Pyramiding Case Studies

[Pearls.preservation]

Here are two case studies my vet recently sent me. Thought I'd share.

Influence of environmental humidity and dietary protein on pyramidal growth of carapaces in African Spurred Tortoises - University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N4P9xN-LmFQh41jlNmTp5dMxGvRMaLmM/view?usp=drive_link

Effect of supplemental heat in captive Africa Lepard Tortoises and African Spurred Tortoises on growth rate and carapacial scute pyramiding - Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hm_MRmzR15A1GH9riMj3EjYqfqWO4kOH/view?usp=drive_link

 

[Tom]

We've seen and discussed the Vienna study here several times over the years.

It won't let me open either of your links, but this is the forum that figured out the pyramiding thing. Pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. It's that simple. The wrong bulbs can make it too dry even in a humid environment. We've done many side-by-side comparisons over the last decade and a half to prove our theories, and the results have been duplicated all over the world.

Just for your own knowledge, most vets don't know much about tortoise care. They know about dosing meds, diagnosing some problems, treating wounds, and surgeries, but there is no semester on the best ways to raise tortoises in vet school. We see case after case here of ignorant vets doing more harm than good because they don't understand tortoise care. It's a long story, but we've debated this fact here many times over the years. Feel free to argue against this, or ask for more explanation. We can back all of the assertions we make and are happy to get you caught up to speed. Some of the most knowledgeable and experienced tortoise keepers in the world are here on this forum. We are happy to share what we know.

 

[Pearls.preservation]

We've seen and discussed the Vienna study here several times over the years.

It won't let me open either of your links, but this is the forum that figured out the pyramiding thing. Pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. It's that simple. The wrong bulbs can make it too dry even in a humid environment. We've done many side-by-side comparisons over the last decade and a half to prove our theories, and the results have been duplicated all over the world.

Just for your own knowledge, most vets don't know much about tortoise care. They know about dosing meds, diagnosing some problems, treating wounds, and surgeries, but there is no semester on the best ways to raise tortoises in vet school. We see case after case here of ignorant vets doing more harm than good because they don't understand tortoise care. It's a long story, but we've debated this fact here many times over the years. Feel free to argue against this, or ask for more explanation. We can back all of the assertions we make and are happy to get you caught up to speed. Some of the most knowledgeable and experienced tortoise keepers in the world are here on this forum. We are happy to share what we know.

Oops, I don't think my privacy setting for drive were set to public, will you try again? I was honestly more intrigued by the study from the journal. What're you thoughts on that? (if you're able to see it) or I'd be happy to email it to you!

 

[Big Charlie]

Oops, I don't think my privacy setting for drive were set to public, will you try again? I was honestly more intrigued by the study from the journal. What're you thoughts on that? (if you're able to see it) or I'd be happy to email it to you!

I can open the second one but not the first.

I'm surprised they concluded that excess nighttime heat caused pyramiding. It's not like we have another option if we are raising a tortoise in a non-native environment.

I'm not sure how they would explain the smooth tortoises we see on this forum that have heated night boxes.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

The journal study, perhaps, proves the importance of humidity factor. Average humidity was around 37% and that's low. So tortoises with heat mats were forced into "speed growth" mode in low humidity environment. Such conditions are not neither "sleeping on surface" with nighttime temperature drop and relative humidity rise to the dew point nor "sleeping in a burrow" with stable temperature and moisture from soil.