Is pyramiding bad?

[karleyreed]

Just out of curiosity, everyone seems to try and prevent pyramiding from happening, but Is it actually harmful to the tort and it's health? Or is it just down to how it looks?

 

[Baoh]

In extreme cases, it could be associated with physical developmental problems or matters such as metabolic bone disease. In less extreme cases, the issue is essentially a matter of aesthetic compromise (a cosmetic defect).

 

[wellington]

I also feel its not normal in most tortoises. If its not normal and we raise them to be pyramided, then we aren't really raising them right and in the conditions they should be raised in. Unfortunately for my leopard, I learned the correct way late and he now is pyramided. Hopefully with the correct way and Toms threads, he will now continue to grow as smoother.

 

[karleyreed]

I also feel its not normal in most tortoises. If its not normal and we raise them to be pyramided, then we aren't really raising them right and in the conditions they should be raised in. Unfortunately for my leopard, I learned the correct way late and he now is pyramided. Hopefully with the correct way and Toms threads, he will now continue to grow as smoother.

Does it happen from the get go? Do torts look pyramided young or does it happen as they grow? I hope mine doesn't end up like that! I would feel like a failure.

 

[Tom]

It can start as soon as they start growing, right after hatching, if conditions are wrong. What it is is a malformation of the bone underneath each scute. The bone is supposed to be smooth and dense, but in a pyramided tortoise the bone is porous and has the radiographical appearance of a sponge. In mild cases the tortoise can still be very healthy, but it is still not supposed to look like that, and it is directly caused, or prevented, by the way we raise them. To me it is an indicator that something is "off" in the husbandry. Pyramiding tortoises also tend to grow much slower than a "normal" tortoise on the same amount of food, and that also indicates to me that something is amiss.

 

[karleyreed]

It can start as soon as they start growing, right after hatching, if conditions are wrong. What it is is a malformation of the bone underneath each scute. The bone is supposed to be smooth and dense, but in a pyramided tortoise the bone is porous and has the radiographical appearance of a sponge. In mild cases the tortoise can still be very healthy, but it is still not supposed to look like that, and it is directly caused, or prevented, by the way we raise them. To me it is an indicator that something is "off" in the husbandry. Pyramiding tortoises also tend to grow much slower than a "normal" tortoise on the same amount of food, and that also indicates to me that something is amiss.

How can this be prevented? It's a constant worry to me! For now, mike looks very healthy and smooth, but I got him when he was a year old, and I am un aware of the conditions in which he was kept in before that. I have tried to follow all of the advice from the forum to do, what I believe to be correct husbandry.

 

[Yellow Turtle]

For me pyramided tortoise is a matter of cosmetic issue and challenge.

We take these torts out of their native environment and force them to adjust to ours. We try to give them as close condition as their native in many cases and aim for smooth growth. Some environment promote very smooth growth with their high humidity condition, but more often you need to modify it to make the new environment to suit the torts more. So it's a challenge for me to raise it smooth as I learn a lot of things here. But I will never feel that pyramided tortoises, as long they not going to extreme cases and taken the MBD, are failure either, if you think that you have given the best things for their cares.