Pyramiding Concerns. Advice?

[Riff&Tipper]

My leopards have obvious pyramiding and I'm looking for some advice or suggestions on how to rectify this. I know I can't reverse it, but looking for changes I can make to prevent it progressing. They are almost 2 years old.
Here's their husbandry info:
-They are in separate enclosures. Both closed chambers. 6' x 6' round stock tanks with lids. Humidity ranges between 70% and 85% (enclosures are misted regularly). Basking area is 35°C, cool side is 22°C. Strip UVB light in basking area at 1' height (not coil). CHE used at night. Night temps are 22°C but approximately 25°C directly under CHE. They have hides but both prefer to sleep under plants. Substrate is a mix of reptibark and coconut coir. Stired weekly, changed every couple of months. Outdoors every day for approximately 2 hours when weather permits.
-Diet consists of leafy greens (mainly collard, romaine, red lettuce, dandelion) hibiscus leaves, mulberry leaves, timothy hay, mazuri, grass, sometimes mashed pumpkin as a treat. No fruit (offered occasionally but neither will eat it). Fed in morning, daily. Access to shallow water at all times. They graze until 3pm. Rarely eat after that.
-Soaked daily for 15-30 min (depending on the day).
-They have increased their weight from 75g to 700g in 1 year which makes me wonder if that has something to do with it? (Also makes me wonder if they are pardalis parsalis and not pardalis babcocki lol).

If any other info is needed, please let me know and THANK YOU in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Tom]

My leopards have obvious pyramiding and I'm looking for some advice or suggestions on how to rectify this. I know I can't reverse it, but looking for changes I can make to prevent it progressing. They are almost 2 years old.
Here's their husbandry info:
-They are in separate enclosures. Both closed chambers. 6' x 6' round stock tanks with lids. Humidity ranges between 70% and 85% (enclosures are misted regularly). Basking area is 35°C, cool side is 22°C. Strip UVB light in basking area at 1' height (not coil). CHE used at night. Night temps are 22°C but approximately 25°C directly under CHE. They have hides but both prefer to sleep under plants. Substrate is a mix of reptibark and coconut coir. Stired weekly, changed every couple of months. Outdoors every day for approximately 2 hours when weather permits.
-Diet consists of leafy greens (mainly collard, romaine, red lettuce, dandelion) hibiscus leaves, mulberry leaves, timothy hay, mazuri, grass, sometimes mashed pumpkin as a treat. No fruit (offered occasionally but neither will eat it). Fed in morning, daily. Access to shallow water at all times. They graze until 3pm. Rarely eat after that.
-Soaked daily for 15-30 min (depending on the day).
-They have increased their weight from 75g to 700g in 1 year which makes me wonder if that has something to do with it? (Also makes me wonder if they are pardalis parsalis and not pardalis babcocki lol).

If any other info is needed, please let me know and THANK YOU in advance for any suggestions.

Humidity should be over 80 percent all the time. If you are misting regularly and they aren't swimming, that tell me you have too much ventilation. A closed chamber should have a solid top and front opening doors, and all the heating and lighting should be inside it.

22C is far too cool. It should never drop below 27C in any part of the enclosure for this species in a humid environment. Cool ambient temps also encourage more basking under hot lamps which dries out the carapace and causes pyramiding. What are you using for a basking lamp? Daytime ambient should climb from 27C over night to a high around 33C in the whole enclosure. These warmer temps will make them bask less and stop the carapace desiccation.

Regular leopards are often not fond of grasses, and usually will not eat dry hay. If you do want to offer hay, Timothy is too stemmy. Orchard grass hay or Bermuda work better. You can chop it with scissors, soak it to rehydrate it, and then mix that in with the greens for some great fiber.

75g to 700g in a year is fine and normal. Not excessive for healthy animals.

 

[Riff&Tipper]

Humidity should be over 80 percent all the time. If you are misting regularly and they aren't swimming, that tell me you have too much ventilation. A closed chamber should have a solid top and front opening doors, and all the heating and lighting should be inside it.

22C is far too cool. It should never drop below 27C in any part of the enclosure for this species in a humid environment. Cool ambient temps also encourage more basking under hot lamps which dries out the carapace and causes pyramiding. What are you using for a basking lamp? Daytime ambient should climb from 27C over night to a high around 33C in the whole enclosure. These warmer temps will make them bask less and stop the carapace desiccation.

Regular leopards are often not fond of grasses, and usually will not eat dry hay. If you do want to offer hay, Timothy is too stemmy. Orchard grass hay or Bermuda work better. You can chop it with scissors, soak it to rehydrate it, and then mix that in with the greens for some great fiber.

75g to 700g in a year is fine and normal. Not excessive for healthy animals.

Thank you Tom, I'll implement all of that. I use a zoomed 75w basking light in their basking area. I buy the timothy hay pellets and soak them, then mix with their food. They graze on grass outside which I know is unusual for their age but they've done it from the moment they touched grass lol. Thank you for your help, much appreciated.

 

[Tom]

Thank you Tom, I'll implement all of that. I use a zoomed 75w basking light in their basking area. I buy the timothy hay pellets and soak them, then mix with their food. They graze on grass outside which I know is unusual for their age but they've done it from the moment they touched grass lol. Thank you for your help, much appreciated.

The Timothy pellets are great. I use those in that same way almost daily.

Grazing on grass is great if they will do it. The SA leopards eat grass like a sulcata, so you may have some SA lineage mixed in there.

If that ZooMed 75 watt is an "intense spot bulb", that may be the cause of the pyramiding. Flood bulbs do less damage.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

If that ZooMed 75 watt is an "intense spot bulb", that may be the cause of the pyramiding. Flood bulbs do less damage.

I second this. My leopard, Levi was raised in a DIY closed chamber with the lighting and heat inside. At some point, I repurposed his chamber for smaller leopards and made him a new "night-time only closed chamber". By then he spent most of the day outside anyway.
I used a glass tank, CHE mounted in the center plugged into a thermostat and built a solid lid. The lid was fully removeable for access but since he went in at night time and came out in the morning, I didn't really have to access the tank often. Well.....turns out the CHE desiccated the ONE spot in his shell in which the CHE hung over. I now have a smooth leopard with a single (well one and half really) pyramid(s). LOL

Once I caught on that the CHE was creating the dry spot, I no longer used that night chamber. Unfortunately, his growth patterns in that spot were already set and still to this day he has the funky scute. My bad....

I never want to use spot heat ever again. If I had to heat a tortoise enclosure, heat panels or some other wide area coverage would be my only way.