Pyrimiding

[Laura]

I just took in a sulcata with severe pyrimiding. 'she' is only about 7 inches long and appears to be stunted. I dont know much about her history. She eats well and moves about just fine. Besides good food, sun calcium etc.. is there anything else I need to do or watch for due to her pyrimiding?
I tried to post a pic, but couldnt.. will try later..

 

[Iluvemturts]

There are some people "out there" that believe that having a humid hide for our desert type torts helps in preventing pyrimiding....I tend to agree with the concept.
You could get a covered cat box and fill it with moist ( slightly dampened ) sand/dirt for your new one to have a choice where to hide at.

In the wild the types of torts are know to burrow down to escape the heat but also for the humidity.
Hope that helps.
Welcome to the forum and we'd love to see pics.

 

[Laura]

I think this link might work to see pics. Its a shutterfly photo site. Pics of enclosure included as well.
This is some of the worst Pyramiding Ive seen...:-(
but today 'she' was loving the sun, cruising and eating well.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BauHLFw5YsXyQ

 

[Iluvemturts]

Awe Laura, shes a cutie. Her pyramiding looks pretty peaked but at least you got her now.
Huge enclosure..AWESOME!!!

 

[damkbm]

A good varied diet and proper sunlight will help fix some of the pyramiding as she grows, but she'll always have some... Some people believe this can cause internal problems done the road, since is was caused from inproper care.. I lost a leopard to such a thing.. She was really pyramided and shell was actully think when I adopted her.. Good luck with her, she looks like she has pleanty of room to grow...

 

[T-P]

Hi pyramiding is always there once the damage is done its never going to go away.
Kinda like human scars.

Your tortoise has extremely bad pyramiding, so either his/her growth has been stunted so she wont grow any larger.
Or she will grow larger and new-growth will make the pyramiding look smoother, but thats all it will do.

With proper diet, housing, lighting, heating, humidity and proper care. THe pyramiding wont get worse. Bad pyramidding can cause internal problems, crushing organs, braking important body parts.

Some tortoises are so badly pyramided, that their shell looks squashed with big lumps on the top of it.

Your tortoise looks fine not too squashed and she should smoothen out as she gets older.