Whats up with her shell??

[russianhenry]

Okay I just saw this earlier this week... is this normal? I dont really understand what pyramiding is so hopefully this is NOT it. Please help.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.231173536894962.69905.100000069527675

 

[coreyc]

Are you looking at the white line? if so it looks like new growth she looks good to me

 

[October]

Hard to tell from the picture, but it's not pyramiding. Those are growth lines if it's symmetrical.

 

[russianhenry]

Are you looking at the white line? if so it looks like new growth she looks good to me

Yeah the thick line, Im new at this so I freaked when I saw it. Just making sure she isnt pyramiding.

 

[Jacob]

Looks Like Thick Growth Lines!

 

[russianhenry]

Hard to tell from the picture, but it's not pyramiding. Those are growth lines if it's symmetrical.

Sorry my camera is really bad, and its kind of hard to get her to stay still. Thanks for the help.

 

[October]

Hard to tell from the picture, but it's not pyramiding. Those are growth lines if it's symmetrical.

Sorry my camera is really bad, and its kind of hard to get her to stay still. Thanks for the help.

No worries. My Russian is a squirmy booger too. Russians don't (typically) have pyramiding issues.

 

[russianhenry]

Hahah thanks guys, new owner so I freak whenever anything changes. Shes had it rough when I got her so Im a little over protective lol

 

[dmarcus]

Yep definitely just growth lines, they look different depending on the tortoise.

 

[russianhenry]

Sorry guys, another question. Okay so I read on here that her thick growth lines could be caused by me overfeeding her or a lack of calcium. I put the D3 powder calcium on her food 3x a week. What other types of plants have alot of calcium? Also, she eats everything I give her, so should I start feeding her less?

 

[terryo]

This is a list someone gave me with greens that contain a high calcium level.
grape leaves, hibiscus leaves, dandelion leaves, curly endive, escarole, and turnip greens.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I'm personally against D3 if you have UVB from a bulb or the sun, but read up on it and see what you think. I just use a pure calcium starting at daily for a hatchling, decreasing to every other to every third day as the tort grows to an adult size. THe calcium is water soluble while D3 is fat soluble. That said, there is also the thought that you couldn't easily give too much D3 to overdo it. I'd want to save it for a case that the tort wasn't thriving on its own though.

I also think you can't overfeed a growing tort if they have enough space to properly move around and you are feeding foods close to their natural diet (low in calories). If you are feeding a commercial diet or other higher calorie foods (not weeds, greens, lettuces, etc), then you may want to cut back if you see the thick growth lines or jumps in weight. A slow and steady weight gain is what you aim for, but no I'd never let my tortoise go hungry--I feed whatever my tort will eat once a day (usually a few scraps left, but not too much and not completely gone). I track weight and SCL monthly after the first year or two. From my eyes, that growth line is on the thicker side but not unrealistic. They go through spurts so this is probably the first big one you've seen. As they age, they will also start to grow as a slower pace (the last bit of growth takes a long time).

 

[russianhenry]

Took her to the vet again, it just really thick growth lines. He gave me some vitamin a to add to her calcium powder 3x a week. Im also soaking her 2x a week and letting her stay outside in the sun every day for 2 hours. Hopefully this helps

 

[sulcatababies1402]

I seem to having the same issue with my baby peach thick growth lines so when I run my hand over her shell she feels bumpy.But she is a faster grower then Bowser so that may be the issue.Just accelerated shell growth I posted pics and people here said it was ok.Glad u got a vets opinion