Please help - will you look at these pics and see if he's the wrong shape?

[Mantissa3]

Hi: I've had little Gibby since May of 2013 - he fit in the palm of my hand and had the last vestiges of an egg tooth when I got him.

He's the first and only tortoise I've ever known as a baby, and learned everything about care here on the forum (and THANK YOU to all of you who have helped me through each agonizing decision- you KNOW who you are!)

Now, about 1.5 years later he's heavy and active and "knows" me apart from my husband, who he is also fond of sitting with and interacting with, but in a very different way than he interacts with me... so I know he somehow recognizes us as individuals- probably by smell according to the wonderful herp vet we see.

OK- here's the part about "please help"... We recently adopted 2 rescue baby rf's from absolutely horrible conditions, and they are clearly siblings, and they are very clearly A DIFFERENT SHAPE than Gibby.

I'm uploading pictures of Gib. Is he too wide and flat? I mean too wide and flat as in he has some sort of condition or type of problem that will manifest later and result in poor health or something?

Our other 2 babies are "humped" looking, and yes we got them with severe pyramiding already, but Gib is smooth and wide and not humped and very flattened-out looking compared to the two babies, and to another adult male 30 years old who is kept by a friend of ours.

Let me know what you see in these uploaded photos from a couple of weeks ago, please?

Thanks so much in advance,
Karen (worried tortie mommy even after 1.5 years of raising baby Gibby)

 

[tortadise]

I don't see anything of concern.

 

[Mantissa3]

Thank you so much, Kelly! I needed to hear that from people here on the forum who have seen a lot of different body shapes and styles in redfoots.

 

[tortdad]

Looks like a great tort to me

 

[Mantissa3]

Oh good! Thanks for taking a look. The two rescues look like bumps or mounds- really narrow and high in profile. Gib's flat as a pancake next to them!


Karen and little red foot baby Gibby

 

[wellington]

Great looking tort. Would love to see pics of the rescues.

 

[Mantissa3]

Great looking tort. Would love to see pics of the rescues.

Thank you! This request to see the little rescues has prompted me to FINALLY download all the pics off my phone.

The first one is when I first saw them- housed in literally 100 degree F heat, with two relatively mature boxies. All 4 were housed on rabbit/hamster substrate pellets, with no food and the little water they had was hot to the touch when I asked one of the employees to open the box because they were splayed out on the hot to the touch substrate. Little Boompah raised his head, but was too weak to stand. His brother, little Pumpkin, was the opposite- completely tucked into his shell trying to conserve water I believe.

I went back the next day after taking some initial pictures, and they hadn't been tended to at all- no fresh water, and the same exact hot, wilted green stubs in the food dish. Of course we brought them all home, then I reported the "pet store" to a variety of organizations that have since taken charge of the situation and the local police who have put the store on notice, and the animal protection people have put them on 2-year probation with monthly surprise monitoring.

It took 2 soaks per day, scrubbing their shells with a soft toothbrush to get the stink of that place off of all of them! They were under a 24/7 hot light bulb, and there were a LOT of rat droppings between the surface of the bulb and the torties and turtles! They were essentially in an enclosed, airless box with temperatures exceeding 110 degrees during their entire little lives, so the rf's shells are deformed from the extreme dry heat, no shade, and lack of fresh food and water.

If I posted all the pictures I took from the entire store - reptiles, fish, birds, it would break your heart! (So far, $1,600+ in herp vet bills, but Boompah is strong and eating and walking, and Punky has just finished his second round of antibiotics and eye drops and is starting to eat on his own again... so I believe they'll make it on the regime we currently have them on. Prayers for their returning health still very much appreciated!)





HOME AT LAST! THEY LOVE TO SOAK- TWICE PER DAY AT LEAST 20 MINUTES AND THEY SOMETIMES REFUSE TO COME OUT OF THE SOAKER TUB WITHOUT KICKING AT ME.... THEN WHEN I REFRESH THE WATER AND IMMEDIATELY PUT THEM BACK IN, THEY BOTH IMMEDIATELY SETTLE DOWN TOUCHING EACH OTHER AND SOAK SOME MORE.




Little Bump had the worst time of it. He's runt-ey and couldn't stand up for 2 weeks after we brought him home. The local vet is VERY good with torties, is a herp vet by training and practice, and knew exactly what to do for these 2 little ones to speed them on their way to healing.



Pumpkin was the larger of the two, below, but still struggled with breathing problems and pyramiding- so sad in a baby so young.



Punky soaking.


Below- they love spring mix and some fruit for breakfast with me- fresh mango topped the greens this morning, but Bump was still really finicky about eating 2 weeks after we adopted him. Bump on the left below, Punky on the right.

 

[Yvonne G]

They must think they've died and gone to heaven!

I must agree with what's been said. I see nothing wrong with the shape of Gibby's carapace. And in the pictures he doesn't look flat or any different from the two new ones.

 

[Mantissa3]

Thank you! I guess I just know each of them so well that I see quite a difference between Gib's overall shape and the two "lumpy" babies.


Karen and little red foot baby Gibby

 

[Mantissa3]

I guess I'll try two more camera angles and try asking the question more specifically. Gib's head is about the same size as the little guys' heads but they are overall MUCH lighter in weight, but the same shell height as Gib. His head is the same size but he's MYCH wider than they are, and they are all about the same height- just extremely different proportions.


Karen and little red foot baby Gibby

 

[Irwin4530]

They look great!
Such lucky little beauties!!

 

[Mantissa3]

Thank you! I love them so much- they have been through so much neglect in their tiny lives, before they came to live with us, and they are still so tame and content to sit with me after soaking, eating bites out of my hand, and so fierce when we feed them a few worms once in a while.

I think I'm the lucky one to be able to live with them as they get stronger and more confident! (Your yellows are just gorgeous, BTW!)


Karen and little red foot baby Gibby

 

[mike taylor]

Very beautiful torts! Here is my red so you can see nothing is wrong and you are doing great! I have five of them now three are rescues . All had pyramiding when I got them but are starting to smooth out . And again great job!

 

[Mantissa3]

Hi Mike: thank you for taking the time to upload pics of your lovely little herd! I see they have the same types of variances as my individuals- some are more long and humped, others are smoother and flatter... I appreciate this reassurance more than you know. Your tootles are thriving and very beautiful - oh, and you won't be lifting them with one hand very much longer! LOL


Karen and little red foot baby Gibby

 

[mike taylor]

I don't have a picture of Clover she is 8lbs and 10".

 

[Mantissa3]

EIGHT POUNDS????!!! How old is she? Wow I can't wait until all my babies weigh eight pounds! That's awesome.


Karen and little red foot baby Gibby

 

[bouaboua]

WOW!! !!

You sure got some nice looking Red Foot. You know the gender of them??

 

[mike taylor]

I Have no idea ???? She was six inches when I got her from SS exotics . Then had to pay Three hundred bucks in vet bills to get her healthy . She was my first tortoise two years ago now I have 8 tortoises and four turtles.

 

[Mantissa3]

WOW!! !!

You sure got some nice looking Red Foot. You know the gender of them??

They are too little to know gender at this point, but I'll let you know in another year or so. :>)

 

[Mantissa3]

A couple of my uploaded pics didn't upload very well- I'm posting again so you see how badly they were treated and why they are so sickly and pyramid-ey... over 100 degrees F, housed with 2 mature boxies (males) and rat droppings between the surface of the light fixture and their hot box... and no fresh water or food for the 2 full days we monitored before buying all 4 of these poor babies....

They stunk so badly from this ordeal that it took a couple of days of repeated bathing, soaking and brushing their shells with a soft-bristled toothbrush to get the baked-on stench off of each of them.




And how well they are doing now- here's Pumpkin eating normal redfoot food- flowers and leaves from our tortie planted garden...