Pyramiding thoughts ...

[kimber_lee_314]

I wanted to start a new thread about pyramiding - since we've been discussing this experiment so much. I have three small Florida boxies that all live in the same enclosure/climate. One of them is pyramiding - the other two are smooth. The only difference between these three is the amount they eat. I feed them every other day and the one that is pyramiding is a thief. She will eat all of her own food and steal straight out of the others' mouth. She will eat a lot more than the others if I allow it. Obviously, I have removed her from the enclosure to keep her from eating so much, but I find it interesting that this has nothing to do with humidity - it's more of a matter of eating too much and growing too fast. I'm not suggesting humidity isn't important, but does this give some credence to pyramiding having more than one cause? Thoughts please ....

 

[Yvonne G]

My thought is that chelonians that eat grass/weeds against chelonians that eat animal protein will pyramid for different reasons/keeping/eating. I think that Tom's experiment would go towards tortoises that eat grass and weeds and not pertain to redfoots/yellowfoots or water/box turtles. Obviously animal protein would have to be added into their equation.

 

[terryo]

But what about Pio Yvonne? He has always been in high humidity and is smooth, but there are some Redfoots that are a mess. Also I have a friend who has a few boxies whose shells are a mess..she is a fairly new friend, and has changed her enclosures since I've spoken to her about them. All my boxies are smooth, and have had lots of humidity since they were small. I'm not saying this is a fact, because I don't know and would never do any experimenting with my "kids" so will never know for sure. Water turtles are a whole different story.