Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm an owner of 5 baby burmese stars, and recently, I've formulated a plan to prevent pyraminding forever. The key is to use a closed set up to trap humidity. Right now, I keep my tortoises in a bare-bottom large plastic container. There is about a millimeter of water on the bottom of the container, where the tortoises live. The top of the setup is covered with a plastic lid, with holes. There is a UVB light, as well as a heatpad beneath the setup to provide D3 and heat. As for feeding, I only leave the dish inside the setup for a few hours everyday, because the food becomes soggy and disgusting. This way, I feel that the tortoises can get the most from natural humidity inside the setup. Tell me what you guys think.

If you look at the animals, it seems like some of them are pyramiding quickly, I want to stop this immediately.

you do know that star dont like high humidity, they like it dry, also naturally star tortoises pyrimid, so its not bad if they pyramid. They grow extra scutes on top of the original scuts to have the pyrimid look so they can blend in the tall grasses of india, thats also why they have the patern. Leopard tortoises also naturally pyramid. Dont be to worry about it

BURMESE STAR TORTOISES, NOT INDIAN STARS. BURMESE DO NOT NATURALLY PYRAMID IN THE WILD.

Im guessing that they acctually might, i think ive read this somewhere, indian star burmese star they both can do it for defence.

This occurs with wild Geochelone elegans and I have seen some WC specimens that exhibited pyramiding, but I have seen MANY WC Geochelone platynota and have yet to see one with pyramiding. Are you possibly thinking about Psammobates spp.? They also pyramid naturally.

Ici, you are looking at potential problems by introducing such high humidity and not allowing your tortoises the use of a suitable substrate. Are your UVB lights inside (under the plastic lid)? If they are outside, 100% of the UVB is being blocked. Hopefully, the change of diet from the previous diet you were using should contribute to a healthier shell growth. Things do not become show instantly with tortoises, you have to give it some time.

The lid is only partially covering the top of the box. In the portion of the box that is uncovered is where the light is. However, there is a plastic lens covering the light. Should I remove this? Is the UVB light getting through?

You should definitely remove the plastic lens; all (100%) of the UVB is being blocked by that thin plastic lens. Even a screen top to an enclosure will block up to 50% of the UVB radiation. This could be your problem with the shell formation right there. With no UVB radiation, even with your supplements, not enough calcium can be metabolized.

*off topic i know...

You don't happen to teach at PennValley Community College do you?

No, I'm a 20-year-old student at Columbia University.

No, I teach part time in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand

Lol. I was basically half the earth off!

you are right, I am personally see and holding a WC Burmese Star which is over a foot long and weight over 5 lbs without pyramiding

Make sure they are getting plenty of calcium atleast 3 times a week. I use bone-aid.

First of all, with the plastic lid there is no UVB coming through. Secondly, it's not healthy to raise tortoises in water. Keeping the humidity up is fine but you do not need to keep them in a bare bottom enclosure with water in the bottom to achieve this. They need a substrate of some kind to develop proper motor skills and to develop their legs normally. Bare plastic will be slippery.
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Michael
http://turtletracker.com

You can use a plastic humidity box inside the set up with the torts. Make sure you add a little water or mist one or two times a week. I add in the box cypress mulch.

DD

Hello,

I must agree with Michael and DD's recommendations. I would also suggest that you brush up on the following articles:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/microclimates.htm

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/substrates.html

And, actually, all of the articles found at this site should help you gain knowledge of the fundamentals required to rear healthy platynota. Tweak to meet your circumstances, as necessary:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/articles.html

Raising platynota in a semi-aquatic environment might well prevent pyramiding, but my bet would be that they would be deceased from some other ailment before you'd be able to tell...

Best of Luck,

Tony

Can someone please answer my question about the lens on the UVB light? Will the UVB get through this lens?

No, you must remove the plastic.

If by 'lens on the UVB light' you mean the glass part of the tube itself, then yes, the UVB gets through that because it is made especially to allow the UVB through, but any ordinary glass or plastic that is covering your enclosure will block all of the UVB out.

Nina

i dont have the same tortoise you have, but i do have many other tortoises, and turtles, and what you want to do is have nothing in between the UVB and the tortoises, even water filters UVB rays, almost anything filters UVB rays. Also maybe your diet is to much protien thats why your getting pyrimiding, you can reverse it so you got to stop the pyrimiding now.
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