Your talking about one of my friends and az neighbors. Like the rest of us, he too has grown and learned over the years, as to what is necessary. He also, moved to the fact that shell growth is based on temps and humidity. Deformities are based on dehydration, not calcium or protein or UV. etc.
Again, easy to prove. Give a neonate tort a place to burrow in medium humidity, and growth will be smooth and normal. Force it to sit for prolong periods in air, and you will see deformities. Heck this only takes a month or so to prove out. I did a biology project in 1967, where I raised three neonate box turtles, and had a fourth raised by another student. The test was a behavioral test. It looked at turtles and other reptiles habit of taking food from others, instead of eating food in the cage. In the end, my three turtles grew to adult size in one year. Which was crazy unheard of at that time. They did have a range of sizes, based on, which individual stole food from the others the most. They also grew strong and well shaped. But then, I did not have a fear of dirt. So they could burrow as often as they liked.

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