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Just curious...I have heard people talk about pyramiding shells....Exactly what does this mean? One of my turtle has a higher ridge on his back then my other, so I am starting to worry this is what you guys are talking about pyramiding? Is this caused my eating too much food, or a certain kind of food? Just curious....Thanks!

It's caused mostly by too much protein. Here is a link where there are some pictures of pyramiding turtles. Some turts/torts pyramid naturally, but RES shouldn't. They should be smooth from one scute to the next.

http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/Pyramiding.htm

If you look at the pictures, you will see slight raised areas on the shell. I think this is pyramiding but I am not sure. I have seen pictures of grossly deformed turtles but none of normal turtles with slight pyramiding.

Pictures here: http://www.angelfire.com/planet/daeb/shell_pyramiding

The scutes are normal....Its just the ridge on the very middle of his back shell....So pyramiding is actually the scutes rising?

You can kind of see my turtles high back ridge in my avatar picture(the one on the right)

Yes, pyramiding is when each individual scute is raised and bumped up. They should be flat and smooth and flow from one to the other without interruption. A turtle with pyramiding will have scutes that are individually raised and bumpy not flowing smoothly across the entire shell.

The spine ridge is much more pronounced on hatchlings and will not be so noticeable as they grow. So nothing to worry about there.

Thankyou! I also found a great link on pyramiding shells.

http://www.turtlestuff.com/pyramid.html

That link is the one I was looking for, but didn't find it on my quick search. I have seen that one before and almost can't stand to look at it. Makes me sick to my stomach.

Wow...

I didn't know that pyramiding was deadly...
At first I thought my turtles might have it because their backs weren't all that smooth. As they're getting bigger they're smoothing out though..Is that normal?
They have the right diet now, but for the first 3 years of their life or so they didn't..

If they were in the beginning stages of pyramiding, and they now have a proper diet, then it is expected to smooth out some. If the turtle was full grown and there wasn't room to grow out of it, then the damage would be permanent.

A few vets have also told me that water quality and the humidity in the air can contribute to pyramiding. How weird is that?

For some species more than others. I've also read a lack of exercise can be a contributing factor.

I always tend to be a little uncomforatable about the mention of pyramiding, when I run my finger I can tell it isn't quite smooth, but I don't really think it's pyramiding. I mean, realistically what is smooth?

I think it can be relative. My RES's shell isn't as smooth as my painteds'.