Shell Question

[stickyrice]

I had my red foot for 11 months now and about 4 months ago I noticed on top of his shell, the area between his scutes are raising up. I heard pyramiding is when the scutes are raising up, but could this be a sign of pyramiding to start? The area raising up is kinda thin, almost like an outline of the scute. For example, if I put a drop of water on his scute, the raised edge can prevent the water flowing out.

 

[Tracy Gould]

I had my red foot for 11 months now and about 4 months ago I noticed on top of his shell, the area between his scutes are raising up. I heard pyramiding is when the scutes are raising up, but could this be a sign of pyramiding to start? The area raising up is kinda thin, almost like an outline of the scute. For example, if I put a drop of water on his scute, the raised edge can prevent the water flowing out.

It sounds like the growth ring i do not know if is normal to be slightly raised but my little Hermanns sound exactly the same as yours. I do not think its anything to worry about but i am sure a expert will be alone soon.

 

[Yvonne G]

Can we see a picture? It sounds like pyramiding, but we really can't say without seeing it.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Give him a soak in warm water for about 10-15 minutes and see if that makes any difference. There's been some talk lately that that can be caused by shell "dehydration" (probably not the best term for it, but a lack of water in the shell itself).

Make sure the water only goes to the crease between his upper and lower shell when you soak him, then just to be sure I'd splash some water up on his shell while he's in there as well.

 

[Tracy Gould]

Give him a soak in warm water for about 10-15 minutes and see if that makes any difference. There's been some talk lately that that can be caused by shell "dehydration" (probably not the best term for it, but a lack of water in the shell itself).

Make sure the water only goes to the crease between his upper and lower shell when you soak him, then just to be sure I'd splash some water up on his shell while he's in there as well.

I have tried this and it made no difference she gets soaked often. I saw the post about this and it makes no diffrence to Shelbys rings, when i look at her in profile she is not completly flat and she was like this when she came, but apart from her rings sticking up her shell as not got any worse but i have only had her 6mths so its early days. I will get a picture of Shelbys shell and post on a new thread to see what u all think, I do not want to take over this thread

 

[stickyrice]

I doubt it's shell dehydration since I keep him in a tank with cypress mulch and sphagnum moss at 85 degrees with 80 humidity. I also soak him every other day and I keep his tank watered. He gets uvb light 10 hours a day. And he eats Mazuri and dandelion with calcium powder (he seems to love calicium powder)

The scutes on his shell are all smooth, just the outer ring of the scute are raised.

Thanks for all your input!
I'll get a pic asap.

 

[jackrat]

How many times a day do you mist the carapace until it drips?

 

[stickyrice]

3 or 4 times a day (my parents do it while I'm at work and they're retired)

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Here are some pics of him after eating some greens.
It may be hard to see the raised edges but they're thin and black and are on the outline of the scute.

 

[Madkins007]

Those are growth rings, and they are a bit thick. That can be a sign of many things- over-feeding, a dry shell, etc.

On another thread ('carapace like a sponge'), a consensus is building that keeping a tortoise properly hydrated is important but does not, itself, prevent pyramiding. Soaks, misting, etc. can help but the key seems to be keeping the shell, especially the new growth zones, well-lubricated with water.

How you accomplish this depends on your set-up, ambient humidity and temps, etc. A 15 minute soak if the humidity is low does little, and misting in dry air is as likely to evaporate fast.

80% humidity is a good start, but see if you can create a warm (not hot) hide that has even higher humidity- say about 85F with 95% humidity in it. One trick is to make sure the material under the shell is not too wet or you can get contact shell rot.

 

[stickyrice]

I doubt it's dry shell since my family and I spray water on him whenever we pass by the kitchen.
I water his entire tank twice daily with a water can with warm water and the humidity monitor reads between 85 to 80 and temps are at 83 to 86.
Also before midnight, I wet the subtrate around Bruce (no water touching or flowing on him) while he's asleep.
Everyday I pick him up to rinse off stuff or greens sticking to his body I check his shell closely and his plastron doesn't show any shell rot. (knocks on wood)

As for his diet, I am thinking if it is overfeeding.
I alternate daily feeding him either a 5 inch leaf of dandelion OR 1 nugget of mazuri (soaked in water to make soft) with a bit of calicium powder mixed with it (no D3).
Perhaps maybe I should feed him every other day instead?

After examining Bruce's growth rings, they look pretty thin and they're hard at the touch.
I checked the internet the past 3 days (including at work) trying to find information about growth rings raising higher than the scute itself, so far nothing specific.
Does pyramiding start at the outer growth rings first then the scute rises up later? Or is it the other way around?
So far Bruce's scutes are flat. I hope he's okay.

 

[HarleyK]

If you're looking for info on why the growth rings raise higher than the scutes check this thread out:
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Pyramiding-in-reverse?highlight=reverse

I also had that prob with my redfoot and I think it just comes down to dehydration.