Concave scutes on plastron?

Vintage

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I'd have to add that as to what I can see your young one is not perfectly smooth on top at all but is pyramiding. With living conditions cannot see why but would be adding soaks and see if it starts smoothing out. The H2O dish is likely not deep enough to do the job.

I only got her a week ago, I'm not sure what conditions she was kept in before that. I read in one of the care sheets here that spraying their carapace every day helps prevent pyramiding, though it referred to hatchlings. Would it work for an older tortoise? In the meantime I'll start soaking her today. Should I soak her every day?
 

William Lee Kohler

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Well
I only got her a week ago, I'm not sure what conditions she was kept in before that. I read in one of the care sheets here that spraying their carapace every day helps prevent pyramiding, though it referred to hatchlings. Would it work for an older tortoise? In the meantime I'll start soaking her today. Should I soak her every day?
I'd say it "helps" but soaking 40-45 minutes at least 5 days a week is much better but every day is better. Yours is still young enough it should help a lot. Post again in a year and lets see how it looks. By then your youngster should be 33-50% bigger
 

TammyJ

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I'd have to add that as to what I can see your young one is not perfectly smooth on top at all but is pyramiding. With living conditions cannot see why but would be adding soaks and see if it starts smoothing out. The H2O dish is likely not deep enough to do the job.
I agree with this.
 

awol0509

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Recently I acquired a 2 year old female redfoot. She seems healthy and her carapace is smooth, however, I've noticed that her plastron scutes are concave, almost like "reverse pyramiding". Here's a pic - note that she is blind in one eye, I was told she was born this way. The other eye is fine and she has no trouble finding her way around. Is this normal for redfoots? I've never seen scutes like this before.

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Hi there I know this is a super old thread but my baby desert tortoise’s plastron looks the same as your little tortoises. How’d it end up doing with the soaking? Do you think that could have been the cause? I have mine in a super dry and warm environment because of the type of tortoise. But wondering if the sunken plastron schutes is the result of dehydration? Thanks
 

wellington

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Hi there I know this is a super old thread but my baby desert tortoise’s plastron looks the same as your little tortoises. How’d it end up doing with the soaking? Do you think that could have been the cause? I have mine in a super dry and warm environment because of the type of tortoise. But wondering if the sunken plastron schutes is the result of dehydration? Thanks
take a read of the care sheet on this forum for your species.
 

awol0509

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take a read of the care sheet on this forum for your species.
Hi there, I have read care sheets. The reason I was replying to this specific thread is because the concave schutes on the plastron in the picture of the OP looks exactly how my little guy looks right now and I was wondering the cause. Is that dehydration?
Mine gets a soak every day, and is eating/pooping normally.
 

wellington

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Hi there, I have read care sheets. The reason I was replying to this specific thread is because the concave schutes on the plastron in the picture of the OP looks exactly how my little guy looks right now and I was wondering the cause. Is that dehydration?
Mine gets a soak every day, and is eating/pooping normally.
Have you read the care sheet on this forum?
Info out in the internet world is old and outdated
 

awol0509

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Have you read the care sheet on this forum?
Info out in the internet world is old and outdated
The one in the Dt section link is a broken link but there are a bunch of others on here that I have read. I just can’t find any pictures of information on the plastron looking the way my guy’s does right now until I stumbled upon the pic from the op. And it looks exactly the same.
From this it seems it may be normal? My DT does go outside in an enclosed pen on warmer days and then comes back in, so maybe the change from humid to non humid environs. I’m attaching a pic
 

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