Am I worrying too much about pyramiding?

JohanA98

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Hey guys! So this is Hannibal, a (around) 8 month old greek tortoise. I'm a new user but have been getting tons of great info on here for a while, but there's one thing I can't really stop worrying about, which is pyramiding. I know a little bit of pyramiding isnt the end of the world and if it only stays at that, I'll be fine, but if I can, Id want to avoid it.
So the way I take care of my tortoise, atleast now during the summer months goes as follows:
I have a little enclosure for him where I keep the humidity around 40-55 and the temp under the basking lamp around 30-32C.
I do daily soaks but also provide him with a water bowl at all times.
I feed him every 2-3 days with calcium+d3 powder sprinkled on. Ive been feeding him a bit less then before I got him though, because he jumped from 37gramm to 44 gramm within the first 2 weeks i got him. I now let him free roam in his outdoor enclosure all day where he actually needs to walk around and eat his food fresh out of the ground like in the wild. Ive been doing that for about 2 weeks now and he's dropped from 44 to 40 gramm.
He's definiteley eating, so Im not worried about that but Are weight drops this size healthy? And how much exactly should a tortoise of his age gain per month?
But anyways, outside, the humidity doesnt get higher then 20 and Id have to water it every minute or so to keep it between 40 and 55. But he gets alooot of sunlight and fresh weeds. How strict is the humidity rule? Does he need to have this high a humidity at all times? Or can I just let him free roam in the enclosure I built in my garden?


Sorry for the onslaught of text here.


IMG_20200427_101254.jpgIMG_20200427_101300.jpg


Thanks!
 

wellington

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He needs to be fed every day enough food that he can graze on and off all day if he wants. Its important for young ones to always have food available and not too lose so much weight at once.
Humidity is very important for preventing pyramiding and the use of mercury vapor bulbs also cause pyramiding.
If you have a proper size enclosure your tortoise will not get over weight.
Let your tort roam outside for an hour or so and then put him back in the humid enclosure. When hes older around 2 to 3 he can spend the day outside.
 

Yvonne G

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We talk about pyramiding a lot here on the Forum, but it mainly pertains to the species like sulcatas, stars, leopards, etc. Your Greeks will take quite a bit of poor care before they pyramid. If you're following the suggestions made in our care sheet I doubt you need to worry about it
 

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