Hopefully Jon this Q? doesn't get too [ I almost said stupid ] out of hand.
I have 3 females that I raised from 10/98 hatchlings. Two of them developed a 'degree' of pyramiding.. BECAUSE I raised them dry [ with leopard hatchlings ] under a UVB bulb ( which they never sat under like the leopards did ].. and fed them all romaine lettuce! The temps are not a factor in pyramiding.. other issues when kept too low of course!
Soooooo.. the OLD "paint-all-tortoises-with-the-same-brush".. is worse than OLD.. it's disastrous to all tortoises that are kept the same way. THERE ARE ALMOST AS MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO CARE FOR A TORTOISE AS THERE ARE DIFFERENT TORTOISES!
Basic guidelines.. low to mid-80 AMBIENT temps and same AMBIENT humidity. Redfoots eat anything! I happen to believe that their staple diet in the wild is fungi and feces.. their source of protein/D3.
So the hatchling leopard tortoises did better than the redfoots.. until I took them outside and exposed them to the high humidity where I live. And the redfoots liked the humidity but didn't like the direct sunlight!
"We" now realize the importance of a humid hide [ regardless the species - this is where I ask to consider there are always exceptions and extremes - don't get stupid ].. and protein is not the cause of pyramiding.
A couple years ago we had a drought.. and my redfoots shut down - virtually no breeding - and their carapace health showed it!
One of my '05 redfoot hatchlings that I raised looks like this..
If this is what you would like yours to look like.. go to the caresheet in my website.
Hope this helps.
Terry
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Terry
Turtletary.com
