Is the shell staring to pyramid?

[Anandita]

Is Trucks shell looking ok? I'm worried it starting to pyramid?

Thanks
Amanda x

[Nina]

Hi Amanda,

Well, I think maybe it is starting to pyramid a little bit, but nothing terrible. Are you keeping a record of his growth? I can't remember now if we discussed this before, but you should be aiming for an average weight gain of about 1g - 3g per month, and if he is consistently gaining more than that then you need to cut down on the amount of food you're giving him.

In the wild tortoises tend to live in areas where the summers are very hot and a lot of the plants die off, so there is competition from other animals (particularly mammals) for the greenery that survives. So food is often scarce, and tortoises are designed to cope with this and to grow slowly. In captivity we present them with lovely meals every day and they can easily put on too much weight and grow too quickly, resulting in deformed shells.

I can't remember now, but do you have one of our Tortoise Observation Records booklets? It's a good place to keep all your records (vet details, changes of equipment, growth rates, etc.). If you don't have one, just send me your address by email
( nina@thetortoisetable.org.uk ) and I'll pop one in the post to you. You've put in so much work on your indoor and outdoor enclosures and have put so much effort into providing Truck with a good home that I think a little gift from us to you is in order.

Is Truck's eye completely healed now?

Nina

[Anandita]

Thank you so much Nina that's really kind of you, I don't have one.

I feel really bad that it's starting too look like it, other than that he's super healthy, eating well, and his opened within a week of treatment.

I will keep an eye on his growth weight, is there anything else I should do to stop it getting worse and will it smooth out as he grows?

Thank you for your help.

[Nina]

When I got my Doris she had very visible pyramiding, but I tried hard and her subsequent growth has been pretty smooth, so although pyramiding doesn't go away, it shows up much less when the majority of the shell is smoother. I've attached a photo of Doris take when I got her in 2005, and also one of her digging a nest to lay eggs in 2020, and I hope you can see a difference.

All you can do is to monitor her growth, ensure she grows slowly and has a high fibre/low protein diet, a good source of UVB, and lots of calcium in her diet. The UVB reacts with cells on her skin to produce vitamin D3, which enables her to absorb and utilise the calcium in her diet. When you think about it, tortoises are mainly bone and shell, so they need lots of calcium The sun is the best source of UVB, so if when she is outdoors in good weather in the summer, she will benefit from that too.

Nina
[attachment=0]Boris June 2005 00007 (Copy).JPG[/attachment][attachment=1]m_DSC02250.jpg[/attachment]

[Anandita]

Thank you, Doris looks lovely

I've cut down Trucks food and will continue monitoring his weight gain and hopefully it won't get any worse.

[Emma&Kimchi]

Hi Nina and Amanda,

I'm sorry to jump in on this thread but I'm worried that Kimchi (my Horsfield whom I adopted a week ago) may have pyramiding of his shell. Please could I ask you to take a look at the attached photos and let me know what you think?

Thanks so much,

Emma

[Nina]

Hi Emma,
Just the start of some pyramiding, and nothing to worry about as long as you maintain slow growth and ensure he has a low protein/high fibre diet with a good calcium supplement, and is well hydrated. Horsfields are such greedy tortoises that it is easy for them to overeat and grow too quickly, so just aim for an average weight increase of between 1g - 3g per month (that's just an average, and some months he might grow more and some less, but it's something to aim for. If he is consistently growing putting on more weight each month then cut down on the amount you give him each day. Some people have one day a week when they don't feed, but I prefer to just give a bit less each day.

I think Kimchi is a very handsome tortoise!

Nina

[Emma&Kimchi]

That's good to know, thank you very much Nina! He is a sweetie!

Truck and Doris also look lovely