Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have my tort almost a year-when I got it he was only about3 1/2 inches. I notice now that his shell is pyramiding-I feed him dandelion greens,escarole,romaine,collard greens.I have mazuri tort food but he prefers the greens -especially dandelion-Ive tried hay-he doesnt really go for it. Please give some advice on how to further prevent any pyramiding-He is about 6 inches now and looks very healthy. I have a UVA/UVB light on through daylight hours. What am I doing wrong.

It's hard to raise up a tortoise in captivity without any sign of pyramiding. You'll notice a lot of photos of torts here with mildly lumpy to very lumpy shells. And when people show a nice, smooth tort, they get a lot of compliments.

It seems that pyramiding, and other signs of metabolic bone disease, are related to the overall care of the tortoise. Heat, hydration, humidity, nutrition. You need to balance out all of these things.

I won't go through the care and feeding of leopards. You can consult with www.tortoise.org, www.chelonian.org and other websites for general care. EJ and other leopard keepers can fill you in on the details.

Just make sure that your tort is being kept with optimal temps, has a water bowl to drink from, and maybe soak him once or twice a week. Your diet sounds OK. Are you adding a calcium/d3 supplement once or twice a week? The UV lights are good, but you can't always rely on them for the D3, and plant foods don't always have the calcium content you think they do. In warm weather I try to get my leopards out in the sun a few hours a week.

The mazuri has good fiber levels, but if the feces are loose and runny you may want to consider adding in some finely chopped and soaked hay or yard grass (chemical-free of course). Don't just throw him a pile of wet hay, but instead mix it in with finely chopped greens and mushed-up mazuri. Maybe a little hay/grass at first, and slowly increase it as he learns to accept it. If his feces are well formed now, then you don't have to worry about more fiber.

Some keepers are providing a humid hide spot for their torts. A plastic box with a hole cut in the side large enough for your tort and a dampened sponge attached to the inside is one recommendation. Although leopards live in semi-arid regions, they do need some humidity. I don't have a humid-hide with my leopards, but instead give them a water bowl and twice-weekly soakings.

So work on the heat/humidity/hydration/nutrition. Your tort will be OK if you cover all the bases.

Good luck!