Tortoise Scutes 🐢 Are they pyramiding?

[Dbrosnan09]

Just wanted to get your expert opinions on this, Our Family Tortoise, Jackson Taylor - is now nearly 3 and a half years old.

I’m slightly concerned if his growth is normal. Are his scutes pyramiding? Or, is he looking normal for a Hermann Tortoise.

Please, let us know and enjoy the pictures of him on his afternoon forage 😁

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I think I see some pyramiding. What do you think @wellington @Tom ?

 

[Tom]

Just wanted to get your expert opinions on this, Our Family Tortoise, Jackson Taylor - is now nearly 3 and a half years old.

I’m slightly concerned if his growth is normal. Are his scutes pyramiding? Or, is he looking normal for a Hermann Tortoise.

Please, let us know and enjoy the pictures of him on his afternoon forage 😁

There is some pyramiding on the vertebral scutes, but not much on the costals. This would indicate a few possibilities:
1. Wrong type of heat lamp. Using MVBs, halogens or spot bulbs could cause this.
2. Having ambient temperatures too low, like in an open topped enclosure, which would make the tortoise bask under a desiccating electric heat lamp excessively.
3. MBD from a lack of calcium, lack of D3, or incorrect diet.

So share with us how your tortoise has been living for the last few years. Open table? Mercury vapor, all-in-one, type bulb? What do you feed him? What is your calcium supplementation routine? What is your UV source?

 

[Dbrosnan09]

Honestly. Thank you for your response. Any suggestions of how we can improve his life, please let us know.

Weirdly, the last few weeks, when breathing he’s started a wheezing style noise.

The image I have provided shows the heat lamp, substrate and conditions he’s living in. Please fire suggestions of what we need, or to completely start again, as the last thing we’d want to do would be to hurt him without knowing. It’s a glass closed enclosure.

His Temperature is controlled. We usually get under his lamps end to around 30 degrees. The other end under his cave 20.

We do feed him the odd strawberry treat like tonight or pepper. However, it is usually Wild Rocket from a supermarket usually. In terms of a calcium routine, we do not have one, we stopped this after 18 months on the shops advice.

In terms of UV. We simply have the light.

Thank you in advance for any advice! Honestly do appreciate it.

 

[Tom]

Honestly. Thank you for your response. Any suggestions of how we can improve his life, please let us know.

Weirdly, the last few weeks, when breathing he’s started a wheezing style noise.

The image I have provided shows the heat lamp, substrate and conditions he’s living in. Please fire suggestions of what we need, or to completely start again, as the last thing we’d want to do would be to hurt him without knowing. It’s a glass closed enclosure.

His Temperature is controlled. We usually get under his lamps end to around 30 degrees. The other end under his cave 20.

We do feed him the odd strawberry treat like tonight or pepper. However, it is usually Wild Rocket from a supermarket usually. In terms of a calcium routine, we do not have one, we stopped this after 18 months on the shops advice.

In terms of UV. We simply have the light.

Thank you in advance for any advice! Honestly do appreciate it.

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