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Hi all,

I am very worried that my turtle is pyramiding. He is approximately 1 1/4 years old. His diet consists of dandelion leaves and about 4-5 reptomin pellets daily (yes I know I should be easing back on the reptomin since he is over a year) - a bit of cuttlebone a couple of times a week as well as reptocal on his greens occasionally. He also gets carrot and other veggies occationally. He's always had a somewhat bumpy shell (never perfectly smooth) but lately I've noticed the "bumps" becoming more pronounced - although it's not EVERY scute (the middle scute on each side of his shell is not pyramiding at all, it's almost concave). I have a filter, heater, and UVB light, etc.

I seriously didn't think I was feeding too much protein but - and this is icky - he does eat his droppings. I very rarely get to clean them out before he gets to them. Could this be adding to his daily protein intake???

Here are some pictures... they were taken just a few weeks ago but since then the two front scutes (on his "shoulders") have become much more pronounced - pretty much double in size from what you see below.

Any feedback appreciated! I feel very guilty that my poor baby may be pyramiding and feel sick over it! (And yes, I know he also needs a bigger ramp... poor baby!)

The bumps do look like there could be a touch of pyramiding going on. He gets nothing else in his diet other than what you mentioned? He doesn't look bad in the second pic (he looks really cute sleeping ) He does need that larger dock. What size tank is he in? Does he have a UVB light and heat light?

I'm also wondering when the last time he shed was.

Once or twice a month or so, he gets some krill for a treat. Not much though. Got a larger dock for him today. He's currently in a 20 gallon tank, has UVB and heat light and basks quite a bit. Besides the shell issue going on he does seem quite healthy.

He has not shed any scutes yet - at least not that I've noticed and I watch him quite a bit - is that a problem for a turtle his age?

How big is he (shell length without the curve)? He looks fairly large for just a little over a year, but it could just be the pic...

How old is the UVB light?

If you know you should be feeding him pellets less often now that he's over a year old, it would be a good time to start doing that. Just curious, but there's no possibility of someone else feeding him when you're not around?

I asked about the shedding because in the first pic it looks like some of those scutes needed to come off a while ago.

My turtles seem to be very similar I started off not knowing much about proper dieting and now they have made a great improvement... also my turts seem to have that bit of "almost concave” scute and was wondering if that’s normal ? Because it looks much like the one in your pic.

In the past I didn't think he was pyramiding because of the concave scutes, but now the other scutes that are raised appear more worrisome.

Also - that first picture is somewhat deceptive - I think the angle of the pic makes him look bigger than he is. His shell is almost 3.5 inches lengthwise.

The UVB is about a year old - time for a new one?

No one else is feeding him...

Thanks for your help!

Yes. You should be replaceing UVB bulbs every 6 months or so.

Unfortunately, my two RES show even more pyramiding than yours. I'm still not sure what I did wrong because I was careful about protein intake and have always had the proper lighting, calcium supplements etc....

They almost never got more reptomin than could fit into their heads and I rarely gave them a real meat treat (maybe once every two weeks or so some shrimp or boiled chicken). The only expection was the times I was away on vacation and left some extra rosies in the tank and used an automatic feeder with reptomin. (2 weeks out of the first year)

The only thing I could think of was that the percentage of protein relative to veggies was too heavily weighted towards protein because in the first 6 months it was a constant struggle to get them to eat any veggies at all. One refused.

In any event, almost all the pyramiding occurred in the first year. After that I dramatically reduced reptomin because they finally started eating a lot of veggies. The pyramiding did not get any worse and as they grew, it became less noticeable - though it's still very obvious and unattractive (worse than the pictures above).

I have become convinced that the best thing you can do is not even feed your babies nearly as much reptomin as suggested and even withhold it for several days at times until they are hungry enough to eat veggies. Then you can get into a healthy mixed pattern of veggies and protein right from the start. I feel terrible about the situation, but at least they seem happy despite their appearance. And I still love them.

I strongly suggest upping veggies and reducing protein sharply ASAP.

Thanks everyone for the replies... I'm still worried - but plan to cut back on pellets quite a bit and give him much more veggies. Hopefully I can stop the pyramiding before it gets any worse...

dagny24 -- From what you have said about his diet, he should be fine. The deformation of his shell is directely due to food and or proper lighting. If you have a good UVB light he should be fine. Make sure that there in no glass between the bulb and the turtle. Very little of the rays will get through the glass. I also would suggest the you check on his basking temperature. It should be about 90 to 92 degrees.

If you're using a regular UVB light (what brand?), yes, it was time for a new one a while back. If he basks at 88-90F, I'd keep the basking area temp in that range.

You can cut back on the pellets, but vary the diet as well.

Kathy- I wouldnt be worried at all about your little boy. The pyramiding is NOT bad at all. Im SURE that he does need to shed some scutes.

The above info is great and I ditto especially the "not overfeeding" and the basking light being warm enough for him. And if you dont have some "hard tank objects", like decorations etc... I would get a couple. The reason being is that the heat from the light loosens the scutes and then your boy will have something to rub on to help get them off with ease.

He is gorgeous!

pyramiding -- I have two yellow bellies that came from the same clutch of eggs and one is pyramiding. They are in the same tank, same lighting, same temperature and exactly the same food. I feed them by hand and they eat at the same time, same temperature etc. One has some pyramiding and the other may have a little but it is not enough to tell yet. Their carapace looks the same but the plastron is different. In my experience if the food is proper and the temperature proper and the lighting is proper they should grow out of it.