- Joined
- Sep 23, 2012
- Messages
- 717
So, I was going to post this in the burmese star forum but decided I might get more input here. I have 2 burmese stars that I have been raising by a variation of the "closed chamber" approach, but are still pyramiding. No pics at the moment but I'll try to post some tomorrow.
Both tortoises are over a year old but were bought separately as hatchlings with a little bit of growth (about 2"). They are housed separately in closed aquariums, kept very warm (78 - 95+ F). Tanks are completely covered, they are heavily misted so that substrate stays moist to wet. Both are under MVB lighting and get an identical diet (mazuri, mixed greens, occasional calcium supplement). Both eat well but growth rates are different, one is 3", the other is 4.25". Both are still pyramiding. It's not extreme, but noticeable. I'm sure it would have been worse without high humidity. However, I'm a little disappointed as I'd hoped to nip this in the bud.
So I suspect that there is another big factor here, and it may be the MVB lighting as Tom has suggested. This aligns best with my personal observation that many tortoises raised under sunlight end up smooth without any particular attention paid to humidity. So I'll certainly be following Tom's experiments. I'd love to run tests like this myself, but can't commit to long term care for a dozen sulcatas (and my wife has seen how big they get!)
Any other thoughts would be appreciated. I've read a couple times that star tortoises are more prone to pyramiding, so curious to know if I'm making a big deal out of nothing here.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
Both tortoises are over a year old but were bought separately as hatchlings with a little bit of growth (about 2"). They are housed separately in closed aquariums, kept very warm (78 - 95+ F). Tanks are completely covered, they are heavily misted so that substrate stays moist to wet. Both are under MVB lighting and get an identical diet (mazuri, mixed greens, occasional calcium supplement). Both eat well but growth rates are different, one is 3", the other is 4.25". Both are still pyramiding. It's not extreme, but noticeable. I'm sure it would have been worse without high humidity. However, I'm a little disappointed as I'd hoped to nip this in the bud.
So I suspect that there is another big factor here, and it may be the MVB lighting as Tom has suggested. This aligns best with my personal observation that many tortoises raised under sunlight end up smooth without any particular attention paid to humidity. So I'll certainly be following Tom's experiments. I'd love to run tests like this myself, but can't commit to long term care for a dozen sulcatas (and my wife has seen how big they get!)
Any other thoughts would be appreciated. I've read a couple times that star tortoises are more prone to pyramiding, so curious to know if I'm making a big deal out of nothing here.
Thanks in advance,
Steve