A year down the line: increasing humidity to treat pyramiding in a Tunisian tort

[ladyengineer]

It's almost exactly a year since I posted a thread on the forum looking for advice to improve the growth pattern on my Tunisian Tortoise, Pegasus.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tunisian-testudo-graeca-im-worried-about-his-shell.111354/

At the time I was following my breeder's advice and keeping Pegasus on beech chip substrate, and he was starting to show Pyramiding shell growth.

The resounding advice? Increase humidity. So I went against all the stuff I'd read on Tunisians (who are supposed to be delicate little guys who do badly in damp conditions), and I changed his substrate to coco-coir, which can be kept moist. I have a 1 litre watering can which I use to keep it from drying out. He gets soaks more often and I even tried raw extra virgin coconut oil on his shell once a week to once every fortnight of so (basically when I remember) which is supposed to be a moisturiser which is safe.

I noticed a difference right away! He's got more energy than he did, he runs around his house more, and I noticed a change in his growth pattern almost immediately! I know it sounds crazy but he had a big growth spurt the second the humidity went up and I could tell within a week that things were getting better, as I immediately saw his front scutes changing shape.

He also developed RNS, and was blowing bubbles for a while. I was worried about him but I just kept him warm and fed him a lot. The vet decided that because he wasn't getting any worse and seemed very happy and active despite his runny nose and bubble blowing, he didn't need antibiotics, and he proved right. Peggy got better all by himself with just careful monitoring and lots of love.

A year on and I can definitely say, higher humidity WORKS. I'm not going to say it's got rid of the problem entirely, but he's grown twice as fast in the last year as he did before. His new growth is visibly flatter than the rest of his scutes. Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself!

 

[ladyengineer]

more photos, I've having trouble with the uploader

 

[ladyengineer]

and more...

 

[ladyengineer]

Scute close ups, where you can see the big change in growth angles really well.

 

[ladyengineer]

And Peggy with his pet spider plant, which he can have with coco-coir substrate, wouldn't have been possible with beech chips!

 

[Tom]

You are preaching and we are your choir!

Now go tell the rest of the world, like your breeder.

Thank you for posting this.

 

[ladyengineer]

I felt it might be nice for new people to see photographic evidence that this works!!

 

[ladyengineer]

Also the doccumentation on Tunisians is a bit thin on the ground and I like to get this stuff out there.

 

[Kori5]

Wow! He looks great . Would virgin olive oil work? We have our homemade one so it would be great if I can use it .

 

[ladyengineer]

Hi Kori5,

I don't know about olive oil! There was a thread on coconut oil that made me decide to try it, I'll try to find it after work and post it.

 

[ladyengineer]

Wow! He looks great . Would virgin olive oil work? We have our homemade one so it would be great if I can use it .

So the reason I started using coconut oil (which is in the debatable topics section) was down to this thread
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/is-using-coconut-oil-worth-using.120298/

There is a lot of information there on coconut oil, which is supposed to moisturise, be an spf, a natural antibacterial and antifungal agent. I'm not an expert on the topic at all myself, so I don't know that olive oil has the same effect, I'd suggest asking those guys! but I raise Pegasus indoors and that thread made me feel that it certainly couldn't hurt to use it a bit.

 

[Kori5]

Thank you! I read that thread but I believe it is still debatable if anything should be put on their shell so I'm a little hesitant. My adult Hermanni has no pyramiding but some of his scutes are a little flaky and I see new growh underneath. So I wonder if conditioning the shell once a month will do good . Here is a picture.

 

[ladyengineer]

I'll be honest, I really don't know, and I don't want to advise you on stuff I have no idea about! I'm not a vet and I only keep one tortoise, and Pegasus doesn't have anything like that.

I use the coconut oil because as far as I'm concerned, it won't hurt Pegasus and it might help with keeping his condition good because he's kept inside under lights like the thread says. I'd start another thread so the other experts on the forum can see, or visit your vet if you're worried?

 

[Kori5]

He did have a vet check and is perfectly healthy, vet said it is nothing to worry about. I use a gentle tootbrush once a week and clean him. But I was just looking for something to condition his shell and don't like vitashell and those manufactured things . I guess I'll try some coconut or olive oil.

 

[ladyengineer]

The coconut oil is nice, it's solid at room temperature too so it's less messy to store than olive oil would be I guess! I usually give Peggy his warm bath, then when he gets grumpy and does everything he can to climb out, I pick him out, dab him dry with a flannel or kitchen towel, and then warm a bit of oil in my fingers to put it on him, and make sure there's some in the joins between the scutes.

He wriggles a lot when I'm doing all that but he looks super shiny after, and apart from the initial pyramiding his shell seems to be in good condition and now growing much better. You can get it online on amazon too, so it's easy to get. You want the un-processed "raw, extra virgin" coconut oil, apparently whatever it is they do to "Process" the coconut oil destroys lots of it's good properties.