Meet Stuie! Does he have MBD?

[murdocjunior]

I know this is early to tell but ive had Stuie since he was a hatchling he is now over a year and my other hatchlings i got after him out grew him almost by double. Does anyone see something that I can fix? I do see some pyrimiding forming but my other lil ones are not pyrimiding at all, just Stuie. He eats and drinks well and gets misted everyday and soaked 2 times a week. Thanks to all.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Paul:

Sometimes they just grow like that. I had a group of box turtle hatchlings and I kept back 3 of them. Two grew up to be normal-looking adult turtles, but the third outgrew his shell with LONG legs, bumpy carapace and very funny-looking. All three had been kept in the same habitat, ate the same food, drank the same water.

If you're doing everything right (or right as we now know it), then he's just one of those who is going to be different.

---

Sorry, I just realized you asked a question.

No. It doesn't look like Stuie has MBD.

 

[murdocjunior]

Ok thanks Yvonne. i feel better now

 

[RV's mom]

Doesn't look like what I understand MBD to be. Do your best and I'm sure Stuie will turn out OK.

RV was bumply when she was growing up, starting to pyramid, and she turned out fine.


teri

 

[murdocjunior]

Awesome maybe he'll turn out ok if not i still love him alot.

 

[Angi]

Hmmm.... Just a thought but if one out of a bunch does not grow right in captivity then maybe it is one that would not have made it in the wild. Maybe your good care is why it lived when in nature it would have died. I would make sure it didn't breed.
Just my thoughts.

 

[murdocjunior]

What can I do to get rid of the pyrimiding? I mist him everyday and soak him twice a week? Ipowder his meal 3 times a week as well, and feed him mazuri 3 times a week

 

[Tom]

Your Stuie looks and sounds just like my Daisy. After two years of daily soaks and swamp living, she is starting to grow smooth. She's finally actually putting on some size and weight now too. She didn't grow much at all for the first two years. She's three now and only around 900 grams.

Just do your best with him, like Teri said, and he'll probably turn out okay. I'd suggest making everything as wet as you can, use a humid hide box, soak daily, spray his shell as many times a day as you can and keep him warm all the time. No lower than 80.

 

[Balboa]

To the best of my limited understanding at this point pyramiding is caused by
1. Too cold temps
2. Too little hydration
3. Improper diet

(In that order of importance from the findings of "others", and open to debate)

That's where Tom's "keep 'em Hot, Humid and Hydrated" comes in

http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies

If the others are turning out fine and he's not, that may be a factor of his personality. Possibly not outgoing enough to see to his own needs, and as Angi suggested may not have made it in the wild.

Stui may need extra special attention to get out of this rut. Possibly his own "nurse station" enclosure to force hydration on him.

---

rofl I hate being a slow typer.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

In my opinion he needs to be soaked daily not twice a week. Added to Tom's theory of hydration I add that they need a lot of exercise, excellent food and good UVB. Your guy is pyramided and I think you need to work hard to stop that, and it starts with the 3 things that I just mentioned added to Tom's keep'm dripping. Keeping tortoises is hard work, they are not animals that we can just throw food at and think that's good enough.
Now that winter is here I have taken a small fence and created an exercise spot for my small tortoises in my computer room. I use astro truf as the substrate and every day i put them in there and let them climb over the rocks and branches. I noticed they sleep a lot in their habitats and I figure that's not enough exercise for them so that's why I created this spot, this jungle gym for them. They are very active in there for a while before they get sleepy again. But I think that's something they need to create healthy strong legs and to help prevent pyramiding. I soak my small tortoises daily because we basically keep them under the hot light on 'slow cook' so they need to be hydrated...IMO twice a week is not enough

 

[Livingstone]

What can I do to get rid of the pyrimiding? I mist him everyday and soak him twice a week? Ipowder his meal 3 times a week as well, and feed him mazuri 3 times a week

Soak everyday in luke warm water. Feed mazuri in wet form daily.

The mazuri should be put in a small saucer not much bigger than the amount of mazuri you are feeding. Then pour boiling water over so its floating, leave it to absorb the water. Once its expanded and soft offer it to the tort. It will help to hydrate from the inside.

 

[Laura]

Mazuri only takes seconds to soak and absorb the water.. and if its hot.. even less!
I put some in a cup, pour water in, pour it out, and that is enough to soften it if needed..
really.. test for yourself.

 

[Livingstone]

Mazuri only takes seconds to soak and absorb the water.. and if its hot.. even less!
I put some in a cup, pour water in, pour it out, and that is enough to soften it if needed..
really.. test for yourself.

Im not going to argue with you. I found that if I you dont leave it for a couple of minutes the center is hard.

Do what works, that tortoise looks dehydrated to me.

Take a look at the pictures, the substrate is too course to absord water. The finer substrates like coir hold water better and release it as humidity under the heat if mvb lamps. If you look at the tortoise and its surrounding environment in terms of equilibrium, a very basic homeostasis must be met. If the tortoise is kept in a dry environment it must soaked daily, and it ust have a water delivery method beyond being misted. Feeding the animal wet mazuri will ensure that the insides of the animal are hydrated which even in a dry environment will allow to process nutrients more effectively.

 

[Yvonne G]

Im not going to argue with you. I found that if I you dont leave it for a couple of minutes the center is hard.

It depends upon how fresh it is. If its a bit stale, it takes longer to absorb to the center of the pellet.

 

[Livingstone]

Im not going to argue with you. I found that if I you dont leave it for a couple of minutes the center is hard.

It depends upon how fresh it is. If its a bit stale, it takes longer to absorb to the center of the pellet.

Not exactly what I was trying to get across to the OP... That being said, if you have fresh mazuri follow Laura's advise. If you have stale mazuri follow mine. However you do it, the reason is that the added water in the mazuri will ensure healthy kidney function, which is imperative to hatchling/juvenile survival.

 

[murdocjunior]

Thanks to all who helped me out