURE space for the tortoise....he needs fresh air, natural sunlight and space to make his own....

Stinky poo is a result of the diet...if you create a safe place for the tort outdoors and offer places for him to graze on weeds and such along with offering him some spring mix while you get things growing in his outdoor space and offer some daily soaks for a couple of weeks....the tort was likely very dehydrated and likely ate lots of other torts poo in travel....and that mixed with the fact he was ripped from the wild can create some stress in a tortoise....diet, lack of exercise, poor hydration, lack of natural sun time all can create stress and a stressed tort is not a good thing....so I would work seriously on setting up an adequate space for the tort to be outdoors as much as possible (setting up for area to not be in a flood area, a place that allows basking, a place that has thick shade and that is escape proof, a place that allows the tort to hide) and your indoor space could actually be two of those plastic bins put together for more space....you don't have dogs do you? If yes, then you will want to secure the indoor enclosure so the dog does not make a chew toy of the tort...you will want to also do this outdoors if you have a dog (as well as other predators outdoors)...


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## YourAverageReptileLover (Nov 15, 2014)

His shell looks fine to me.


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