does my tortoises shell look ok.

[Jojoanne123]

he is eating very well. moving very well and ok in him self . wondering if he has bashed him self when in his house

 

[jeneliza]

I don't see any signs of him damaging his shell, however he is pyrimiding, what is his humidty, and daily care?

 

[jeneliza]

Oh I see it now, he could have, put a little antibiotic cream on it, this should help it heal, and keep an infection away, also check for any he's hitting himself on, and remove the items, or if it's his hide, etc make this area larger,

 

[Crush da Baum]

Looks fine. It will heal slowly. No big deal. I do see a little bit of pyramiding. What is its humidity?

 

[Jojoanne123]

Looks fine. It will heal slowly. No big deal. I do see a little bit of pyramiding. What is its humidity?

i have a 80 watt e27 bulb basking lamp

Looks fine. It will heal slowly. No big deal. I do see a little bit of pyramiding. What is its humidity?

it is a 80 watt e27 bulb maybe as he is getting bigger i will lift the light up a bit. is pyramiding bad . will he be ok .this his house

 

[Jojoanne123]

Oh I see it now, he could have, put a little antibiotic cream on it, this should help it heal, and keep an infection away, also check for any he's hitting himself on, and remove the items, or if it's his hide, etc make this area larger,

where can i get antibiotic cream from is it only from a vet. and i leave his heating basket lamp on for 12 hours and 12 off . how can i stop him from pyramiding. i dont know what that is. also he comes out and has a wonder around the house . but is very active . as soon as he goes back in his home he trys to get out . i give him a bath once a week and vitamin and calcium 2 times a week plus food

 

[Crush da Baum]

Pyramiding is not the end of the world but if it gets really bad it can affect his mobility. Pyramiding is the raising of the scutes due to low humidity. He does not have it bad but if it progresses it can make walking painful and difficult for him because his spinal cord is attached to his shell and if the shell gets deformed so does his spine. You can not reverse pyramiding but you can prevent it. If you do the right things he will continue to grow and even out. Something I would change is his substrate. Wood chips are bad because they can't hold moisture very well. You can get coco choir which works well or if you want something cheap you can buy in bulk then you can buy pure cypress mulch for 2 bucks a bag at Lowe's. Do you live somewhere with low humidity? The easiest way to raise humidity is by creating a closed enclosure. Adding a lid to your enclosure will keep the humidity much higher. Just remember you still have to have his heat and UVB lamps under the lid. You could also get a large water dish (I recommend terracotta pots) and putting a lamp over it to heat it up. Those ramped ones do not really work and it looks like your tort can't even fit in it. You can spray him and his cage down every day and take a cup full of water and dump it around the cage. Personally, I put my Russians in a plastic Rubbermaid container and soak them for twenty minutes a day. This helps a lot. If humidity is really low you can get a repti fogger, but you usually don't need that for Russians. The heat lamps seems too close to him and the enclosure is too small. You got a big guy there. You can build an enclosure or buy a used large bookcase, flip it over, and knock out the shelves. Also it does not seem like he as a UVB bulb. He either needs to go outside a lot or have one. This is extremely important. Make sure not to get the compact coil type UVB though. It can harm their eyes and is not very effective. Get the ho tube type. I recommend https://www.petmountain.com/product/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-high-output-terrarium-hood?variant=40657. Lack of UVB can cause deformations in the shell.

 

[Crush da Baum]

where can i get antibiotic cream from is it only from a vet. and i leave his heating basket lamp on for 12 hours and 12 off . how can i stop him from pyramiding. i dont know what that is. also he comes out and has a wonder around the house . but is very active . as soon as he goes back in his home he trys to get out . i give him a bath once a week and vitamin and calcium 2 times a week plus food

I don't think you need antibiotic cream. Mine gets bumps like that and it heals. He means like Neosporin when he was talking about antibiotic cream. If you do apply it just make sure you wash it off. For humidity you can also make a humid hide. You get a plastic box, cut a hole in it, fill it with the moisture-retaining substrate, and keep it damp.

 

[Crush da Baum]

Sorry to throw so much at you but taking care of torts his hard, but I am sure your tort will appreciate it greatly. Anything else and I and so many others would love to help you and answer any questions! Feel free to post any pictures of enclosures or anything! We would love to see it.

 

[Jojoanne123]

Sorry to throw so much at you but taking care of torts his hard, but I am sure your tort will appreciate it greatly. Anything else and I and so many others would love to help you and answer any questions! Feel free to post any pictures of enclosures or anything! We would love to see it.

thank u is it ok to use the lamp i have and

Sorry to throw so much at you but taking care of torts his hard, but I am sure your tort will appreciate it greatly. Anything else and I and so many others would love to help you and answer any questions! Feel free to post any pictures of enclosures or anything! We would love to see it.

thank u

 

[Crush da Baum]

I do not see why not. You just have to raise it a little. 80 watt is powerful. As long as their basking area is 95 to 105 degrees it is good.

 

[Crush da Baum]

Also, an easy way to make a closed enclosure is to get a clear thick plastic sheet, like a bathroom curtain. Nail four wooden skinny boards (like sticks) to the sides of each corner. Set the curtain on top of it and staple all the sides. Last, you can cut two slits in the front to make a flap and maybe tape the sides so when you want to get your tort, you can pull the tape up and open the flap. Sorta like this https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-enclosure.181583/ just without the glass; and wood corners.

 

[Jojoanne123]

I do not see why not. You just have to raise it a little. 80 watt is powerful. As long as their basking area is 95 to 105 degrees it is good.

thank u for your help. may come back to u.

 

[Crush da Baum]

Sounds great! If you want to you can post pictures of a new enclosure. We love to see that stuff!

 

[Jojoanne123]

here is a couple more photos of pickle and can u see if my light is the right one.

 

[Jojoanne123]

here is a couple more photos of pickle and can u see if my light is the right one.View attachment 291906

 

[Crush da Baum]

It should say the optimum distance for effectivity. Probably pretty high because that is a powerful one.

 

[Crush da Baum]

I think I have heard @Tom saying that they can cause pyramiding and the UVB lasts only for a few months. I would get a ho tube type. They have been proven to be the best. If you can get him to an outside enclosure for a few hours a day than he will be perfect. Natural sunlight is soo much better than what any bulb can do.

 

[Tom]

he is eating very well. moving very well and ok in him self . wondering if he has bashed him self when in his house

I don't see any area on the shell that looks damaged or needs attention.

This tortoise was grown in the wrong conditions. Not your fault. All most all the advice given is wrong. People follow the advice given to them by the pet shop or breeder or vet, and this is what happens. There is nothing you can do about it now. Just give the trios the best conditions possible and enjoy him/her.

The enclosure is WAAAAAAYYYYY too small. You need a minimum of 4x8'.

Please go into your user profile and add a location. You'll get different advice for Hawaii vs the UK. Where are you?

I find it best to have a large indoor enclosure for inclement weather, and a large outdoor enclosure for fair weather. At no time should the tortoise be loose on the floor or roaming free outside. This is very likely to result in the loss, injury, or death of the tortoise. It cannot be made safe, no matter how closely you intend to supervise. We see this end in tragedy all the time, and every single time, the person ws sure they were being careful, and it would be okay. It won't.

Here is the care info for your species. Questions and comments are welcome:

Beginner Mistakes

To comment on Tom's article, go here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-split-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1tG8s05M5 Over the years many of us, myself included, have made many of these mistakes, and we have certainly seen them made many times by others. With springtime upon us and many new...

tortoiseforum.org

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet

Russian tortoises have great personalities, are very hardy, tolerate a wide variety of enclosure parameters, stay small, and are generally a good "starter" tortoise in my opinion. Here is how I like to set them up: Indoor Enclosure type and size: Most people want to know the minimum size...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Jojoanne123]

I don't see any area on the shell that looks damaged or needs attention.

This tortoise was grown in the wrong conditions. Not your fault. All most all the advice given is wrong. People follow the advice given to them by the pet shop or breeder or vet, and this is what happens. There is nothing you can do about it now. Just give the trios the best conditions possible and enjoy him/her.

The enclosure is WAAAAAAYYYYY too small. You need a minimum of 4x8'.

Please go into your user profile and add a location. You'll get different advice for Hawaii vs the UK. Where are you?

I find it best to have a large indoor enclosure for inclement weather, and a large outdoor enclosure for fair weather. At no time should the tortoise be loose on the floor or roaming free outside. This is very likely to result in the loss, injury, or death of the tortoise. It cannot be made safe, no matter how closely you intend to supervise. We see this end in tragedy all the time, and every single time, the person ws sure they were being careful, and it would be okay. It won't.

Here is the care info for your species. Questions and comments are welcome:

Beginner Mistakes

To comment on Tom's article, go here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-split-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1tG8s05M5 Over the years many of us, myself included, have made many of these mistakes, and we have certainly seen them made many times by others. With springtime upon us and many new...

tortoiseforum.org

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet

Russian tortoises have great personalities, are very hardy, tolerate a wide variety of enclosure parameters, stay small, and are generally a good "starter" tortoise in my opinion. Here is how I like to set them up: Indoor Enclosure type and size: Most people want to know the minimum size...

tortoiseforum.org

thank u .will be getting a larger home for him made. do u think he is pyramiding. also any thing else do u think i need to do im in kent uk