leopard pyramiding timeline

[jeffbens0n]

I have had my leopard now for about 4 months, he is about 3 and a half years old. 900 grams, 6 1/2 inches long. He is fairly pyramided as you might have seen in a few previous pictures i posted. I know the woman i got him from treated him well and he had a proper diet, she seemed very well educated on the species. And i now believe that his pyramiding was due to a lack of humidity when he was younger.

Everything that i have read about pyramiding talks about humidity in the first year or two of life. I can not seem to find much information talking about the next few years. My question is, should I try to boost his humidity to try to stop the pyramiding, or is it to late? What should the humidity be for a 3-4 year old leopard?

 

[Jeremy]

I have had my leopard now for about 4 months, he is about 3 and a half years old. 900 grams, 6 1/2 inches long. He is fairly pyramided as you might have seen in a few previous pictures i posted. I know the woman i got him from treated him well and he had a proper diet, she seemed very well educated on the species. And i now believe that his pyramiding was due to a lack of humidity when he was younger.

Everything that i have read about pyramiding talks about humidity in the first year or two of life. I can not seem to find much information talking about the next few years. My question is, should I try to boost his humidity to try to stop the pyramiding, or is it to late? What should the humidity be for a 3-4 year old leopard?

I would give it a humid hide as apposed to trying to keep his whole enclosure humid. I've read that leos are prone to RI if kept too damp.

 

[moswen]

i say there's no harm in trying! mos came to me at 7 months pyramided as all get out, i've had him for 10 months and his growth is almost completely smoothed out. i know this is obviously within his first 2 years, but you never know! i'd do it.

what i'd do is try to keep it above 40% humidity with your hygrometer laying on the substrate. you'd be amazed at how little water is required for 40% humidity. water the substrate every few days and give him a humid hide stuffed with sphagnum moss and soak him for at leats 15 minutes in warm water every day. in a few months you may just begin to see a difference! don't expect it to happen over night, for a while i wasn't seeing any difference in mos and i was getting downhearted, then one day i just noticed, his shell is growing so smooth inbetween his pyramided scutes!

he looks REALLY pyramided from what i can see from your little avatar picture, you really should at least try!

 

[Greg T]

I think you can stop the pyramiding and in the process start smoothing him out some. You'll never get him totally smooth, but you can help. I've been able to hold the pyramiding one of mine has in check since I got him a few years ago. I don't do anything special, but he stays outdoors in Houston with an average humidity of 60% or so. I'd really like to know if people have been able to reduce significant pyramiding over time though. One of my bigger ones had some fairly bad pyramiding when I got her and I'm hoping it will get better with time.

 

[jeffbens0n]

Thanks guys, I am thinking what I might do is just give him a humid hide, he has a dark hide now that is fairly enclosed and would not be tough to keep humid, and he does spend a lot of time in there. The rest of his enclosure I would keep dry. Any thoughts?

 

[Greg T]

Sounds good to me. If the rest of the enclosure is pretty dry, it wouldn't hurt to spritz it with a water bottle every so often too. While they come from Africa natively, they really don't like real dry enclosures and the dust can bother their eyes. I have mine on a dirt/sand substrate now for winter and I will spray it daily to keep the dust down.