Could someone explain to me what Pyramiding is?

Question

I have a Hermann Tortoise and have heard of pyramiding on several occassions and wondered if anyone can explain to me what this is and how it can be avoided?

Answer 1

pyramidding is a sign a tortoise has metabolic bone disease, here is a site with pictures that will help you see how bad it can be http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/images... it usually occurs when a tortoise is fed an incorrect diet and not enough calcium or uv lighting is provided, it is hard to treat but so easily avoided, here is a good site thst has lots of good articles on tortoise keeping and how to do your best for your tortoise http://www.tortoisetrust.org/  best of luck honey

Answer 2

the plates on the shell grow like pyramids. i've never kept tortioses, but i hear it's from improper diet.

Answer 3

Overfeeding leads to an unhealthy large intake of protein and fat. This intake leads to rapid growth, which can cause shell pyramiding. Too much protein can also cause internal organ damage like kidney failure. The scutes on the carapace are not smooth as they should be and appear in a pyramid shape. There are varying degrees of severity, and the areas between scutes may not have their normal strength.

This is a completely avoidable situation. The diet really needs to be corrected and treats or anything carrying large amounts of protein should be reduced. Avoid giving in to the begging and make sure no one is offering additional food. If not immediately corrected, pyramiding is a permanent disability.

Answer 4

Pyramiding is a symptom of Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) caused from a variety of things like poor diet, poor uvb, too much protein in the diet, lack of humidity, lack of exercise. It's real important to provide your tortoise with a good uvb lamp like a T-Rex uv/heat lamp, a low protein diet with high fiber greens like turnip greens, dandelion, escarole, weeds like plantain, chicory, etc. Be sure to provide some amount of humidity to the substrate, not wet, but slightly damp where the heat lamp is especially and provide lots of exercise. Hermanns tortoises are very similar in care to Russian tortoises and you can see some great care info on them at www.russiantortoise.org

Julie, director

Turtle Rescue of Long Island

www.turtlerescues.org