My Suly

[Sara G.]

What a beautiful tortoise!!!
It's clear that you've given your baby the best care possible.
She/he's got a little character to 'em, that's all.

 

[Gregor]

Finaly I have figured it out what is wrong with my setup that makes my tortoise pyramid.
To keep heat inside the closed chamber I have covered the top with 4 inch styrofoam. But didn't think that it breaths.
Allmost all humidity went out. I have 4 hidrometers and 2 of them show 80%, but other 2 show 40%. And I thought that they are wrong.
All of them are digital.
Now I have put glass cover under styrofoam. Hope it helps.

 

[Tom]

Finaly I have figured it out what is wrong with my setup that makes my tortoise pyramid.
To keep heat inside the closed chamber I have covered the top with 4 inch styrofoam. But didn't think that it breaths.
Allmost all humidity went out. I have 4 hidrometers and 2 of them show 80%, but other 2 show 40%. And I thought that they are wrong.
All of them are digital.
Now I have put glass cover under styrofoam. Hope it helps.

If the ones reading 40% are near the heating and lighting elements, they might not be wrong. The IR-A emitted from incandescent bulbs will take the moisture right out of the air.

 

[Gregor]

Yes they are, and this is where tortoise spends much of her time.

 

[Tom]

Yes they are, and this is where tortoise spends much of her time.

You are encountering the same problem that I always encountered whenever I tried to use an open topped enclosure with the lights outside. At 40% humidity near the lights, you are doing better than I ever could. This is why I switched to closed chambers with all the heating and lighting inside the enclosure. It works so much better, and so much more efficiently. The results produced by closed chambers are also way better than any type of open topped enclosure.

 

[Gregor]

You are encountering the same problem that I always encountered whenever I tried to use an open topped enclosure with the lights outside. At 40% humidity near the lights, you are doing better than I ever could. This is why I switched to closed chambers with all the heating and lighting inside the enclosure. It works so much better, and so much more efficiently. The results produced by closed chambers are also way better than any type of open topped enclosure.

But I do have closed chamber with all the heating and lighting inside the enclosure. I put glass cover over it now. So I hope it will be better. Didn't know that styrofoam lets humidity out, but It does
It is my fault that she grows this way.

 

[Sara G.]

Are the lights inside the enclosure? Or did you cut holes in the Styrofoam/glass and put the lights on top?

 

[Tom]

Can we see a full pic of the enclosure showing the positioning of the lighting and heating?

Also, refer to post #5 from me earlier in this thread.

 

[Gregor]

Are the lights inside the enclosure? Or did you cut holes in the Styrofoam/glass and put the lights on top?

Everything is inside.
At one time it looked like she has smooth growth, but as it turned out she didn't.
I have so much to learn.

 

[Gregor]

Can we see a full pic of the enclosure showing the positioning of the lighting and heating?

Also, refer to post #5 from me earlier in this thread.

I'll post pictures.
And she gets sprayed at least 5 times a day.

 

[jockma]

You're doing an excellent job Gregor. You're making an effort to learn and improve her quality of life and that's more than many tortoise owners are willing to do. I'm looking at her and she looks like she's doing great. I was extremely frustrated when my tortoise's new growth was coming in smooth but his pyramided growth was still pyramiding. I found out that increasing the wattage of his heat bulbs and mounting them higher fixed the problem by heating the enclosure more evenly. I really hope your newest discovery ends up working out and stopping the pyramiding.

Remember though that pyramiding does not necessarily mean poor health. She certainly looks well cared-for.

 

[Gregor]

New pictures of my suly. Outside temperature today 95 degrees and 70% humidity.
Humid theory is not working with my sulcata. I got her when she was 4 months old and she had space
Between scutes. Bit I thought that with humid enclosure this will end. But it still goes its own way. Side scutes are almost smooth. But top three and fron side scutes are not.
In a couple day she will get bigger enclosure. Maybe this will help.

 

[Gregor]

Update

 

[Yvonne G]

That tortoise is very pretty. Stop worrying so much. When it gets to be 120lbs you won't notice those little bumps at all. Just keep doing what you're doing. It's all good.

 

[Big Charlie]

Update

View attachment 192904 View attachment 192905 View attachment 192906

She looks beautiful! I think she is smoothing out.

 

[Fredkas]

Wow nice. keep updating in the future

 

[jockma]

I think she's smoothing out too. So pretty.

I can feel your love for her just by looking at your photos.