Mike adequate hydration is a given, it must be provided. Here is an example,a real life one that sheds some doubt on your statement that diet other then providing hydration has nothing to do with it. Four years ago I gave a secretary at work a baby redfoot I produced. I provided her a comprehensive caresheet with a deverse diet. She opted for convenience to feed it nothing but mazuri soaked 3 X a week. I got the tortoise back when it was three years old and it had a good bit of squarred off excessive pyramidding. She said the novelty of taking care of the tortoise was over and it was more of a chore for her. By the way the tortoise was kept inddoors and she said it had an ultraviolet flourescent on 12 hours a day. Since getting the tortoise back it has been set up with my other outdoor tortoises and fed a dverse diet of approx. 80% greens 15% fruits and soaked mazuri a couple of times a week. The squarred off appearing pyramidding has slowly been correcting itself over the last 12 months. Now it has a more rounded appearance. My personal feeling is a combination of factors keep our captive tortoise's healthy with carapace health improving along with the tortoises overall vigor and health. I'm suggesting that the outdoor environment is just as important as any other factor. I think it only through years of looking at individual tortoises and how their kept that we as hobbyiest and breeders can make good choices in our husbandry techniques.....I encourange more discussions on everyone's observations on this issue....Richard



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Richard -amazoa-



"Changes in behavior occur when the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change."

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