Ivan_Diaz
New Member
I’ve been feeling uneasy of my sully’s shell since I’ve noticed his shell is getting a little pyramiding to it. Is this natural for a baby tort ? Can I prevent more pyramiding or is it even pyramiding ? 
Early Signs of Pyramiding ?
- Thread starter Ivan_Diaz
- Start date
Hi. Not to sound alarmist but I would call this excessive pyramiding. For a tortoise so young, this is significant. What are the conditions of your enclosure? (RH%, Day/Night/Basking temp and what are you feeding? What are you using for UVB and do you provide any supplements (calcium, vitamins, etc...)
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
During the morning the humidity is at 80 and as the day goes it drops to 60 or 70 , the temperature stays at 80 degrees to 85 at night I let it drop to 70 with a basking spot about 100 , its diet is mainly the original Mazuri diet, cactus pads, radish and it’s leaves , and I let it roam around the yard to pick at the grass . For uvb I use a uvb200 along with giving it some sunlight daily . For supplements I mainly use calcium
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
If stopped , will this pyramiding still grow with him or sort of become less noticeable since its shell would be bigger and wider ? How can I stop it from getting any worse ? Here’s a pic of its enclosure
The pyramiding you see now will remain. If you correct the issues, future growth will be better, and the current bumps will become less noticeable simply due to the size of the tortoise as it grows.
First its diet. I would not feed any of the items you are currently feeding other than the grass. These are grazing herbivores. The diet should be mostly grass (85%) and outdoor weeds. In your area, you should be able to get or grow grasses and weeds (dandelion, plantain, etc...) all year.....especially the small amount one young tortoise will need.
Keep up with the calcium and add a good vitamin supplement like Rep-Cal Herptivite.
Soak the tortoise every day for 30 minutes in about 1/4" of luke-warm water.
I would keep the humidity in your enclosure above 85% all the time. Don't let it drop into the 60's.
Daytime temps around 90 with night-time temp at 80 or above would be ideal. Your 100 degree basking spot is fine.
This will all be a good start. Also search this forum for @Tom 's thread on properly raising baby sulcata - it goes into much more detail and works.
If you increase the humidity and change the diet immediately, you will start to notice the new growth coming in flatter.
You have been feeding very rich and delicious foods so far, so expect your tortoise to reject a diet of all grass and weeds for a bit, but stick with it - he will accept it within a few days.
Also - I would say your UVB, and lighting setup in general isn't sufficient. Get the UVB bulb inside the enclosure and down closer to the tortoise. I would use a longer UVB bulb and at least 1 6500k tube to provide good ambient light. Your tortoise likes a lot of light, so I would work on that as well. Using a Solarmeter 6.5 to measure the amount of UVB at the carapace it the only way you will know if the tortoise is getting the right amount of UVB. You want a UVI of about 6 for a sulcata.
Start with the diet change and the humidity increase, then take care of the lights and you will have a solid setup.
First its diet. I would not feed any of the items you are currently feeding other than the grass. These are grazing herbivores. The diet should be mostly grass (85%) and outdoor weeds. In your area, you should be able to get or grow grasses and weeds (dandelion, plantain, etc...) all year.....especially the small amount one young tortoise will need.
Keep up with the calcium and add a good vitamin supplement like Rep-Cal Herptivite.
Soak the tortoise every day for 30 minutes in about 1/4" of luke-warm water.
I would keep the humidity in your enclosure above 85% all the time. Don't let it drop into the 60's.
Daytime temps around 90 with night-time temp at 80 or above would be ideal. Your 100 degree basking spot is fine.
This will all be a good start. Also search this forum for @Tom 's thread on properly raising baby sulcata - it goes into much more detail and works.
If you increase the humidity and change the diet immediately, you will start to notice the new growth coming in flatter.
You have been feeding very rich and delicious foods so far, so expect your tortoise to reject a diet of all grass and weeds for a bit, but stick with it - he will accept it within a few days.
Also - I would say your UVB, and lighting setup in general isn't sufficient. Get the UVB bulb inside the enclosure and down closer to the tortoise. I would use a longer UVB bulb and at least 1 6500k tube to provide good ambient light. Your tortoise likes a lot of light, so I would work on that as well. Using a Solarmeter 6.5 to measure the amount of UVB at the carapace it the only way you will know if the tortoise is getting the right amount of UVB. You want a UVI of about 6 for a sulcata.
Start with the diet change and the humidity increase, then take care of the lights and you will have a solid setup.
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
Thanks for the feed back! Much appreciated , I’ve been having trouble keeping the humidity at 85 any tips ?
Hard to tell how sealed up your enclosure is but I would make sure its as air-tight as you can make it. A good substrate to use is fine grade orchid bark. Coco-coir also retains water very well but its messy. Not sure if your enclosures floor is water tight, but it will need to be. You will need to put a good amount of water in it to maintain 85% humidity. For an enclosure that size, I would use 2" to 3" of substrate and then pour a gallon or so of water into it. I also spray my baby tortoises and the substrate every couple days to keep the humidity up.
N
no one
Guest
That soil looks very dry to me. So does his head. Do you have a humid hide with moist spagnum moss? And do you soak your sully every day with lukewarm water for at least 30 minutes?
Your Tortoise is pyramiding significantly. Closed chamber is the best way to keep humidity up. When you say uvb200 do you mean about tube or Mercury vapor bulb?
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
He does have a humid hide that has sphagnum moss and coco coir . And I do soak him everyday , sometimes miss a day but I rarely do that. I believe this problem came from his past enclosure that it had , I fell under the assumption that this species needed to be dry so I mainly used that rainforest floor bark and only mist it a couple of times a week but there was no point since it wasn’t a closed chamber,hopefully this enclosure reduces the excessive pyramiding and eventually stops with the changes I’m doing now.
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
I mean the tube itself , I use two different bulbs for heat and UVB
Minority2
Well-Known Member
Is this what you're using? If so, stop and buy something else. Compact florescent bulbs have a history of causing eye issues in tortoises:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B4ZRX6E/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
A linear florescent fixture and UV(B) bulb is highly recommended:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQU8HAO/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
I believe I’m using the first one , I have been meaning to change to the linear once since his new enclosure is much longer
Aaaaack! Bad bad pyramiding!
Emily Contreras
Active Member
I mean, you can mist it every hour a day, I do. And his enclosure seems like it is raining. My dude is like 2-3 months old now. his shell growth is really good. So i think misting it or getting a mister thing on a timer would work wonders for you.
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
I’ll look into it thanks !
Ivan_Diaz
New Member
I know
I unfortunately started him/her off in a really dry enclosure , it’s a really happy tort now in its new enclosure Similar threads
