My turtle is showing some signs of pyramiding. How can i stop this? What are some good foods to feed him?

Answer 1

You need to change the diet and feed more greens. Pyramiding cannot be undone, since it is bone growth disorder, but you can make lessen the severity of the pyramiding by feeding less protein (i.e. pellets) and leafy greens everyday.

Here is a sample menu:
Pellets 2-3 times a week. Each feeding give as many pellets as it is long. For example: a 5" turtle gets 5 pellets 2-3 times a week.

Leafy greens daily (i.e. dandelion leaves, any and all aquatic plants: duckweek, anacharis, water lettuce, water hyacinth, etc.)

Live prey/protein once every week or two (i.e. fish, insects, worms, etc).

Remember feeding less is best. You can slow and gradual growth. Too much food and protein is causing the pyramiding.

Answer 2

As the other person posted pyramiding is rapid shell growth caused by overfeeding. You can't fix the damage that has already happened but you can prevent it from getting worse by feeding less and lower protien foods. Dandelion is a wonderful addition to any turtles diet. Also clover and carrot tops. Here's an edible plant list...it's geared toward tortoises but the foods are okay for turtles too....
http://www.russiantortoise.org/edible_plants.htm

Answer 3

I dearly love Wu, but he forgot a minor detail- what species are we talking about?

Pyramiding occurs when something is wrong in the diet or habitat, and it rarely occurs in nature (except for a few species of tortoise). Common reasons for pyramiding are:
- too fast growth/ too rich of a diet
- too much protein in the diet
- poor vitamins (often D3)
- too dry of a habitat.

Now- most pond turtles are carnivores- they almost cannot get too much meat, so the protein issue does not apply to them.

On the other hand, in several species of tortoise, humdity has been shown to be a key issue- tortoises fed the same diet pyramided in dry habitats and did not in more humid places.

The tortoises that humidity is known to be a key issue for include Sulcata, Leopard, and Red- and Yellow-foots. It is thought to be an issue with some other tortoises as well.

I cannot address the issue with aquatic turtles, but I know with some species of tortoise the thing you need to do is to either offer a higher overall humidity (forest species like Red- and Yellow-foot, Hingeback, Elongated, etc.), or to offer a humid hide box to simulate a more humid burrow for most other species of tortoise.

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/microclimates.htm
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/trophab.html


Be advised, however, that once started, pyramided scutes never really flatten out- but on-going healthy growth will minimize their appearance!