General Care Discussion :: pyramid shell

[daniella]

When i first got my two baby res in China Town a few months ago, my one turtle had a, I guess taller shell than the other one. Its how i originally told them apart. Unfortunately, my one turtle passed away about a month ago. It wasnt until recently I heard about the pyramid shell. I do feed my turtle too much and have started to feed him every other day. Usually, i fed him 3 pellets in the morning, and 3 at night. About 4 would fit in his head, hes about 2 inches long. Im concerned because his shell is i guess like a pyramid but i thought originally that that was how he was born (his spine also looks a little crooked.) I've tried to feed him lettuce, but he won't eat it. He only seems to like the pellets and tuna fish. Any suggestions to help me get him on a better diet? I don't want him to get overweight!

[mikee]

Some turtles are spoiled and will have a tendency to wait for something better, especially if they are in good health. I suggest that you wait him out. After about 4 or 5 days he will not be so finicky.

[octpusgirl8]

Pyramiding occurs in each individual scute, not the shell as a whole. It would make the shell look bumpy. Can you post a picture of your turtle's shell, preferably including a direct frontal view and side view? It's important to get him eating veggies, try some other things besides lettuce. The first vegetable my turtle would eat was carrot, cut into thin strips. Cut out the tuna (too much protein) and try not giving him pellets for a couple of days. The veggies might look more appetizing if he's hungry. Another thing you can try is buying anacharis from the pet store, it won't spoil like lettuce so you can leave it in there until he decides to try eating it. The important thing is that you keep trying, eventually he will start eating vegetables.

[daniella]

I do have pictures, I just don't know how to post them on here...

[TheComputerGremlin]

Put them on a photo sharing site like Flickr or Photobucket, and then post the pictures on here (the directions for posting are in the photos section).

[daniella]

The first two are a little blury, and yes I did change his cage and threw out those little rocks lol. But thats how his shell was originally, it was always a little tall it seemed. The next ones are him now, and the last one just makes me laugh because it looks like he has a smiley face on the bottom of his shell haha. But yeah, give me your opinions!

[megcornell]

Given how large the seams are between his scutes, it looks like he's growing too fast. You should cut down on the protein in his diet otherwise he'll develop serious shell issues.

[marisa]

The first two pics are too blurry (and dark) to really tell anything, but in the 3rd pic (basking) I can see where the shell is starting to curl upward around the edge. In the next pic, his seam (line in between the scutes) is really wide. In the last pic, the plastron seam is rather pinkish (and he's got pink areas on the plastron as well). All are signs that he's growing a bit too quickly and/or has too much protein in his diet, especially fact that the edges are curling upward.

What are you feeding him? How much do you give at a feeding? How often do you feed him? (A guide for pellets is to feed an amount that would equal the inside of his head (not with the neck) when empty once day day for young hatchlings (up to around a year). What other foods besides pellets does he eat?

[daniella]

I would say about 4 pellets could fit into his head. And I was giving him 3 in the morning and 3 at night, which yeah is way too much. I've tried lettuce with him before and he never took it. I just fed him a little piece of apple though and he seemed to like it. So should i feed him every other day now? I really don't want him to get any health problems. He really didn't start growing until recently when my other turtle died.

[marisa]

Just try cutting back on the pellets and add some other plants/veggies to his diet.

[daniella]

alright! Thanks for the help everyone