pyramiding

[SulcataSquirt]

I dont see how you are haveing a problem with the crane elephant humidifier, bc thats the same one i run and you can have humidity at 100% if you wanted. I took the elephant trunk off and just stuck a 2 1/2 inch clear hose in to the top of the water tank where vapor comes out. for 35 dollars and only using a gallon of water every 4 days or so its very worth it.

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Thanks SulcataSquirt. I like that idea about the humid hide being a heated humid hide. Where should I get the waterproof heat rope? They already sleep in their humid hide but I never thought of a heated humid hide. I will definitely look into that. Thanks for the info.

I got my from Bigappleherp.com.

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

Thank you for your help jpmcclure. I will look into that.
Thank your SulcataSquirt. I appreciate the info. I will see which humidifier will work best for the enclosure I build and will look into getting the heat rope for a heated humid hide, great idea.

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If you have any ideas for my tortoises name go to general tortoise discussion and look up my thread, need help naming my tortoise, or something like that. Tell me what you think. Thanks.

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I also meant to say defer to Tom and not refer to Tom.

 

[jpmcclure]

I don't either sulcata squirt. It completely baffled me?? But the monsoon works well for me now. That was just MY experience. I know for others it's worked cuz I got the idea from this very forum.

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

Hey Rose,

As far as I know I am arizonasulcata and AZsulcata. My website is azsulcata.com and the name is Arizona Sulcata. My personal name is Austin. Hope that clears up the confusion.

Also I am not in Hawaii yet. Just up north in the mountains in AZ.

 

[wellington]

Hey Rose,

As far as I know I am arizonasulcata and AZsulcata. My website is azsulcata.com and the name is Arizona Sulcata. My personal name is Austin. Hope that clears up the confusion.

Also I am not in Hawaii yet. Just up north in the mountains in AZ.

It does, thanks, except now I don't know who I was thinking of that I had contacted a while back and does not breed their own. Too many Arizona people to keep straight LOL.

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

Oops! Yeah, I had forgotten about the other website that sell tortoises. I think when I was talking about your user (?) name on this site that it was confused with the other person's website. I thought you said that your bred and sold your own so realized that there had been confusion as to who's website I was talking about.
I hope you are enjoying the mountains in AZ. I am sure you have been there before. We went through there when we came back from Hawaii and went to visit family in Utah, Arizona and California before we went to Georgia.
BTW I did know your name was Austin and if I wrote that to begin with, there might not have been any confusion

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

This is inspired by LestatHim's post about pyramiding. Ours are close in age. I got mine from AZSulcata in Arizona. They got soaked and sprayed daily. I see slight pyramiding and wondered if anyone had any ideas after reading LestatHim's thread. When I first got mine, they were going on a month old. Mine was hatched on or around June 25, 2012. When it came it weighed 55grams and was 2 1/4". As of yesterday, September 25 it was 122grams and 2 1/4". It did not have Mazuri for the first three weeks since I had it, but did get it with Austin (the breeder). It has gotten the Mazuri twice a week ever since. It eats maybe one or two pellets of the Mazuri every time I give it. Mine does not like the opuntia cactus but has taken small nibbles of the spineless variety, maybe three very small nibbles. It loves dandelions, squash, Mazuri and some of the spring mix. It will graze outside on fresh grass and weeds but will not eat it unless it is growing in the ground. That is everything I can think of as far as the diet goes. I soak them once a day for at least 20 minutes but usually they soak for 30+ minutes. I spray them constantly and they get lots of outside time. If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know.

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You can see pics of mine from about a month ago under my tort babies. This might give you a better idea of where I am at. Thanks for your help.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-my-tort-babies

 

[apease2]

Looks fine to me. Keep up the good work!

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

Thanks apease2. Appreciate the kind words. I will keep doing things the way I have been learning here on TFO. This place is full of well informed, experienced and kind tortoise keepers!

 

[Neal]

Wellington, Thanks. I will continue to do what I am. I will take your advice and get a humidifier in their new enclosure. I will be making that the middle of next month. I will also put a lid on it and see what happens.
DesertGrandma, I find your story very interesting. I had never heard of anything like that. My tortoise is one of three. Two look like there is some pyramiding and one looks so smooth. One is mine, one is my husband's and one is my son's. I take care of all three and treat them all the same. I am at a loss as to what more I can do. I will take the suggestion of the humidifier and try to up the humidity in the humid hide, but other than that I am not sure. I stated about the temps being right, the diet is as varied as I can with lots of natural grazing of grass and weeds with some clover. They get lots of exercise and are outside quite a bit. I am concerned about what more I should be doing. Thanks for your story, it is very interesting.
Tom, do you have any experiments on something that addresses this type of story?

My part of the experiment on here addresses your's and Joy's stories: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-51172.html#axzz29gPfoq2N

Having raised some my usual way which is a little more dry than what we typically recommend on the forum (although well hydrated), and noting a slight amount of pyramiding in a small percentage of the hatchlings, I am raising these ones in a high humid environment to hopefully identify if there is something genetic causing the pyramiding or if it is strictly environmental. I probably won't be able to conclude anything for about a year or two. So far, the only difference I have seen is growth rates and activity levels are marginally increased in the humid set up.

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

Thanks for the input, Neal. It sounds like an interesting study. You will have to keep us posted on your findings.

 

[yarok]

I don't see any problem. Sometimes the growth lines are a little rougher, especially in a close up photo, but I can only speculate as to why. Your baby looks fine to me. What you are doing is working and I would not change it. Do the two of them live together? I have been raising groups of tortoises together for the last couple of years, and I too am at a loss to explain why some still pyramid a little and others don't at all, when everything SEEMS identical. I've tried to explain it behaviorally. For example, some drink more, spend more time under the hot bulb, or less time in the humid hide. Every time I start to get some evidence for a theory, I find an exception or something that seems to defy the norm. I think stress might be a factor, especially in a "pair" situation, but again, there are exceptions to every "rule".

BTW, Austin raises and breeds his own tortoises. He and I have talked a time or two in PMs and on the phone, and he does a fine job of starting and raising his babies. He's one of the few breeders that I recommend to people, when I am out of stock.

I could use a recommendation. Im looking for a young male sulcata.