How likely is it this tort has mbd?

[Elisa]

Given the attached photos, how likely do you think it is that this leopard has mbd? I’m considering rescuing it and want to know ahead of time what I would be getting myself into. The high hump to the shell concerns me but I don’t know if that’s because I’m not that familiar with this species. And of course the open top box and lights on a screen are a worry. I’ll be doing a closed chamber ASAP if I get him/her.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

That photo doesn't seem to show much except some mild pyramiding.
Why do you think MBD?
Is the shell soft?
That tortoise "box" is horrible.

 

[Tom]

Looks fine to me.

 

[Elisa]

Thanks guys. I don’t know if the shell is soft. It’s just a baby I saw online and knew I could certainly do better, but then kinda freaked a little bit when I noticed in one of the other pics that the shell looked very high and narrow compared to the perfect specimens I’ve seen on here.

 

[wellington]

Looks fine to me. Probably too young to show signs of mbd. I like how high domed it looks. Minor pyramiding from what I can tell. Pyramiding in a leopard isnt the easiest to prevent. We have just recently realized the mercury vapor bulbs are not the ones to use. Even with high humidity they can still pyramid with that bulb.

 

[Elisa]

Yeah that’s what I’m reading right now. And apparently i was mixed up on how this species is supposed to look. The way they were keeping this tort with the lights sitting on the screen still concerns me, but the girl has only had it for about 3 months so hopefully not long enough to cause damage

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Yeah that’s what I’m reading right now. And apparently i was mixed up on how this species is supposed to look. The way they were keeping this tort with the lights sitting on the screen still concerns me, but the girl has only had it for about 3 months so hopefully not long enough to cause damage

MBD takes a long time to develop.

 

[Yvonne G]

A tortoise with MBD would look more like this:

You can't tell from the picture, but the finger is actually pushing down on a very soft shell.

 

[Elisa]

Omg that squished shell makes me want to cry. I can’t believe someone would let their baby get that bad.

Thankfully this one seems like it’s no where near “bad” so I’m gonna take my chances. My son’s first tort was a sulcata hatchling that had been raised dry and despite my best efforts as soon as I realized, it was already too late. But that started my own love affair with torts and now here we are.