Tortoise Shell Pyramiding! 

I feel like tortoises are 100% the hardest reptiles to care for because anything could go wrong and this is coming from somebody with a snake who was gone for 6 months. I always wanted one but tortoise care is so hard because of the changing temperature where I live and I feel like every one should know reptiles aren’t easy and everyone has a different care system (also love the thunder in the background)

One of the biggest factors in the occurrence of pyramiding in tortoises is the lack of exposure to sunlight, and I always routinely every morning always drying my tortoise at a predetermined time and also I always replace food intake, at least two days with food the same and nothing more

Something to add but the biggest reason so little is known about pyramiding is because Tortoises rarely have it in nature, outside a few specific species like Leopards and Stars, wild tortoises are normally very smooth. It's only really observed in a captive individuals. For a long time it was in fact believed that Leopards were always pyramided looking since pretty much every individual found in captivity was pyramided. It was only after researchers started to study them in the wild more that it become known that they can be perfectly smooth.

Some people only know how to find their self worth in the space they can put between them and other people. So they put people down and shame them just so they can feel like they mean something. You're a great caretaker and the level of concern you have for this super slight pyramiding is clear proof of that. Good luck on your journey to solve this issue and thank you so much for sharing. It isn't easy to be vulnerable and honest about these things with those kinda people lurking in the comment section.

I see people always commenting on humidity as well. I just read an article yesterday on a family who lost their redfoot tortoise, thought it somehow wandered off. It turns out, it was living in the attic and had been surviving on insect larvae. I believe it was 20 years it had been living like that. The pictures showed no pyramiding.

When I kept my 15 hatchling box turtes under identical conditions temperature, humidity, lighting, and diet. I still had one out of five develop mild pyramiding. Genetics must play a role to some degree. I have found that overfeeding, too high temperatures, and lack of humidity seem to be the biggest contributors for my turtles.

I feed my tortoise as much as she can eat in 30 minutes. I see a lot of people say to feed them the size of their shell, which usually ends up being about the same amount as she can eat in 30 minutes. She started looking for food later in the day (I fed her in the morning) so I either break it up into 15 minutes 2x a day or I just feed her halfway through her day.

Anyone who thinks they know everything is wrong .. we are always learning!

I disagree with not feeding your tortoise every day. In nature the tortoise will eat whenever they find food so in my opinion feeding everyday is fine, as long as the proportions are the proper amount. I always give my baby hermann’s tortoise a pile bigger than her shell, but big enough to last throughout the day. If they have a lot left over than u gave them too much, and if they eat it all quickly than u gave them too little. This has been working for my tortoise and he doesn’t display any pyramiding despite being in an open top enclosure as well. Hope this helps in anyway, love the content!

You covered most but here is some of my observations over the year. Humidity is the biggest culprit behind pyramiding,keeping humidity high and ensuring the tortoise is hydrated is key to preventing pyramiding. I basically keep my tortoises in a Swamp. If they dig into their substrate they make holes with standing water in them which they do use. They will sit in their little mud holes all day if given the chance. With Redfoots and Forest tortoise species in general, another issue is heat lamps. Everyone uses them but really for forest species they are completely unneeded. It's far better to just forego a specific basking spot and just keep the ambient temp constant between 80 and degrees within the entire enclosure and avoid a hot spot all together. Another issue I've noticed over the years keeping forest species is the use of UVB, I personally don't use it at all anymore for forest species until around 5 years of age since in nature they really don't seek out sunlight at all until older. Since stopping the use of UVB at this early life stage I haven't had one forest species pyramid at all. I really only keep various Forest species so diet has never really been a issue since I feed everyone a pretty diverse diet and feed a bit of everything daily. I think if you feed them this way they don't tend to overfeed on one food item and eat based more on their needs.

i can really see how bothered & emotional you are about your tortoise having this issue, and the negative comments that people have left about it. the fact that you care so much & do so much to correct your care & do the best for your animals makes you a really great keeper. don't let it get you down you have one of the best reptile channels on this platform. we don't know everything about these animals & all we can do is learn 💚

I've been binge watching your videos lately and I gotta say, I love how candid and informative your content is! Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge with us.

Peaches looks happy and healthy! Nobody wants pyramiding but it can be especially challenging to avoid indoors. At the end of the day, it isn’t a red flag necessarily.

Again, great video! This is a very interesting topic, I'm from Brazil, so, where they are native from, and there's a lot of red foots that are decades old, passed through generations of the same family. Lots of people keep them on their gardens where is nowhere near 80% humidity and I've seen lots of those with no pyramiding. Same thing on the amount of food, sometimes they have free access to gardens where they can eat at will and no pyramiding, so it's a pretty weird thing. Don't feel bad about yours having it, it's clear that you do lots of research and she's lucky to have such a responsible owner

i think your humidity is to high.....😂🤣😂 but yes this is why i deleted myself of so many reptile forums and you are right pyramiding can come from so many things.

Interesting. I never knew tortoises were so complex.

how interesting .didn't know this bot 🐢 tortoise...you are so knowledgeable n such a great reptile mom !don't let those negative remarks get you down you rock !🐍🐸🦎💚🦋🐍🪴🐍

Even wild ones can have pyramiding..

I'm obsessed with the "What is Pyramiding" font you've used. Can you tell me what it is?

Your tortoise is really smooth btw thx for the video

Another well researched video - keep it up!

aww I love turtles and tortoises awesome video my tortoise has been doing so great!

Love the tortoise content 🤭

Great video! Great info! Pyramiding can be difficult to figure out. But don’t lose hope, you may be unable to fix old growth but you can correct new growth 👍

Thanks for that! My Redfoot has some pyramiding and I think I might UVB as well! I can’t see how someone would think you don’t take care of your reptiles!

Wow Tricia this is such an awesome video I love it.😃👍❤️

I was always told that since tortoises usually like to burrow they wear down their shell by doing so which prevents the pyramiding.

I am in Thailand and my one year old sulcata can go out in her garden grass area when ever she want. at night she stays under the terrace, sheltert and I spray the cocnut ground with water before.

Great video. As always. She is getting big. As they get older you should only feed them once a week for good shell growth.🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢👍

Sometimes it’s just genetics as well unfortunately. I’ve seen photos of folks who keep two tortoises in the exact same environment and one pyramids while the other doesn’t. Kamp Kenan said in one of his videos that some mild pyramiding is generally unavoidable. I have three redfoots about the same age as Peaches (you actually inspired me to get them) and I’ve been lucky with them! They have hardly none. My bay leopard and Indian star both have what I consider bad pyramiding despite me caring for them correctly. It’s so hard to figure it out sometimes. You take great care of Peaches. We can all see that.

Love your channel dude, filled with lots of good knowledge! Just wanted to chime in lol I use the vivtech jungle led bulbs for my uva/uvb and my heat light emits both as well, as for protein try a boiled egg or slice up some worms from the pet store! Not allot of info out here on red foots or pyramiding so thank you for all your hard work 🐢🐍🦎🐸💚

I have also read that if you are giving a diet that is too nutritious then it will cause the shell to grow too fast resulting in pyramiding.

I just got one.. the videos do help so I can know what to doo.. Thanks!

I’m gonna own a tortoise one day so good to know

The last thing that I read or heard a while back about pyramiding is that it’s probably caused by artificial incubation and egg placement in the incubator, and this is why we see pyramiding more often in captivity. I actually don’t mind it if it’s not too bad, I’ve learned to love torts with pyramiding or ultra smooth shells 😃 great video on this topic btw

If I may say something that can be helpful I'd say perhaps the excess of care might be a factor as well... As I've been searching, they're used to living in Amazon and some areas alike so the humidity requirement is to be higher than normal for most of the animals but on the other hand they're much more robust and resistant than domestic ones... I guess the key factors to have our attention on are humidity, temperature and sunlight. As for food I don't think it's as needy

My two sulcatas are from the same clutch and have the exact same environment and one has pyramiding and the other does not. The one who does is bigger and I’ve heard if they grow fast they can get pyramiding too so who knows. Unless it’s severe I don’t think it’s an issue. Thanks for making this video

Captive tortoises or pet tortoises pretty much always have a little bit of pyramiding. It’s because they’re not and their natural habitat. Peaches pyramiding looks fine and is normal for a pet tortoise. Yes in a prefect world peaches would have a perfect shell, but we aren’t in a prefect world.

they are keyboard "pros"

So sorry people feel the need to attack when someone is trying to learn. Sorry you experienced it

will pyramiding go away as she grows if you catch it early enough or will she always have the little bit of it? nobody is perfect i think youre doing great!

👏🏼 🐢

And don’t let the internet get to you. There’s aways people that wanna spread hate. Trust me I’ve been there

Have you tried earthworms!! That’s the only protein mine like

The tortoise keeping community is now fully aware of what causes pyramiding- it’s all about hydration. Tortoises that are kept too dry pyramid. Tortoises that are raised up in closed chambers, with near 100% relative humidity, do not pyramid. Most tortoises are kept way too dry, and all baby tortoises need high levels of relative humidity, not just redfoots. Hydration IS the key to eliminating pyramiding. Your tortoise IS likely pyramiding because it is being kept too dry. What is your relative humidity in your enclosure?

I do have a redfooted and she prefer to stay on the hard surface, i try putting dirt and other stuff in her hiding area for her but she don't go into the areas when i do . I live in the Caribbean so there is sun and rain and it can be a bit chilly in the night time . But she eats well and hid/sleep most of the time what should i do? or is it ok

Hi, I have a question. My brazilian rainbowboa got a little bit of scale rot, I'm already treating it with Betaisodona and it is helping but its the second time he got it now and I couldnt really find a whole lot about scale rot on rainbowboas. Because idk how I can prevent it from coming back again or getting worse. The humidity seems to be fine but I guess it must be too wet if he got it, or does anyone know why its coming back again? I would be really glad for answers, because I am freaking out and worrying alot, I dont want him to be in pain, and he also stopped eating, which was normal at the beginning, but then he ate again and nows hes not eating again, idk if hes too stressed out because of the regular baths Im giving him or if its because of the scale rot.

Diet