# Is my tortoise's shell okay?



## Jocy (Jul 1, 2013)

Hello  I hope I am posting in the right place, sorry if I am not but I am brand new here and this is where I thought would be most appropriate. Correct me if I'm wrong!












This is Tilly, my approximately 9 year old Hermann's. I got him (I named him Tilly before we were entirely sure of the gender, it was only after his penile prolapse 4 years ago that we discovered "she" was a he ) in 2004 and aside from the fact that he was sold to us with worms, and the aforementioned penile prolapse (both of which he recovered perfectly from) he seems absolutely content and healthy. When it is too cold in England for him to be out in the garden he lives on a large tortoise table with special non-toxic tortoise substrate, a UV light and a sheltered area full of hay for him to burrow into at night. He always has access to a shallow dish of water and I soak him in warm water for about 15 minutes twice a week, which he really enjoyes. He lives on a diet of mixed weeds, supplemented with romaine lettuce when weeds are sparse, with the occasional small strawberry as a treat as these are his favourite. When it is warm enough, he has a large enclosure in the garden, including an hutch full of hay so he can go and burrow in there if he wishes. He loves to climb his little bridge, chase my cats round the garden, and is always alert and responsive to people. He is SO sociable, he loves to follow people around and if anyone sits on the ground in the garden he will come and climb us.

My only concern is that I am confused about shell pyramiding and am starting to worry about this. As far as I'm aware I am not doing anything wrong, yet his shell is definitely not completely smooth. Hopefully the photos can show what I mean. 

What do people think? Do you think Tilly's shell looks okay? As I said, he seems completely happy and fine, but if there is anything I am doing wrong I really want to know what it is as I want him to be as healthy as possible!

Thanks for taking the time to read this


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## tiff3grl (Jul 1, 2013)

Hi and welcome. His shell does not look bad to me, not sure if the pics are giving a complete representation though.


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## EchoTheLeoTort (Jul 1, 2013)

It seems pretty smooth from these pictures, but just to let you know, if his shell is a little bumpy or you see signs of pyramiding, it does not go away. There is nothing you can do to get rid of the pyramiding that is already there. However if his shell is a little bumpy you can do some things to prevent it from getting worse. I'm not really knowledgable with hermanns, or russians, greeks, those kinds of tortoises, so I hope someone can give you info on how to prevent pyramiding on him. Honestly I think you are doing a good job though, his shell is very smooth looking.


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## Yvonne G (Jul 1, 2013)

Hi Jocy, and welcome to the Forum!

Far as I'm concerned, you've done an excellent job of raising Tilly and providing him with what he needs to be a happy and healthy tortoise. The every-so-slight bumpiness you're seeing on his carapace is really nothing to be concerned about. If he were going to grow pyramided, it would have happened several years ago. He's pretty much established what his shell is going to look like from now on.


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## Jocy (Jul 1, 2013)

Yvonne G said:


> Hi Jocy, and welcome to the Forum!
> 
> Far as I'm concerned, you've done an excellent job of raising Tilly and providing him with what he needs to be a happy and healthy tortoise. The every-so-slight bumpiness you're seeing on his carapace is really nothing to be concerned about. If he were going to grow pyramided, it would have happened several years ago. He's pretty much established what his shell is going to look like from now on.



Hooray! This has made me ever so happy, thank you! I can breathe a sigh of relief now!


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## JoesMum (Jul 1, 2013)

That shell looks pretty good to me. It looks like you have been doing things right from my point of view


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