General Care Discussion :: Turtle Pyramiding

[Katelynn_186]

Hello. I have had my RES since June and just last month I seemed to notice some pyramiding happening. (I did a lot of googling to find out what it was.) I am not sure what is exactly causing it. He has a heating lamp, water, dock, and his tank is able to get sunlight. I then thought it could be his diet. I have the "Natural Turtle Food. with added vitamins and minerals" pellets by Zoo Med and "Flunker's Buffet Blend. for aquatic turtles" by Flunker (have yet to try), along with fruits and veggies. Please, if anyone could give me advice it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Caphits]

UVB (the important ones for a turtle) are completely blocked by pretty much all glass. So if it has to go through a window, you'r turtle is getting no benefit. It is best to get a UVB specific bulb, unless it can get some real unfiltered sunlight.
I use this bulb: http://www.amazon.com/Repti-Glo-Compact ... 265&sr=8-2 5.0 bulb is best for turtles.
It would also be a good idea to get some cuttlebone. Check out the feeding and nutrition forum for more info on that. You can find it in the bird section at the pet store.

[Katelynn_186]

I have the UVB light for his tank it is just also by the window. And I have the Turtle bone is that the same thing? But the thing that concerns me is how much and what exactly am I suppose to feed him. Does what I have work? Should I change it? How much and how often should I give him food? I also for got to mention we gets a feeder fish every once in a blue moon. The petstore said they were good for him but I'm not really sure.

[steve]

How much are feeding him? New turtle keepers usually end up feeding too much.

[Katelynn_186]

2-3 pellets in the morning and like 1-2 at night. With veggies or fruits sometimes and they act as treats. Is that to much or not enough?

[steve]

It sounds like too little, but that would not cause pyramiding. Can you post a picture of them?

[Katelynn_186]

[steve]

Are you sure no one is feeding or sneaking him extra food? What about other foods, like treats and live fish.

[Katelynn_186]

He has the zoo med Shrimp treats and a gold fish but they arent given every day. A fish maybe like every 2 weeks if that. And Ill have to keep his food out of reach i guess of others. What is the proper amount and how often he should be fed then?

[steve]

This might help: http://redearslider.com/pellets.html

[Katelynn_186]

Thank you sooo much for all of the inofrmation and help! Hopefully he will get better with this. I have one last question though, will he ever get a normal shell back or is it just going to stay as is?

[steve]

It's not severe, but it will smoothen out a bit. It might not be perfectly smooth, but it will look much better.

[MissJamieLynn]

Just wanted to post in here to say thank you. Found out thru this site- that my Roommate was feeding my turtles with out me knowing..and they were getting overfed.
I just now took and hid my foods...and hopefully the little Pyramid that "Sniff" has going on- will go away. I thought it was normal for their shells to be a bit bumpy. Since they have had it since we bought them. Didn't know it is completely abnormal.
I was told by OBV an non experienced turtle handler to look for protein in the foods. That they are best for the turtles... How sad that people as smart as even me--- fall into lies... Gots be safe..don't always believe what your told and read a lot into stuff especially if its a live growing animal. Again Thank You.

[steve]

MissJamieLynn, I found it hard to tell people not to interact/feed my RES when I lived with family. My solution was to sort out food in a pill box and let them use what's allocated for that day.